The meaning of crime

Tough on the causes of crime'. A famous phrase, but what is crime? This free course, The meaning of crime, examines how we, as a 'society', define crime. You will look at the fear that is generated within communities and what evidence is available to support claims that are made about crime rates.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 What is a crime?
• 1 What is a crime?
• 1.1 The meaning of crime
• 1.2 The recognition and pursuit of crime
• 1.3 Summary
• 2 Tales of fear and fascination
• 2 Tales of fear and fascination
• 2.1 Social attitudes towards crime
• 2.2 A society frightened by crime?
• 2.3 A society fascinated by crime?
• 2.4 Summary
• 3 Beyond common sense?
• 3 Beyond common sense?
• 3.1 Claims about crime
• 3.2 Counting the crime problem
• 3.3 Quantitative and qualitative evidence
• 3.4 Interpreting the crime problem
• 3.5 Evaluating claims, using evidence
• 3.6 Summary
• 4 Explaining crimes
• 4 Explaining crimes
• 4.1 Exploring the claims about crime
• 4.2 Structure and agency in the explanation of the crime problem
• 4.3 Structural explanations I: biology
• 4.4 Structural explanations II: families
• 4.5 Structural explanations III: cultures
• 4.6 Agency explanations: rational choice theory
• 4.7 Summary
• 5 Questions, questions
• 5 Questions, questions
• 5.1 How did we get here?
• 5.2 Where can we go from here?
• 5.2.1 Beyond the UK
• Conclusion
• References
• Acknowledgements