Sociology of Crime and Deviance and Social Stratification

This study area examines the sociological relationship between social structures (stratification) and social control (crime and deviance). It explores how social class, gender, ethnicity, and age influence both the likelihood of criminal behavior and the experience of victimization and punishment. The module contrasts definitions of crime versus deviance, analyzes the social construction of criminality, and evaluates the reliability of official crime statistics versus victim surveys. It integrates classical and contemporary theories—including Functionalism, Marxism, Interactionism, Realism, and Post-modernism—to explain patterns of offending and the role of the criminal justice system in maintaining or challenging social inequality.