Understanding Crime vs Deviance
You'll need to nail the distinction between criminality and deviance for your exams - they're related but definitely not the same thing. Crime breaks actual laws and gets you punished through courts, whilst deviance simply violates social norms and expectations.
Criminal behaviour requires two elements: actus reus (the physical act) and mens rea (criminal intent). This separates genuine crimes from accidents. The Criminal Justice System handles these through formal sanctions - custody, fines, community sentences, or discharges after court proceedings.
Deviant behaviour covers a much broader range - from queue jumping to facial tattoos. Émile Durkheim explained that deviance actually helps society by reinforcing our "collective consciousness" of right and wrong. Most deviant acts aren't criminal (like shouting in a library), though some criminal acts aren't seen as particularly deviant by everyone.
Remember: Not all deviant behaviour is criminal, and not all criminal behaviour is considered deviant by society.
Informal sanctions handle most deviance through social disapproval, embarrassment, or exclusion - no courts needed. However, when deviant behaviour becomes widely condemned enough, society often creates laws against it, turning deviance into crime through formal sanctions.
The criminalisation process shows how fluid these boundaries are - what's deviant today might be criminal tomorrow, and what's criminal now might become accepted later.