Criminality & Non-Conformity

Why are some behaviours considered criminal while others are not? Who decides what is normal and how do these definitions change over time? These are some of the questions sociologists ask when examining crime and non-conformity. Instead of treating criminal behaviour as the result of individual choice, sociology looks at how social conditions and power inequalities influence how certain behaviours are defined, monitored, and punished.

Crime is a behaviour that violates written laws, while non-conformity involves actions, beliefs, or characteristics that go against the norms and expectations of a particular society or culture. What is considered non-conformist in one culture or historical period may be perfectly acceptable in another. Sociologists explore these shifting boundaries as well as topics such as prisons, crime rates, drug policies, and policing.

Questions surrounding crime and non-conformity highlight important social issues involving power and inequality. Laws are created within particular social and political contexts, and their enforcement does not affect everyone equally. Sociological approaches to crime examine who has the power to define and enforce laws, why some groups are more likely to be labelled as criminals than others, and how criminal justice systems can reinforce and perpetuate existing inequalities. By studying criminality and non-conformity, we gain a better understanding of how societies maintain social order, whose interests are protected by the criminal justice system, and what happens when the rules are broken.