The difference between deviant behaviour and crimes

Definitions:

Deviance:

de·vi·ant

adj.

Differing from a norm or from the accepted standards of a society.

n.

One that differs from a norm, especially a person whose behavior and attitudes differ from accepted social standards.

[Middle English deviaunt, from Late Latin dvins, dviant-, present participle of dvire, to deviate; see deviate.] (source:http://www.thefreedictionary.com/deviance)

Crime:

–noun

1.

an action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited.

2.

criminal activity and those engaged in it: to fight crime.

3.

the habitual or frequent commission of crimes: a life of crime.

4.

any offense, serious wrongdoing, or sin.

5.

a foolish, senseless, or shameful act: It's a crime to let that beautiful garden go to ruin.

(source:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/crime)

The biggest difference between deviant behaviour and a crime is, that a crime is against the law, while deviance is only against social norms.A crime has an added characteristic in that a law has been passed against it, making it a crime or criminal offence.Deviation is what is defined as not normal by norms, values, or laws. This could be something like wearing the wrong kind of clothes to a party or killing someone – deviance is behavior that is not seen as acceptable or normal.

examples for deviant behaviour (but not criminal):

• A woman who pretends she's pregnant to keep her boyfriend - devious, but not a crime.
  
• A child who says he will clean his room after you give them their reward - then he does not. No crime committed, but a mistrust is gained.
• A boyfriend who says he'll kill himself if his girlfriend leaves. Manipulative, but no crime.
  
• putting a permanent outhouse in a residental area

examples of crimes (but not deviant):

• smoking marijuana
• Illegal Music Download
• picking provincially protected wildflowers

Putting a permanent outhouse in a residental area should be a crime, because eventually the sewage will leach into other peoples´properties , possibly contaminating water causing neighbours to get seriously sick.

In my opinion, illegal music downloads should be legalized, because so many people are engaged in doing that already without penalties. It seems impossible to stop people downloading the music as it is a global phenomenon. As long as companies and music artists are still making money, why not legalize illegal downloading?

Why do people commit crime?

There is no single cause as to why people commit crime. In my opinion, every criminal has his own reason why he/she perpetrates a crime.

I think most criminals have some psyhological problems and some some emotional troubles in their backrounds.

Some criminals just kill people because they hate the victim and do not want to have them in their lives anymore. Sometimes they jsut want revenge so they feel better. They think it is the right thing to do, because the other person has hurt the criminal first ("an eye fpr an eye and a tooth for a tooth").

Other criminals love people so much that they just want to help them. They believe that they can help end suffering in another´s life. (i.e. euthanasia,mother who killed their children).

Other people feel the stress over a bad choice. They feel the only way out is to commit a crime maybe to steal or beat someone up. This could be motivated out of a fear of loosing their house paying an outstanding debt.

Another cause why people perpetrate crimes is, because they have psychological issues (i.e. Schizophrenia) and do not know what they are doing.

May I suggest that one of the most common reasons, why people commit a crime is, because the criminals are just so greedy or need the money that they just do not care if they are perpetrating a drime and do not think about the consequences. If you do not have anything to loose, why should not you just risk it to get caught?

Another cause as to why people often commit a crime is because they get the opportunity to do it. Like the old adage "opportunity makes thieves" says, I bet that most humans would take the option and steal something if they thought that they could get away with it.

Some people are unaware of what crimes consist of. An example of this is taking candy or other food from grocery stores. Maybe children have seen adults doing such a thing and think it is the right thing to do.

Peer pressure plays a part in commiting crimes. Peers egg on others to shoplift or do break and enters probably contribute to a large part of crimes in our crimes in our own valley here.

There is an excitement to do something that you are not supposed to do. Along this thought is bullying. Peer pressure causes bullying ending in someone getting badly hurt. Most peer pressure crimes do not think about consequences.

One last thought I had regarding teens and crimes is simply put. I think they are just bored, spoilt, and want a rush of adrenaline, want some "fun", or do it for a dare and do not think about what they are doing and about the consequences if they get caught.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2010/01/26/12629476-qmi.html

I picked this crime, because there are more and more people who are trying to scam money from other people via the internet nowadays.

I think this crime fits in my theory, because the person who did that, was just too greedy and wanted to get money easily.

He probably thought that it is a good way to try that via the internet, because people mostly think that that the world wide web is safe and trust the online companys, so you can get their personal information and their money easily.