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 course provides a sample of Level 1 study in Sociology.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, 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.