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The meaning of crime
‘Tough on the causes of crime.’ A famous phrase, but what is...
‘Tough on the causes of crime.’ A famous phrase, but what is crime? This unit examines how we as a ‘society’ define crime. You will look at the fear that is generated within communities and what evidence is available to support claims that are made about crime rates.
On completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- give a definition of crime (in terms of society);
- state the steps and factors that lead from a crime to conviction;
- illustrate how society views crime ‘with fear and fascination’;
- give examples of the relationship between crime rates and the evidence to support these claims.
- Duration: 8 hours
- Published on: Thursday 18th November 2010
- Level: Introductory
- Posted under: Sociology
The meaning of crime
Introduction

‘Tough on the causes of crime.’ A famous phrase, but what is crime? This unit examines how we as a ‘society’ define crime. You will look at the fear that is generated within communities and what evidence is available to support claims that are made about crime rates.
This material is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Introducing the social sciences (DD100) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to explore other courses we offer in this subject area [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .
Archive content
This is an extract from an Open University course which is no longer available to new students. If you found this interesting you could explore more free Sociology course units or view the range of currently available OU Sociology courses.
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