Comprehensive WJEC Criminology Unit 1 Notes with Top Essay Examples

Crime vs Deviance: The Basics

You need to understand that crime and deviance are different but often overlap. Crime is any act that breaks the law and can be punished formally - think prison, fines, or community service. Every crime needs two elements: actus reus (the guilty act) and mens rea (the guilty mind or intention).

Deviance is broader - it's any behaviour that goes against social norms or morality. This could be wearing trainers to court, eating smelly food in public, or having facial tattoos. Society responds to deviance with informal sanctions like frowning or name-calling.

Deviance comes in three types: odd behaviour (just strange), bad behaviour (negative), and admired behaviour (positive but unusual, like jumping in front of a car to save someone). The key point? Something can be deviant without being criminal, criminal without being deviant, or both.

Remember: Crime requires legal punishment, deviance just breaks social rules - but many acts are both!

White Collar Crime

White collar crime proves that crime isn't just a working-class issue. These are non-violent crimes committed in commercial settings for financial gain - think fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, and Ponzi schemes.

The typical offender is upper-class, high net worth, male, and highly intelligent. About half are white males with an average age of 41. They often hide behind companies, making these hidden crimes where victims don't even know they're being targeted.

Bernie Madoff is your classic case study - he defrauded investors of over $50 billion in the biggest Ponzi scheme in US history and got 150 years in prison. Despite an estimated 4.5 million fraud crimes yearly, only around 7,000 prosecutions happened in 2018, showing how these crimes often go unpunished.

The typical victims are older people with money to invest (average reporting age 40-60) who are more likely to trust these schemes. Public awareness remains low because the crimes are well-hidden and complex.

Key insight: White collar criminals look respectable and trustworthy - that's exactly how they get away with it for so long!

Moral Crime

Moral crimes go against society's expected levels of morality but can still be punished formally. These include drug use, underage drinking, assisted suicide, prostitution, and even homelessness in some contexts.

What makes moral crimes unique is they're often victimless - the offender and victim are usually the same person. A prostitute commits an offence but is also victimised by that prostitution. The typical offender may be in a difficult situation like drug abuse or poverty.

Public awareness stays low because these offences are often hidden from families, and the public sometimes ignores them out of sympathy. People understand these crimes often stem from desperate circumstances rather than pure criminal intent.

These crimes are both criminal (can be punished formally) and deviant (break social norms). Campaign slogans like "The only way is the moral way" aim to address the underlying issues rather than just punish the behaviour.

Think about it: If the offender is also the victim, how should society respond - with punishment or support?

State Crime

State crime is when governments or state agencies commit crimes to further their policies. This includes genocide, torture, war crimes, imprisonment without trial, and human rights violations - essentially, when the people meant to protect us become the criminals.

The Holocaust is your key case study. Nazi ideology promoted Aryan racial superiority and blamed Jews for Germany's problems. Concentration camps were used for forced labour and horrific experiments, while extermination camps like Auschwitz were designed specifically for mass murder.

Typical victims are citizens with different religions or political views from the government. Offenders are high-ranking officials or those acting under government instructions. Public awareness is usually high due to media coverage and the extreme nature of these crimes.

State crimes are both deviant and criminal - they break international laws and go against basic human morality. The Holocaust led to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and genocide conventions, showing how these crimes reshape international law.

Historical lesson: Understanding state crimes like the Holocaust helps us recognise warning signs and prevent future atrocities.

Hate Crime

Hate crime is any crime perceived by the victim to be motivated by prejudice against five protected characteristics: race, religion, sexuality, gender/transgender, and disability. Race is the most common type, making up 70% of hate crimes in 2023.

These crimes carry aggravating factors, meaning harsher sentences. Anyone can be a victim if they fall into these categories, with Muslims, Jews, Black and Asian people, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ individuals being common targets.

Matthew Shepard's case changed everything. This 21-year-old university student was tied to a fence and left to die in 1998 - one of America's most notorious anti-gay hate crimes. His death raised awareness of homophobia and inspired the Hate Crime Prevention Act.

Awareness is increasing dramatically - reports jumped from 40,000 in 2012 to 140,000 in 2023. The 2001 Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act ensures religiously aggravated offences are treated more harshly.

Shocking stat: 1 in 6 LGB people experience homophobia, showing how widespread this problem remains.

Cyber/Technological Crime

Cyber crime uses computers to further illegal ends, and it's exploding. Examples include child pornography, fraud, identity theft, privacy violations, and using social media to spread hate - like during the riots following the Southport stabbing.

The most common type is phishing (fraud to gain personal data) with 320,000 cases in 2021. Anyone with internet access can be a victim, but young people who don't know where to turn for help and elderly people who fall for email frauds are particularly vulnerable.

The numbers are staggering: 97 cyber crime victims every hour, over 68,000 identity theft cases reported in the UK, and 50% of UK businesses have been victims. It costs the country around £14.8 billion annually.

Offenders are often overseas, making prosecution difficult due to different legal systems. Awareness varies - major incidents like Euro 2020 online abuse get heavy media coverage, while smaller crimes get less attention.

Reality check: With 700 incidents per month in 2020, cyber crime affects almost everyone - protection isn't optional anymore.