Definition of Crime

The explanation for this is rather simple: before beginning to provide in-depth analyses of the phenomenon we are researching, it is crucial that we have a firm understanding of it. Wikström (2006, p. 63) sees crime as "an act of breaking a moral rule stated in criminal law," while Munice and Mclaughlin (2001, p. 10) describe the crime as "an act or omission punishable by law." This method of categorising crime has certain undeniable benefits.

Most significantly, we will be able to identify unlawful behaviour with a fair amount of certainty as long as we have a thorough comprehension of criminal law. Crime is a changing target since what constitutes criminal conduct depends on the time and place it is committed, as criminologists have pointed out, and criminal legislation is far from static (Newburn, 2013).

In other words, rather than being a "given" characteristic of the universe, crime is now thought to be a class of socially produced activities. There are many examples available. The usage of various drugs, gambling, homosexuality, prostitution, and spousal rape are among the behaviours that have occasionally been legalised (and therefore classified as "crimes"), but not always.

This appears to be a challenge for psychological accounts of criminal behaviour. If someone can commit a crime today but not the next for the same behaviour, Wortley (2011, p. 4) asks how anything significant about their criminal nature can be inferred. Robert Agnew, a criminologist, suggests that crime be defined as "acts that inflict blameworthy harm, are condemned by the public, and/or are sanctioned by the state" (2011, p. 187) in order to overcome this problem. This concept aids in shifting the onus of responsibility from behaviours that are already illegal to a broader spectrum of harmful behaviours. A comparable approach to overcoming this issue is to put more of an emphasis on "deviant" or "antisocial behaviour," which is behaviour that deviates from social norms rather than actual criminal activity.

For instance, antisocial behaviour is a topic that many psychologists study, and this phrase will be used frequently in this book. There is inevitably a large overlap between what we define as "antisocial" and "criminal" behaviour, even though this overlap does not prevent us from effectively using the terms "criminal" and "antisocial" behaviour.

In many ways, even though they are considerable, the problems with defining crime won't materially impede our efforts in this book to offer reasons for criminal behaviour. This is due in part to the fact that we are primarily focused on illuminating what criminologists refer to as male-in-use, or "core," offences—those that tend to be perceived as more serious, are historically and culturally more remote, and are punishable by harsher sanctions (Walsh & Ellis, 2007).

Male-only offences include murder, rape, severe assault, and robbery. Additionally, we'll talk about a range of behaviours that aren't often regarded as crimes, such as war, drug addiction, and various "green" crimes. However, these subjects are relevant because either they are connected to more serious criminal activities (such as violence) or they have the potential to inflict considerable harm without necessarily breaking the law (such as war or "green" crimes).