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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper consider how crime may be argued to be a social construct and how it may be argued as not being a social construct, The paper looks at legal and social theory and applies it to the modern world including the view of terrorism. The bibliography cites 10 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TS14_TEcrimsoc.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
much so that we may argue, that crime is a socially constructed phenomenon. If we look at the definition of crime Ivamy
(2000) states that it is "an act which is forbidden, or the omission of an act which is commanded by the Common Law, by statute or by regulations made by
a subordinate authority: the remedy for which is the punishment of the offender at the instance of the state" (page 70). This indicates, by its nature it is an action,
or an inaction that society has deemed unacceptable, indicating that there is at least some element of social construction in the determination of crime (Raz, 1979)
If law determines what is and is not crime then we need to consider is law is creating these as crimes and then the law is
enforcing this moral framework, or if the law is only reflecting what individuals believe should be correct which then may be more akin to the approach of natural law rather
than that of crime being a social construct. If they are a social construct the committing a crime is deviating form this social construct (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000).
In looking at the role of the law in relationship to detaining what is and is not a crime we can look at the
theories of Hart and Devlin one of which sees the role of law as dictating morals to society the other see it as a reflection. The way in which a
society is governed can be seen as a mixture of both the law and of less formal but equally as strong social constraints. There are many that have argued the
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