Edexcel GCSE Sociology

Crime + deviance

Edexcel GCSE Sociology revision on Crime + deviance. Aligned to the Pearson Edexcel GCSE Sociology specification. This bank has 7 practice questions on this topic.

Sample questions (3 of 7)

  1. Question 1

    Crime is...

    • A) Any bad behaviour
    • B) Behaviour that breaks the law of a society
    • C) Anything weird
    • D) Anything illegal in any country
    Show answer

    Answer: Behaviour that breaks the law of a society

    DEVIANCE: behaviour breaking SOCIAL NORMS (broader - rude behaviour, unusual dress). Some deviance is criminal (theft); some isn't (eating crisps in a library). What is criminal varies by society + time (homosexuality was criminal in UK until 1967; cannabis is legal in some places, not others).

  2. Question 2

    White-collar crime is...

    • A) Theft from a shop
    • B) Crime by middle-class or business people during their work (e.g. fraud, embezzlement)
    • C) Wearing white
    • D) Vandalism
    Show answer

    Answer: Crime by middle-class or business people during their work (e.g. fraud, embezzlement)

    Coined by SUTHERLAND (1949). Examples: fraud, embezzlement, insider trading, tax evasion, corporate manslaughter, pollution by companies. Often: less visible, less reported, less punished than blue-collar (working-class) crime. Costs society far more in £ terms (billions/year). Why under-policed: less visible, harder to prove, perpetrators have power.

  3. Question 3

    The 'dark figure of crime' refers to...

    • A) Murder mysteries
    • B) Crimes that are unreported, unrecorded - the gap between actual crime + recorded crime
    • C) Night-time crime
    • D) Hidden crime fiction
    Show answer

    Answer: Crimes that are unreported, unrecorded - the gap between actual crime + recorded crime

    Official crime statistics underestimate real crime. Many crimes never reported: domestic violence (~80% unreported), sexual offences (~70% unreported), minor thefts, white-collar crime. Reasons: fear, stigma, trivialised, lack of trust in police. CRIME SURVEY FOR ENGLAND + WALES (CSEW) asks victims if they were affected - often finds much higher rates than police-recorded.

Want to test yourself on the remaining cards for this topic?

4 more questions on Crime + deviance — plus mistakes tracking and spaced repetition across the whole Sociology spec.

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