Crimes of the Powerful
Crime and Deviance: This short film illustrates how crimes committed by powerful social actors differ in terms of both: type – the distinction between white-collar, corporate and state crime for example – and extent; how and why such criminality differs from the criminal behaviour of the relatively powerless. The film also features David Whyte talking […]
Moral Panics
Crime and Deviance: This film examines the concepts of moral panic and deviancy amplification through both a classic – Stan Cohen talking about the origins and implications of his concept in the context of Mods and Rockers in the early 1960’s – and contemporary lens: Adrian Beck looks at an example of a recent moral […]
Crime and Gender: Closing the Gap
Crime and Deviance: The most consistent finding in the study of crime is the relationship between crime and gender. In almost every country, over 80% of crime is committed by males. But in recent years, the gender gap has been closing: the male crime rate has been steadily falling while the female crime rate, especially […]
Strain Theory
Crime and Deviance: Robert Merton was one of the first sociologists to look at the relationship between culture and crime and this film provides a clear and concise introduction to his seminal Strain Theory. The focus here is its application to contemporary consumer societies and its continuing influence on modern theories of crime.
Space, Place and (Broken) Windows
Crime and Deviance: Spatial criminology asks whether it’s possible to reduce crime by changing social spaces. This short film featuring Dr Steven Taylor, begins with Zimbardo’s influential abandoned cars experiment and the development of Wilson and Kelling’s broken windows theory. It looks at the impact of broken windows policy on the reduction of crime in […]
The Cannibal on Bus 1170
Crime and Deviance: In 2008, Vincent Li murdered and then cannibalised 22 year old Tim McLean on a Greyhound Bus heading for Winnipeg. And the shock waves ran through Canadian society. But when Li was subsequently found unfit to face trail and later released, shock turned to outrage and triggered a social media moral panic. […]
Labelling Theory
Crime and Deviance: Traditionally criminology focused on criminal action and its control, but in the 1960’s Labelling Theory widened the focus to include the social reaction to crime and its consequences. This film documents the rise and subsequent fall of Labelling Theory and illustrates how aspects of it continue to influence contemporary criminology and criminal […]