Book Notes — Ch 2 Understanding Criminology (Book pp. 37–42)

Every point from the textbook's Chapter 2 pages, rewritten as short exam notes. Read the 💬 box first, then the bullets, then the 🎯 exam angle. The main Chapter 2 page has the lecture-based theory (case law, history, objectives); this page has the book's own lists that MCQs are made from.

0. ✅ Coverage Map (nothing missed)

Book topic	Page	Section here
Scope of criminology (4 points, 7 branches, 6 measures)	37	§1
Subareas: criminological perspectives (6 boxes)	37–38	§2
Criminology and criminal law: scholarly objective	38	§3
Conventional definition of crime and criminal law	38	§4
Characteristics of criminal law: sources, agencies, court decisions, intermediary agencies	39	§5
Elements of criminal law: politicality, specificity, uniformity, penal sanction	39	§6
Common law crimes (12 offences)	40–41	§7
Differential social disorganization; heterogeneity of norms	41	§8
Social harm	41	§9
Crime and deviance	41–42	§10
Related concepts box (deviance, vice, sin, norms, taboos, anomie, alienation)	42	§11
MCQ traps, 25 MCQs, model answers, checklist	—	§12–15

⚠️

Do not mix these up (the book and the lecture use different lists):

Book's “elements of criminal law” = politicality, specificity, uniformity, penal sanction (§6).

Lecture's “elements of crime” = actus reus, mens rea, causation, concurrence, harm, legality (main Chapter 2 page).

Book's scope of criminology has 7 branches (adds criminal epidemiology and physical anthropology, and says criminal psychiatry). Chapter 1's five sub-branches are a shorter list. Learn both; write the longer one.

1. 🔭 The Scope of Criminology (book's box, p. 37)

Point 1: study of the causes of crimes and the development of criminals.
Point 2: study of the origin and development of criminal laws.
Point 3: study of the different factors, shown as seven branches:

#	Branch	What it studies (book)	Layman version
a	Criminal sociology	Effects of social conditions on crime and criminals, including the machinery of justice and the evolution of criminal law and punishment	How society shapes crime and how it answers
b	Criminal psychiatry	The human mind in relation to criminality	The offender's mind
c	Criminal ecology	Criminality in relation to spatial distribution in a community	Where crime clusters on the map
d	Criminal demography	Relationship between criminality and population	Who and how many: age, sex, numbers
e	Criminal epidemiology	Relationship between environment and criminality	How crime spreads like a disease in some surroundings
f	Criminal physical anthropology	Criminality in relation to the physical constitution of men	Body build and crime (Lombroso-style)
g	Victimology	The role of the victim in the commission of crime	The victim's part in the event

🧠 Chunk the seven: Society side (sociology, ecology, demography, epidemiology) · Person side (psychiatry, physical anthropology) · Victim side (victimology).
Point 4: study of the processes and measures adopted by society against violation of criminal laws:
1. Detection and investigation of crimes
2. Arrest and apprehension of criminals
3. Prosecution and conviction in a judicial proceeding
4. Enforcement of laws, decrees and regulations
5. Administration of the police and other law enforcement agencies
6. Maintenance of recreational facilities and other auxiliary measures to prevent the development of crime and criminal behaviour
🧠 Chain to remember: Detect → Arrest → Prosecute → Enforce → Run the police → Prevent.

💬

In plain English: criminology covers (1) why people become criminals, (2) where criminal laws come from, (3) seven side-studies (society, mind, map, population, surroundings, body, victim), and (4) everything society does about crime, from catching to preventing.

🎯

Exam angle: scope is the most repeated question (2016, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2025). Write the four points, expand point 3 with all seven branches, then add a Pakistan example for each (see Chapter 1 Pakistan mapping table).

2. 🧭 Subareas: Criminological Perspectives (book's box, pp. 37–38)

The major perspectives focus on: individual factors (biological, psychological, choice theories); social factors (structural and process theories); political and economic factors (conflict theory); and multiple factors (developmental theory).

Perspective	Force named by the book	Core claim (book)	Extra link (not in book)
Classical / Choice	Situational forces	Crime is a function of free will and personal choice; punishment is a deterrent	Beccaria, Bentham
Biological / Psychological	Internal forces	Crime is a function of chemical, neurological, genetic makeup, personality, intelligence or mental traits	Lombroso; psychopathy
Structural	Ecological forces	Crime rates are a function of neighbourhood conditions, cultural forces and norm conflict	Shaw and McKay; strain
Process	Socialization forces	Crime is a function of upbringing, learning and control; peers, parents and teachers influence behaviour	Differential association; social control; labelling
Conflict	Economic and political forces	Crime is a function of competition for limited resources and power; class conflict produces crime	Marx, Turk, Quinney
Developmental	Multiple forces	Biological, social-psychological, economic and political forces may combine to produce crime	Life-course theories

🧠 Memory hook: I-S-P-M = Individual (classical, biological/psychological) · Social (structural, process) · Political-economic (conflict) · Multiple (developmental). Six perspectives, four groups.
🧠 Force words: Situational · Internal · Ecological · Socialization · Economic-political · Multiple.

💬

In plain English: Choice = he decided to. Biology/psychology = something inside him. Structural = the neighbourhood. Process = how he was raised and who he copied. Conflict = the powerful versus the powerless. Developmental = a mix of all, over a lifetime.

🎯

Exam angle: this box is the map of Chapter 4 (theories). A strong answer lists the six with the one force-word each, then says no single perspective explains all crime, which is why developmental theories combine them.

3. 🔬 Criminology and Criminal Law: the Scholarly Objective (p. 38)

The scholarly objective of criminology is to build a body of knowledge about the process of law, crime and reaction to crime.
Much of this knowledge comes from observing the success or failure of practical efforts to reduce crime and delinquency.
That knowledge also helps other social sciences and our understanding of social behaviour.
Key argument: if practical programmes wait for complete theory, they will wait for eternity. Theory grows most by finding out why some programmes work and others do not, and by spotting undesirable, unanticipated consequences.

💬

In plain English: do not wait for perfect theory. Try programmes, watch what works and what backfires, and learn from that. Practice feeds theory.

🎯

Exam angle: use this as the link between criminology and criminal law: law is the practical response, criminology studies whether it works. Add a Pakistan example such as reviewing the effect of capital punishment or probation on reoffending.

4. 📜 Conventional Definition of Crime and the Criminal Law (p. 38)

Criminal behaviour = behaviour in violation of a criminal law.
However immoral, reprehensible or indecent an act is, it is not a criminal act unless the state outlaws it.
Criminal law = a list of specific forms of human conduct that has been outlawed by political authority, applies uniformly to all persons under that authority, and is enforced by punishment administered by the state.
Four characteristics that separate criminal law from other rules:
1. Politicality (made by political authority)
2. Specificity (specific forms of conduct)
3. Uniformity (applies to all alike)
4. Penal sanction (punishment by the state)
🧠 Hook: P-S-U-P = Politics Sets Uniform Penalties.
But (critical point): these are characteristics of an ideal, complete system. In practice the differences between criminal law and other bodies of rules are not clear-cut, and the ideal characteristics are only partly true of criminal law in action (the end of this sentence is cut off in the page photo).

💬

In plain English: a thing is a crime only if the state has banned it by name, for everyone, with a punishment. In real life the line between law and other rules is blurrier than the textbook ideal.

5. 🏛️ Characteristics of the Criminal Law (p. 39)

5.1 Where the rules come from

The vast majority of rules defining criminal behaviour are found in: constitution, treaties, common law, enactments of the legislatures of the state and its subdivisions, and judicial and administrative regulations.
🧠 Six sources: Constitution · Treaties · Common law · Legislatures · Judicial regulations · Administrative regulations.
But criminal law is not merely a collection of written proscriptions.

5.2 Law in action (three actors)

Actor	Book's point	Layman version
Agencies of enforcement (police and courts)	Along with the legislature they determine what the law is. One school says they merely “apply” the law evenly, but their techniques of interpreting and applying statutes and their ideals are part of the law in action as truly as written statutes. A court decision in one case becomes part of the rules for later cases	Police and judges do not just read the law out; their habits and judgments shape it
Court decisions	Law students must read court decisions to learn law. The nature of the law itself, not just its administration, is shaped to a considerable extent by the proportion of liberals and conservatives on the supreme bench	Who sits on the top court changes what the law means
Intermediary agencies (for example police departments, between courts and legislature)	Many statutes are never enforced; some are enforced only rarely; others with a striking disregard for uniformity. Agencies are affected by shifts in public opinion, budget allocations and power. So the law often changes while the statutes stay the same	A law on paper can be ignored in practice, or enforced unevenly

💬

In plain English: the law is not only the book. It is also what police actually enforce and what judges decide. That is why the same statute can mean different things in different years.

🎯

Exam angle: distinguish law in books from law in action (a very good critical point). Pakistan examples: rarely enforced regulations, uneven enforcement against the powerful, budget limits on police, changing priorities after events.

6. 🧱 Elements of Criminal Law (the book's four, p. 39)

Element	Book's meaning	Illustration or catch
Politicality	Almost universally a necessary element. Only violations of rules made by the state are crimes. But the distinction between the state and other groups is quite arbitrary	Gypsy (Romani) groups in the book: no territorial organisation, no written law, but customs, taboos and a semi-judicial council that decides on the propriety of members' behaviour and imposes penalties. They have no political authority over the group they operate in, yet perform the same function inside their own group
Specificity	The contrast between criminal and civil law. Civil law may be general; criminal law gives a strict definition of a specific act. There is no general provision that any act done with culpable intent that injures the public can be prosecuted as an offence	You cannot be punished for “being harmful”; the exact act must be named in law
Uniformity (regularity)	Law tries to give even-handed justice without respect to person. No exceptions for a person's social status	The book says this ideal is rarely followed in practice
Penal sanction	Violators will be punished or at least threatened with punishment by the state. A law with no penalty that causes suffering is impotent and no criminal law at all	No punishment, no criminal law

🧠 Hook: P-S-U-P again (same four as §4).

💬

In plain English: Politicality = made by the state. Specificity = names the exact act. Uniformity = same rule for rich and poor. Penal sanction = there must be a punishment.

🎯

Exam angle: pair each element with its limit in practice: politicality (informal group justice such as jirga or panchayat in Pakistan), specificity (vague offences), uniformity (elite impunity), penal sanction (weak enforcement). This is a strong “elements and characteristics of criminal law” answer.

7. ⚖️ Common Law Crimes (book's box, pp. 40–41)

📌

These are textbook common-law definitions (US/English style). Learn the definition keywords; examples help recall. Pakistan's equivalents are in the PPC (see the extra table below).

7.1 Crimes against the person

Crime	Definition (key words)	Book's example
First-degree murder	Unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought, premeditation and deliberation	A woman buys poison and puts it in her husband's coffee to get the insurance money
Voluntary manslaughter	Intentional killing under extenuating circumstances that mitigate it, such as the heat of passion after provocation	A husband comes home early, finds his wife with another man, and shoots both in a rage
Battery	Unlawful touching of another with intent to cause injury	A man pushes a stranger out of his favourite seat in a cafeteria
Assault	Intentional placing of another in fear of immediate battery	A student aims an unloaded gun at her professor and threatens to shoot; the professor believes it is loaded
Rape	Unlawful sexual intercourse without consent	(none given)
Robbery	Wrongful taking and carrying away of personal property from a person by violence or intimidation	A man with a loaded gun demands another man's wallet on a deserted street

7.2 Inchoate (incomplete) offences

Crime	Definition (key words)	Book's example
Attempt	An intentional act to commit a crime that is more than mere preparation; the crime is not completed	A bomb is placed in the victim's car to explode on ignition but is discovered first: attempted murder
Conspiracy	Voluntary agreement between two or more people to achieve an unlawful object or a lawful object by unlawful means	(none given)
Solicitation	With intent that another commit a felony, a person requests, commands or tries to cause that person to do it	A terrorist begs a sympathetic person to join a plot to blow up a government building

7.3 Crimes against property

Crime	Definition (key words)	Book's example
Burglary	Breaking and entering a dwelling house of another in the night-time with intent to commit a felony	A young man breaks a window and enters a house at 10 p.m. to steal jewellery and silver
Arson	Intentional burning of a dwelling house of another	A worker, angry at being denied a raise, sets her boss's house on fire
Larceny	Taking and carrying away the personal property of another with intent to keep it	A shopper pockets a diamond ring from a jewellery counter when no one is looking

7.4 Look-alike traps (sort these out)

Pair or trio	The one-line difference
Assault vs battery	Assault = fear of immediate harm (no touch needed). Battery = actual unlawful touching
Robbery vs larceny vs burglary	Robbery = taking from a person by force or threat. Larceny = quiet taking of property. Burglary = breaking into a house at night with intent to commit a felony
Murder vs voluntary manslaughter	Murder = premeditated with malice. Manslaughter = intentional but in heat of passion after provocation
Attempt vs conspiracy vs solicitation	Attempt = act beyond preparation, not completed. Conspiracy = agreement of two or more. Solicitation = asking or urging another to commit a felony
Burglary vs arson	Both involve a dwelling house of another: burglary = entering to commit a felony; arson = burning it

🧠 Count and group: 6 person + 3 inchoate + 3 property = 12 listed; the box names six person crimes, three inchoate, and three property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny). Chunk as P-I-P: Person, Inchoate, Property.

Extra: Pakistan equivalents (not in the book; verify section numbers in the PPC before quoting)

Book offence	Closest Pakistani law (PPC)
Murder	Qatl-i-amd, s.300 and s.302
Assault and battery	Criminal force and assault, s.349 to s.358 range
Rape	s.375 and s.376 (amended 2020)
Robbery	s.390 to s.392; dacoity s.391
Larceny	Theft, s.378
Burglary	House-breaking and house-trespass, s.441 to s.457 range
Arson	Mischief by fire, s.435 and s.436
Attempt	s.511 and offence-specific attempt provisions
Conspiracy	Criminal conspiracy, s.120-A and s.120-B

🎯

Exam angle: use for “classify crimes” or “common law crimes” short notes: three headings (person, inchoate, property), one definition and one example each. Add a line that common law crimes became statutory in Pakistan through the PPC 1860.

A condition of normative conflict, ordinarily called social “disorganization”, because directives for conformity are not uniform and harmonious.
In this condition society lacks consensus on societal goals, or on the means of achieving agreed goals.
The individual faces alternative means or goals, or lives where the norms of many members are unknown to others.
Each male is “transformed from being his father's son into a citizen”; he then finds that behaviour right in one group is wrong in other groups he belongs to.
Or, in anomie, he literally does not know how to behave because he does not know what is expected of him.

8.1 Heterogeneity of norms

Both a criminal or delinquent subculture and an anti-delinquent (anti-criminal) subculture have developed.
Society is organised so that a premium is placed both on refraining from crime and on perpetrating it.
A person may belong to a group organised against crime and, at the same time, to a group organised for criminal behaviour.
Key line: violating a norm is not a crime, but violating law is a crime.

💬

In plain English: when the rules from family, friends, gang, school and law all point different ways, a person gets mixed signals. Some groups reward crime, some punish it, and one person can be in both kinds of group.

🎯

Exam angle: this is the bridge to Sutherland's differential association and social disorganization (Shaw and McKay) in Chapter 4. Always end with the key line: norm violation is not crime; law violation is.

The consensus view of crime links illegal behaviour to social harm.
People enjoy latitude in behaviour, but behaviours harmful to others and to society must be controlled.
Social harm is what separates strange, unusual or deviant behaviour from criminal behaviour; it is the dividing line from other departures from norms.
So many deviant acts are not criminal, even if shocking or immoral.
Book's example: watching sexually explicit films (adult films). Religious leaders would condemn it as immoral and decadent, but it is not a crime and no legal action can be taken, because the general consensus is that it does not cause sufficient harm to the viewer or to the adult performers.
But if the film involved children, its production and sale would be outlawed, because making such films is extremely harmful to minors.

💬

In plain English: society bans what clearly hurts others, not what merely offends its taste. The line is harm.

🎯

Exam angle: answers “social harm vs legal wrong”. Add a Pakistan point: harm to children (child protection laws) is criminalised everywhere, while contested behaviours differ by religious and cultural context.

10. 🎭 Crime and Deviance (pp. 41–42)

The terms are often used together or interchangeably, but they are distinct, though interrelated, categories.

10.1 Crime

Crime, in its most straightforward sense, is behaviour formally prohibited and punishable under criminal law.
Such offences are the subject-matter of mainstream criminological investigation.
Criminologists may also study activities that are not criminal as such (they fall under administrative law or regulations) because they may cause serious harm to society and its members; the fact that they are not criminal is itself worth examining.
Crime is a social construct: some harmful acts are deemed crimes and not others. What counts as crime depends on the legal standing of an act at a particular place and time.
So new crimes are constantly created, and behaviours criminal at one time may be decriminalised.

10.2 Deviance

Deviance denotes behaviour that breaches informal social norms and is therefore seen as undesirable or objectionable.
An act may be deviant yet entirely legal (book's example: consensual sadomasochistic sex).
An act may be not seen as deviant by the majority yet outlawed (book's example: speeding).
Behaviour may be decriminalised as cultural understandings and sensibilities change.
Interconnection: formal (legal) and informal (cultural) ideas of what is appropriate or inappropriate, normal or abnormal, desirable or undesirable are linked. Societal views about deviance may drive criminalisation when people call for the behaviour to be formally outlawed.

Basis	Crime	Deviance
Rule broken	Formal law (criminal law)	Informal social norms
Response	Police, courts, punishment	Social disapproval, stigma
Studied by	Mainstream criminology	Sociology of deviance; also criminology
Overlap	Murder, rape: crime and deviant	Speeding: crime but not deviant; consensual unusual acts: deviant but not crime

🧠 Venn picture: two overlapping circles. Overlap = deviant crimes; crime-only = speeding; deviance-only = legal but disapproved acts.

💬

In plain English: crime = against the law. Deviance = against the group's unwritten rules. Some acts are both, some only one, and as society changes, acts can move in or out of the law.

🎯

Exam angle: for the CSS 2022-type question, draw the overlap, give one example for each region, and mention criminalisation and decriminalisation (Pakistan: kite-flying, Women Protection Act 2006).

Term	Book's meaning	Crime?
Deviance	Aberration from norms; behaviour that breaches a rule or etiquette, custom or morality	Usually not a crime
Vice	A moral fault or failing, especially immoral conduct or habit, like indulgence of degrading appetites; a customary deviation in a single respect; a defect of natural character, or harmful custom; immorality	Frowned upon but not a crime
Sin	Transgression of the law of God; any violation of God's will	Religious category
Norms	Folkways: sanctions and disapproval from society, but no crime in breaking them. Mores: face strong reaction or punishment	Social rules
Taboos	Most serious normlessness, for example murder and incest; they are reprehensible	Strongest social prohibitions
Anomie	Normlessness	Durkheim's concept
Alienation	Isolation; no social cohesion or integration in society	Link to Marx and strain

⚠️ The box's own heading in the book reads “Crimes against the Person” by mistake; the contents are related concepts.
⚠️ Chapter 1 defined folkways as having no legal sanctions and mores as having sanctions attached. This box words it slightly differently (folkways = mild disapproval, mores = strong reaction). Same idea: folkways mild, mores strong.
🧠 Ladder of seriousness: Folkway (mild) → Mores (strong) → Taboo (most serious) → Crime (if the law also bans it).

💬

In plain English: Deviance = odd or rule-bending. Vice = a bad habit or moral weakness. Sin = against God's law. Taboo = the things you never do, like murder. Anomie = no rules left. Alienation = cut off from society.

12. ⚠️ Book-Specific MCQ Traps

Scope: 4 points; point 3 has 7 branches (sociology, psychiatry, ecology, demography, epidemiology, physical anthropology, victimology).
Criminal ecology = spatial distribution; demography = population; epidemiology = environment; physical anthropology = physical constitution.
Perspectives: classical = situational; biological/psychological = internal; structural = ecological; process = socialization; conflict = economic and political; developmental = multiple.
Structural + process = social theories; biological + psychological + choice = individual theories.
Four characteristics of criminal law (P-S-U-P): politicality, specificity, uniformity, penal sanction.
Specificity contrasts criminal law with civil law (civil law may be general).
Politicality example: gypsy groups; uniformity ideal rarely followed.
A law with no penalty causing suffering is impotent.
Court makeup (liberals vs conservatives on the supreme bench) shapes the nature of law itself.
Intermediary agencies (police): law changes while statutes remain constant.
Assault = fear; battery = touching. Robbery = from a person; larceny = quiet taking; burglary = night-time house breaking.
First-degree murder needs premeditation and deliberation; voluntary manslaughter = heat of passion.
Inchoate offences: attempt, conspiracy, solicitation.
Conspiracy needs two or more people.
Burglary is night-time; arson is a dwelling house of another.
Social harm (consensus view) separates deviant acts from criminal ones; adult films not crime, child films outlawed.
Speeding = crime, not deviant; consensual sadomasochistic sex = deviant, not crime (book's examples).
Heterogeneity of norms: a person can belong to an anti-crime group and a pro-crime group at once.
Anomie = normlessness; alienation = isolation, no cohesion.
Taboos = most serious normlessness (murder, incest).

13. 📝 Practice MCQs (answers right below)

How many branches does the book list under the third point of the scope of criminology? (A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 7 (D) 8
The study of criminality in relation to spatial distribution in a community is: (A) Criminal ecology (B) Criminal demography (C) Criminal epidemiology (D) Victimology
The study of the relationship between environment and criminality is: (A) Ecology (B) Epidemiology (C) Demography (D) Sociology
Criminal physical anthropology studies criminality in relation to: (A) Population (B) Environment (C) Physical constitution of men (D) Victim role
According to the book, the classical perspective stresses: (A) Internal forces (B) Situational forces (C) Ecological forces (D) Multiple forces
Peers, parents and teachers influencing behaviour belongs to the: (A) Structural perspective (B) Conflict perspective (C) Process perspective (D) Developmental perspective
Class conflict produces crime is the claim of the: (A) Classical perspective (B) Conflict perspective (C) Process perspective (D) Biological perspective
Multiple forces combining to produce crime is the: (A) Developmental perspective (B) Structural perspective (C) Classical perspective (D) Conflict perspective
Which is NOT one of the four characteristics of criminal law in the book? (A) Politicality (B) Specificity (C) Uniformity (D) Retribution
Which element contrasts criminal law with civil law? (A) Politicality (B) Specificity (C) Uniformity (D) Penal sanction
The book illustrates politicality with: (A) Tribal courts (B) Gypsy groups (C) Military councils (D) Religious courts
A law with no penalty that causes suffering is, per the book: (A) Strict (B) Impotent (C) General (D) Civil
Intermediary agencies in the book are, for example: (A) Supreme courts (B) Legislatures (C) Police departments (D) Prisons
Intentionally placing another in fear of immediate battery is: (A) Battery (B) Assault (C) Robbery (D) Solicitation
Taking property from a person by violence or intimidation is: (A) Larceny (B) Burglary (C) Robbery (D) Arson
Breaking and entering a dwelling house of another at night with intent to commit a felony is: (A) Larceny (B) Arson (C) Robbery (D) Burglary
Which is an inchoate offence? (A) Rape (B) Conspiracy (C) Arson (D) Larceny
Voluntary manslaughter involves killing: (A) With premeditation (B) In the heat of passion after provocation (C) By accident (D) By negligence only
Heterogeneity of norms means: (A) Everyone shares the same norms (B) Criminal and anti-criminal subcultures both exist (C) Only law matters (D) Norms never change
Violating a norm is: (A) Always a crime (B) Not a crime, but violating law is (C) Always a sin (D) A civil wrong
Social harm in the consensus view is used to separate: (A) Crime from sin (B) Deviant acts from criminal acts (C) Civil from criminal law (D) Vice from virtue
Per the book, an act deviant but legal is: (A) Speeding (B) Consensual sadomasochistic sex (C) Murder (D) Burglary
An act not seen as deviant by most people yet outlawed is: (A) Incest (B) Speeding (C) Murder (D) Arson
Normlessness is called: (A) Alienation (B) Taboo (C) Anomie (D) Vice
Isolation with no social cohesion is: (A) Anomie (B) Alienation (C) Sin (D) Deviance

✅

Answer key: 1-C · 2-A · 3-B · 4-C · 5-B · 6-C · 7-B · 8-A · 9-D · 10-B · 11-B · 12-B · 13-C · 14-B · 15-C · 16-D · 17-B · 18-B · 19-B · 20-B · 21-B · 22-B · 23-B · 24-C · 25-B

14. ✍️ Long Questions (outline first)

14.1 Model Answer 1 (20 marks): Discuss the elements and characteristics of criminal law

🗺️

OUTLINE (write first, about 3 minutes)

Intro: criminal behaviour = violation of criminal law; definition

Four characteristics: politicality, specificity, uniformity, penal sanction

Sources of criminal law

Law in action: police, courts, intermediary agencies

Ideal versus practice (critical point)

Pakistan examples

Conclusion

1. Introduction. Criminal behaviour is behaviour in violation of a criminal law. Criminal law is a list of specific forms of conduct outlawed by political authority, applied uniformly and enforced by state punishment.

2. Four characteristics

Politicality: only state-made rules create crimes; informal groups (for example jirga or Romani councils) may have rules and penalties but no political authority.
Specificity: criminal law names exact acts, unlike civil law which can be general.
Uniformity: even-handed justice whatever a person's status.
Penal sanction: violators are punished or threatened with punishment; a law with no penalty is impotent.

3. Sources. Constitution, treaties, common law, legislatures, judicial and administrative regulations.

4. Law in action. Police and courts shape what law means through interpretation and enforcement; court decisions become part of the rules for later cases; intermediary agencies are affected by public opinion, budgets and power, so statutes may stay the same while the law changes.

5. Critical point. These are ideal characteristics. In practice the line between criminal law and other rules is blurred, uniformity is rarely achieved, and some statutes are never enforced.

6. Pakistan. PPC 1860 (specific offences), ATA 1997, PECA 2016; elite impunity challenges uniformity; non-registration of FIRs weakens penal sanction.

7. Conclusion. Criminal law is a political, specific, uniform and penal instrument in theory, but a negotiated, uneven one in practice.

🗺️

OUTLINE (write first, about 3 minutes)

Intro: distinct but interrelated

Crime: definition and social construction

Deviance: definition and examples

Overlap and change (criminalisation, decriminalisation)

Social harm as the dividing line

Related concepts: vice, sin, norms, taboos, anomie, alienation

Pakistan examples and conclusion

1. Introduction. Crime and deviance are often used together but are distinct, interrelated categories.

2. Crime. Behaviour formally prohibited and punishable under criminal law. It is a social construct: some harms are crimes and others are not, and new crimes are constantly created.

3. Deviance. Behaviour that breaches informal social norms; it draws disapproval or stigma, not punishment. It can be legal yet deviant (book's example: consensual sadomasochistic sex).

4. Overlap. Speeding is crime but not deviant; murder is both; behaviours move across the line as culture changes (criminalisation and decriminalisation).

5. Social harm. In the consensus view, harm separates deviant acts from criminal acts: adult films are shocking to some but not criminal; films involving children are outlawed.

6. Related concepts. Vice (moral failing, frowned upon, not a crime), sin (violation of God's will), norms (folkways mild, mores strong), taboos (most serious, for example murder and incest), anomie (normlessness), alienation (isolation, no cohesion).

7. Pakistan and conclusion. Kite-flying ban (once legal, now criminal); Women Protection Act 2006 (change in what is criminal). Crime and deviance intersect as society's informal views drive formal law.

14.3 Blueprints (write the outline first, then expand)

#	Question	Outline
1	Discuss the scope of criminology	Intro → point 1 and 2 → seven branches (chunk: society, person, victim) → point 4 six measures → Pakistan examples → critical point → conclusion
2	Classify common law crimes with examples	Intro → person crimes (6) → inchoate (3) → property (3) → look-alike traps → PPC equivalents → conclusion
3	Explain the major perspectives in criminology	Intro (individual, social, political-economic, multiple) → six boxes with force-words → one critique each → why developmental combines → bridge to Chapter 4
4	Differential social disorganization and heterogeneity of norms	Intro (normative conflict) → no consensus on goals or means → anomie → criminal and anti-criminal subcultures → norm vs law → Pakistan (urban slums, mixed signals) → conclusion
5	Social harm and the limits of criminal law	Intro → consensus view → adult films vs child films → harm principle → deviant but legal acts → decriminalisation → Pakistan → conclusion
6	Law in books versus law in action	Intro → sources of law → police and courts shape law → court composition → intermediary agencies, public opinion, budgets → uneven enforcement → Pakistan → conclusion