Important terms from sociology related to crime: 1. Aggression: it is hostile, injurious, or destructive intended behavior directed towards harming or injuring another person or persons. Aggression results from anger, frustration, or even provocation. It can be expressed physically or communicated verbally or non-verbally through negative body language. There are two forms of aggression, hostile aggression- aggression that stems from angry feelings example a child throws a temper tantrum after her mom refuses to buy a candy. Instrumental aggression- it is a form of aggression resulted to achieve a goal.
Example two children fighting over the same toy and one of them is hitting the other to take the toy. http://fc00. deviantart. net/fs70/f/2010/330/a/8/sociology___deviance_6_by_kanmuri_san-d33ofxl. png Citation: (Ritzer & Ryan, 2011, p. 9) 2. Capital punishment: it is a punishment of death for committing a serious crime. There are different methods of capital punishment like- disembowelment (example beheading ), electrocution (the electric chair), shooting, and also hanging, these are just a few ways, from which hanging is the most common form of death penalty. Capital punishment is legal in India.
The most recent examples of death penalty in India being Ajmal kasab in 2012 and Afzal guru in 2013. Currently there are 135 countries that have abolished death penalty and around 62 countries including India that have retained the penalty. http://image01. w. livedoor. jp/t/n/tyburn/1a9e12a435428605. jpg Citation: (Ritzer & Ryan, 2011, p. 47) 3. Crime: Ancient Babylon’s codes of Hammurabi are the earliest evidence of a society that clearly identified a set of rules governing social life. King Hammurabi (1795-1750 BC) established a historical precedent for other societies to follow.
By drawing notice to his subjects of what he saw as acceptable behavior, he laid the foundations for a more organized, purposeful, civilized social order. Crime is defined as an act punishable by law which can be harmful not only to an individual but also a community or the state. Crime can be in various forms like rape, murder, theft, illegal drug use, tax evasion, prostitution, weapon smuggling, etc. punishment for a person guilty of a crime can be sentenced to imprisonment or even death. http://jschultzdanmark. files. wordpress. com/2012/06/200612_indianwomen. jpeg? =594 Citation: (Ritzer & Ryan, 2011, p. 95) 4. Deviance: it can be defined as any behavior that violates cultural norms. Deviance is often divided into two types of deviant activities. The first, crime is the violation of formally enacted laws and is referred to as formal deviance. Examples of formal deviance would include: robbery, theft, rape, murder, and assault, just to name a few. The second type of deviant behavior refers to violations of informal social norms, norms that have not been codified into law, and is referred to as informal deviance.
Examples of informal deviance might include: picking one’s nose, belching loudly (in some cultures), or standing too close to another unnecessarily (again, in some cultures). http://fc01. deviantart. net/fs70/f/2010/330/d/a/sociology___deviance_8_by_kanmuri_san-d33og3v. png Citation: (Ritzer ;amp; Ryan, 2011, p. 135) (Turner, 2006, p. 55) 5. Drug abuse: habitual use of any chemical substance to alter states of body or mind for other than medically warranted purposes. Drug abusers gradually spend more and more time and energy obtaining and using the drug.
Once they are addicted, the drug abusers’ primary purpose in life becomes seeking and using drugs. If a drug-addict is unable to get the required drug at the proper time, he or she would be ready to get it at any cost The habit becomes so confirmed that the victim becomes a slave to the drug. If he or she doesn’t take it regularly, he or she feels something missing and even greatly depressed with acute pain and numbness in legs and arms. Drugs are of many kinds like opium, heroin, ganja, charas etc. There are also some injections which induce intense drowsiness.
Drug abuse finally leads to the death of the user. http://www. outlookindia. com/article. aspx? 231025 Citation: (Ritzer & Ryan, 2011, p. 160) (wood, n. d. ) (Dugdale, 2010 ) MAGAZINE | APR 24, 2006| | | MAGAZINE | APR 24, 2006| | | | | 6. Female infanticide: It is the practice of terminating a pregnancy because a girl is expected. It is common in societies of china and India where the cultural norms value male children over female ones. In India in 1994 determining the sex of the foetus was outlawed.
However ultrasounds are still used to determine the sex of the baby illegally. There are various reasons for abortion of the girl child in India because of beliefs like the male child carries on the family name for the generations to come, or even believe that the male child is capable of earning a living for the family in the future. According to The Hindu “According to the report, female child population in the age group of 0-6 years was 78. 83 million in 2001 which declined to 75. 84 million in 2011”. http://www. quora. om/Indian-Women/If-you-refuse-to-reproduce-with-Indian-males-for-one-generation-will-that-stop-or-slow-down-gender-selective-abortions-or-infanticide-in-India Citations: (infanticide, 2013) (Sex-Selected Abortion, 2013) (unknown author ,2012) 7. Homophobia: As the term suggests its some kind of phobia or fear or negativity against homosexuals. It is actually defined as hatred or fear of homosexuals (lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender), which sometimes leads to acts of violence and expressions of hostility.
According to me Homosexuality is not the problem, the problem lies in the many ways in which we as people react to homosexuals. Our society treats them as social outcasts, Make fun of their sexuality and is also scared of their sexual orientation. At one side we have religion, society, and the government who do not openly discuss about their views on homosexuality on the other side we have media (example movies) which discuss openly about sexually helping us to understand them better and overcome the phobia. http://www. pqmonthly. om/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/tumblr_lntljeDNDI1qmsh75o1_400. jpeg Citations :(Ritzer & Ryan, 2011, p. 288) (homophobia, (homosexuality in India, ) 8. Labeling theory: This theory is also known as social reaction theory. As the name suggests it the categorizing of behavior as deviant or criminal by the society. This is labeled so by formal or informal ways. The labeling theory is constituted by the assumption that deviant behavior is to be seen not simply as the violation of a norm but as any behavior which is successfully defined or labeled as deviant.
The labeling theory links deviance not to action but to the reaction of others. Citations: (Ritzer & Ryan, 2011, p. 344) 9. Suicide: Defined by the WHO “Suicide is the act of deliberately killing oneself. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorder (such as depression, personality disorder, alcohol dependence, or schizophrenia), and some physical illnesses, such as neurological disorders, cancer, and HIV infection. ” Other than these reasons, an individual might commit suicide cause of family issues or even due to economic strain.
Even media is a reason for suicide; adolescents get influenced by celebrities or even movies and come to a conclusion that suicide is the only solution to their problems. September 10th is world suicide prevention day. Citations: (Ritzer & Ryan, 2011, p. 632) (WHO, n. d. ) 10. Violence: It can be defined as the intentional use of power or force against another individual or even a group of people, resulting in an injury or psychological harm or even death of the other person. Violence is an expression of aggression. violence is of several kinds.
One can exhibit violence in physical, psychological or sexual form or simply neglecting a person to the point of deprivation. Citations: (Turner, 2006, p. 652) References: 1. Ritzer, G & Ryan, J. N. (2013). The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Blackwell publications. 2. Ritzer, G & Ryan, J. N. (2013). The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Blackwell publications. 3. Ritzer, G & Ryan, J. N. (2013). The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Blackwell publications. 4. Ritzer, G & Ryan, J. N. 2013). The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Blackwell publications. Turner, B. S. (2006). The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. New York, US: Cambridge University Press. 5. Ritzer, G & Ryan, J. N. (2013). The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Blackwell publications. Wood, D. (2013). Drug Abuse and Drug Addiction. Retrieved from http://www. med. nyu. edu/content? ChunkIID=11896 Dugdale, D. C. (2010). Drug Dependence. Retrieved from http://www. nlm. nih. gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001522. htm 6. Infanticide. (2013).
In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Infanticide Sex-Selective Abortion. (2013). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Female_foeticide Unknown author. (2012, October 9). India loses 3 million girls in infanticide. The Hindu, retrieved from http://www. thehindu. com/news/national/india-loses-3-million-girls-in-infanticide/article3981575. ece 7. Ritzer, G & Ryan, J. N. (2013). The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Blackwell publications. Homophobia. (2013). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/Homosexuality_in_India Homosexuality in India. (2013). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Homophobia 8. Ritzer, G & Ryan, J. N. (2013). The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Blackwell publications. 9. Ritzer, G & Ryan, J. N. (2013). The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Blackwell publications. WHO. (2013). Suicide. Retrieved from http://www. who. int/topics/suicide/en/ 10. Turner, B. S. (2006). The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. New York, US: Cambridge University Press.
