CJ 303 CRITICAL THINKING ASSIGNMENT #1
Language and terminology is an important aspect of this course. It reveals the logics and ideologies that are being used when deploying a particular term or concept. Because phrases and labels are constructed throughout history, our goal in this class is to uncover the origins of these constructions, and the reasons behind their representation, usage, and embeddedness in society. The first writing assignment is geared toward making you think about your own vocabulary and language usage.
The writing assignment is easy and straightforward. You will write a 2 to 3 page personal reflection addressing the following questions:
- What is law?
- What is a crime?
- What is deviance?
- What is deviant behavior?
- How are dominant social norms related to deviance and crime?
Please note: This is a personal reflection so feel free to engage these questions with honesty and sincerity, these assignments will not be shared with anyone.
Assignment Guidelines
The assignment will be submitted online via Canvas. Please submit the assignment as a Word (.doc or .docx) document or as PDF attachment (to submit below click add attachment)
The guidelines for the assignments are as follows:
–2-3 pages in length or 450 to 900 word count
–Double-spaced
–Using Times New Roman 12pt Font
–Please no messing with the margins
–Formal grammar, syntax and organization are expected
–Book and Article References are not required unless otherwise noted
CJ 303 Critical Thinking Assignment #1
- What is law?
Different authors have the various definition of what is the law. These definitions depend on certain schools of thought. The naturalist defines law as legal statutes that guide the court of justice. On the other hand, the positivists indicate that law is an aggregate set of rules for all political subjects. Thus, this perspective indicates that the law is a set of rules that everyone in society should follow. Understanding the concept of law is confined to the body of rules, legal statutes, and a controlling authority that determines the conduct of rules of action under the constitution. Therefore, the law is the government’s established framework to guide the rule of conduct. For this reason, the law constitutes adherence to certain customs, legal statutes, practices a user of the constitutional framework to guide people’s behaviour in business, crime, finance, property and social relationship. The controlling authority, which is the state enforces the law.
- What is a crime?
Crime constitutes a deliberate action that injures another psychologically or physically. A crime can also affect the property in terms of malicious damage against the statutes of the law. Crime is an offence under the land laws that involves prosecution by the state. Society has established norms and values which guide the behaviour of an individual. However, if a person does not abide by these normative values, the state can prosecute them. For example, cases of rape, asset, arson, theft, violence and others are criminal offences that the law has established. Therefore, people who commit a crime can be arrested and prosecuted so that the victim gets justice through the court of law orders.
- What is deviance?
Deviance represents unacceptable behaviour. It is a sociological sense of describing violations of society’s norms. Therefore, deviance ranges from minor offences such as violence or even traffic violation to something major such as rape. Deviance relates coldly with the concept of crime because it reflects the tendency to break the law or fail to conform to a given society’s social values and expectations. Most criminal behaviour represents deviance. Although it is challenging to describe deviance, it constitutes criminal and non-criminal acts. The principal feature is the tendency for rule-breaking.
- What is deviant behaviour?
Deviant behaviours are actions from members of a society that violates the norms. The deviant behaviour goes against the social values, expectations of the social system and normative values. Whenever a person behaves in a manner that does not conform to society, they engage in social disorganization. Deviant behaviour can indicate the criminal dimension when it contravenes existing legal structures. It means that when an individual behaves contrary to society’s dominant norms, they can be isolated for manifesting deviance. Therefore, cases of deviance that act contrary to legal statuses constitute a crime, and the police can prosecute such a person.
- How are dominant social norms related to deviance and crime?
Norms are social expectations that people learn. Any violation of these established norms constitutes deviance. When the violation of the norm extends the cultural context and affects the statutes of the law, then the criminal justice system considers it a crime. Therefore, the relationship between norms and crimes lies in the transgression of societal values ad legal systems. Behavior that violet the normative rules can constitute the transgression of the law. Although crime is a product of deviance, practical evidence suggests that dominant social norms prevent individuals from depicting deviant behavior and committing crimes.
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