Crime as a Social Construct

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Research Proposal

Hira Wasti

2/24/2015

1317160

Instructor: Bilal Zubedi

CRIME AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

INTRODUCTION

Background:

The word crime follows its root from the Latin word ‘cernō’, meaning “I decide, I give judgment”. Crime was mainly referred to an offence against any social group or a community. But this definition has undergone some large transformation with time. Crime is a disease which is spreading in the exact same patterns as diseases like HIV and Tuberculosis.

Crime involves the breaking or violating of the rules and laws which are designated by the institutions of society as violating laws. To make it more clearly, only the formal laws which are broken through deviant behavior, is called crime. The informal customs, rules and norms can never be considered as a crime. That would just be referred as deviance. It is the behavior of human beings which turns into crime through social construction. The behavior which is considered as a crime in one society might be an act of honor in another society or in the same society at different time and setting.

Different sociological theories suggest a better understanding about crime. The Functionalist Theory suggests that, crime results from social structural strains within society. Another profound hypothesis of the same perspective suggests that, crime is maybe necessary to the society because it helps holding the society together. Symbolic Interaction Theory says that crime is a behavior that is learnt through social interaction. Also, labelling criminals reinforces them rather than deterring the crime. The third sociological theory, the Conflict Theory, says that, the lower the social class, the more the individual is forced into criminality. Also, inequalities in society by race, class, gender, and other forces tend to produce criminal activities in the society.

Each perspective provides a social condition for the criminal behavior and crime. Above are some main findings of crime as a social construct which we would be focusing on in this study.

Problem:

There are certain issues and consequences which rise due to the presence of crime in our society. These are mentioned as follows:

• Crime is a disease which infects and boosts other factors in the society towards criminal behavior.
• If not treated, crime becomes a part of the society’s social construction and makes people immune towards its elimination.
• The amount and quality of law enforcement is very low which leads to the promotion of higher crime rate. Less collective efficacy also contributes in this promotion.
• Media plays an important role in giving the impression that crime is a constant threat to our society and is on the rise. Through this, violent images are being imprinted in the minds of people and opening ways for criminal to perform new acts of criminal behavior.

Objectives of the Study:

• To identify the main factors that evokes crime in the society.
• To provide a possible outcome on how crime can be controlled, if not eliminated, from any society.
• To explain different forms of crime and how our society perceives them.
• To highlight the relation of crime with race, gender, class and inequality.

Research Questions:

Q1- What provokes criminal behavior in a society?

Q2- Is crime increasing or decreasing with time?

Q3- How can crime completely cured? If not completely, then to what extent can it be controlled?

Q4- What is the relation of crime with race, gender, class and inequality?

Justification:

The author chose to study crime as a social construct because it is a root weakening factor of any society and other criminal behaviors. The study can provide the reasons as to why crime takes birth and how can it be decreased or eliminated. The research by the author cannot only provide understanding about the way humans constitute their world around crime but also provide knowledge about how they can transform this construct to make their world a better place to live.

Limitations:

Firstly, this study comprises of qualitative approach so the quality of research is heavily dependent on the author’s individual skills and might be easily influenced by the author’s personal biases.

Secondly, since the study is of qualitative nature, the volume of data to be studied might make analysis and interpretation a bit time consuming.

Thirdly, the research is not going to use surveys or questionnaires as a source of data collection because the researcher’s presence during the data gathering process can affect the participant’s response.

Scope:

The scope of this study cannot be limited to a specific extent because crime is an on-going process. However crime is a disease, so it will be treated as a symptom and the study will go as far as providing best possible ways of curing it. The author has chosen qualitative form of research for the study, so the results can be generalized to those who have become a victim of crime in one way or the other at any time.

Assumptions:

One assumption that the author took to conduct this research is that crime is a phenomenon which can be cured through collective efficacy of the people since it is a social construct.

Another assumption taken under study is that crime directly affects the lives of those who have never been a victim or never have been involved in criminal behavior.

Definition of Key Terms:

Crime is the classification of behavior defined by the lawmakers as offensive and convicts it’s performer of punishment. Here, crime is a disease so it will be treated as a symptom throughout the study.

Criminal Behavior is an act or failure to act in a way that violates public law.

The Functionalist Theory says that crime results from social structural strains (such as class inequality) within society. Also, crime may be functional to society thus difficult to eradicate.

The Symbolic Interaction Theory suggests that crime is behavior that is learned through social interaction and labeling criminals tends to reinforce rather than deter crime.

The Conflict Theory suggests that the lower the social class, the more the individual is forced into criminality. Also inequalities in society by race, class, gender, and other forces tend to produce criminal activity.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Research Design:

Qualitative method of research will be used in this research by the author. This is because the qualitative research design will provide an insight of the crime as a social construct and how it can be cured being a disease.