Crime and Deviance: A Sociological and Philosophical Analysis

Crime and Deviance

The Nature of Crime

Crime consists of two components: prohibition and violation. Crime would not exist if there were no prohibitions and nobody willing to violate them. Humans coexist with two opposing tendencies: an impulsive component and a normative component. This duality is not found in animals, as they possess inhibitory mechanisms, while humans rely on culture.

The concept of crime has varied across time and space. Its application can also change depending on the subject. For example, monarchs historically enjoyed special immunity. Factors such as age, sex, and the concept of legal age also vary. However, we can affirm that the qualification of a subject as "criminal" aligns increasingly with human development.

Defining Crime

Another problem lies in defining crime. Penal codes, usually in one of their first articles, provide a definition or concept of crime. This constitutes the formal or legal concept. The Spanish Penal Code, in Article 10, defines crimes as "malicious or careless actions or omissions punishable by law".

Is it possible to find a universal concept of crime? If one accepts that criminology, with crime as its object of study, and therefore the definition of who is a criminal, depends on the prevailing social and political values in a given time and place, it becomes impossible for criminology to ever become a science.

Garofolo, Durkheim, and several American sociologists attempted to solve this problem, each with a different perspective. This leads us to the term deviance. Giner provides a definition: any deviation from conduct that does not fit the rules of a particular social system. Becker argues that deviance is socially created.

Deviance

Offenders are considered deviant, but so are hippies, drug users, the poor, and the mentally ill. The problem of defining deviance presents the same challenges as defining crime, and its neutrality is equally false. Regarding legal protection, every political system protects certain goods, aiming to protect the common good.

Herman and Julia Schwendinger proposed that all people should be provided with essential requirements, which they call human rights, such as clothing, housing, and food. Baratta echoed this sentiment and was among the first to discuss human rights in this context. Later, Lola Aniyar de Castro insisted on this direction, attempting to fulfill fundamental needs using a table of basic needs and their cultural concomitants.