Man has lived in societies since the beginning of civilizations, and every society has its own culture made up of social norms and values that ensure peace and order among its people. Compliance with these norms is a feature of a society, but there have always been individuals who defy norms and exhibit behavior considered deviant or departing from the norm. To ensure compliance, there is also a written law to deal with criminal behavior that falls within deviance. However, despite similarities, there are differences between crime and deviance that will be highlighted in this article.
Key Takeaways
- Deviance is the violation of social norms, while crime is the violation of laws of the land.
- Agents of control for deviance are societal pressure and fear of gods, whereas agents of control for crime are police and judiciary.
- Deviance can be criminal or non-criminal, but crime is always criminal in nature.
Crime
All modern societies are governed by the rule of law, which means there are written and codified rules and regulations that all the people of the society must follow. These laws are created by elected legislators in the assembly. After much deliberation and debate, the legislations are passed and become laws of the land. These laws have the backing of the coercive power of the police and law courts. People violating these laws can be punished using this coercive power. Any action or behavior that violates these laws is considered a crime punishable by a court of law.
Many behaviors were once strictly considered crimes but, with the passage of time and changes in social perspectives, many of these behaviors today are merely deviances. Examples include prostitution, alcoholism, going nude in public, and stealing. Crimes can range from petty shoplifting to serious embezzlement of huge sums of money from the exchequer or the system. There are social crimes such as illicit relationships and thefts as well as murders and rapes. Various laws are made to empower courts and police to apprehend criminals and sentence them to prisons according to the provisions of the law.
Deviance
To have control over the actions and behaviors of individuals and groups in a society, there is a system of social norms and mores that is as old as civilizations themselves. These social norms developed in place of taboos that were used in primitive societies to keep people away from certain behaviors that were considered dangerous for society as a whole. Social norms are mostly cultural and usually have religious sanctions, although there are also social norms that form the basis of interaction and communication between members of society. Deviance is a concept that tells us about the behaviors that depart from the normal and are looked down upon by society to make people desist from these behaviors.
Fear of God’s curse and punishment in hell are supposed to keep people behaving according to social norms, as there is no written law to deal with deviant behavior. Societal boycott and ostracism are the ways through which society normally deals with deviance.
What is the difference between Crime and Deviance?
• Deviance is the violation of social norms, whereas crime is the violation of laws of the land.
• Agents of control for deviance are societal pressure and fear of gods, whereas agents of control for crime are police and judiciary.
• Society has no coercive power to deal with deviance, but governments have the power of punishment to tackle crime.
• Deviance can be criminal or non-criminal, but crime is always criminal in nature.
• Many behaviors that were crimes earlier have today become deviant behaviors.
• Violation of law makes deviance a crime.
• Deviance is not considered as severe as a crime.
