Homeschool Guide: These lesson plans are a guide for parents. Content may contain errors — always cross-reference with official exam board specifications.

crime, deviance & social control

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4 detailed 50-minute lessons with teaching scripts, worked examples, parent guides, and assessment criteria.

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Lesson Overview

Total Lessons: 4
Tier: Foundation and Higher
Duration: 50 minutes per lesson (200 minutes total)
Exam Boards: AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, CCEA

Learning Objectives

Prerequisites

Materials & Equipment

Lesson 1: Introduction: crime, deviance & social control

Duration: 50 minutes

Starter Activity (5 minutes)

Quick Recall

Write down everything you already know about crime, deviance & social control. Then check against the key terms: Sociology Exam Tips. Use a mini-whiteboard or paper.

Main Content (35 minutes)

Parent/Teacher Guide:
Before lesson: Read the script below. Pre-teach key vocab: Sociology Exam Tips.
If stuck: Re-read the revision notes (link above), then break the content into smaller steps.
Extension: See the Stretch & Challenge ideas in Lesson 4.
Teaching Script (35 mins):
Mins 0-5 - Hook: "Today: crime, deviance & social control. By the end you will be able to answer exam questions on it unaided. It connects to the rest of Sociology because the ideas here recur across the spec."
Mins 5-20 - Direct Instruction: Work through the core ideas below one at a time; after each, ask your student to explain it back in their own words.
Mins 20-30 - Guided Practice: Model the worked example together, then let your student attempt the first practice question with guidance.
Mins 30-35 - Independent Practice: 2-3 practice questions from Lesson 3 below, with immediate feedback.
First Look

Start with the revision notes summary, then attempt: Explain the difference between crime and deviance, and why deviance is socially constructed.

Plenary (5 minutes)

Check Out

Your student states one thing they learned and one question they still have about crime, deviance & social control.

Lesson 2: Core Concepts: crime, deviance & social control

Duration: 50 minutes

Starter Activity (5 minutes)

Review Previous Lesson

Quick recap: write 3 key points from Lesson 1 on crime, deviance & social control. Check them against the notes below.

Main Content (35 minutes)

Key Fact: Crime: an act that breaks the law and is punishable by the state. Deviance: behaviour that violates social norms. Not all deviance is crime (dyeing your hair an unusual colour is deviant but legal) and not all crime is deviant (speeding is illegal but widely accepted). The boundary between crime and deviance changes over time (homosexuality was a crime until 1967 in the UK).
Key Fact: Deviance is socially constructed: what counts as deviant varies across cultures and time periods. Example: drink-driving was once socially acceptable but is now both deviant and criminal; smoking in public places was normal but is now deviant and restricted. Becker: 'deviance is not a quality of the act but of the response of others to the act' - the same behaviour can be deviant in one context but not another.
Key Fact: Formal social control: carried out by official agencies (police, courts, prisons). Based on written laws and formal sanctions (arrest, imprisonment, fines). The criminal justice system detects, prosecutes and punishes crime.
Key Fact: Informal social control: carried out by social groups (family, peers, community). Based on unwritten norms and informal sanctions (gossip, ostracism, disapproval, shame). Families socialise children into norms; communities enforce conformity through social pressure.
Key Fact: Social control and power: Marxists argue laws reflect ruling class interests. Chambliss: laws protecting private property serve the bourgeoisie. Selective enforcement: the poor are more likely to be policed and prosecuted (Reiman: 'the rich get richer and the poor get prison'). White-collar crime (fraud, tax evasion) causes far more financial damage than street crime but is less rigorously policed.
Sociology Exam Tips: When discussing crime and deviance, always: distinguish crime from deviance, explain how deviance is socially constructed, and consider whether definitions of crime reflect power relations rather than objective harm.

Practice (10 minutes)

Q: Explain the difference between crime and deviance, and why deviance is socially constructed.

Answer: Crime = breaks the law (punishable by state). Deviance = breaks social norms (not necessarily illegal). Deviance is socially constructed because definitions vary across cultures and time (e.g. homosexuality was criminal until 1967). Becker: deviance depends on who defines it, not the act itself.

Plenary (5 minutes)

Explain Back

Your student teaches the key points back to you without looking. Fill any gaps immediately.

Lesson 3: Application: crime, deviance & social control

Duration: 50 minutes

Starter Activity (5 minutes)

Quick Recall

Recall the key terms: Sociology Exam Tips. Define each in one sentence.

Main Content (35 minutes)

Parent/Teacher Guide: Let your student attempt each question alone first, then compare with the model answer. Award method marks for correct working even if the final answer is wrong.

Q1: Explain the difference between crime and deviance, and why deviance is socially constructed.

Answer: Crime = breaks the law (punishable by state). Deviance = breaks social norms (not necessarily illegal). Deviance is socially constructed because definitions vary across cultures and time (e.g. homosexuality was criminal until 1967). Becker: deviance depends on who defines it, not the act itself.

Q2: Describe the differences between formal and informal social control, giving examples of each.

Answer: Formal social control: police (enforce law), courts (try cases), prisons (punish and rehabilitate). Based on written law with formal sanctions. Informal social control: family (socialise children), peers (pressure to conform), community (gossip, shame). Based on unwritten norms with informal sanctions. Both are necessary for social order but serve different functions.

Q3: Evaluate whether the law operates equally for all social groups.

Answer: Marxist view: laws protect ruling class interests (property laws, low taxes for wealthy). Selective enforcement: police focus on street crime not white-collar crime. Reiman: the criminal justice system criminalises the poor while the rich go free. Evidence: white-collar crime costs the UK far more than burglary but receives fewer resources. Counter: laws also protect everyone (murder, assault laws); the police do investigate corporate crime; some rich people are prosecuted. Conclusion: the law is not applied equally - class and power affect who is criminalised.

Plenary (5 minutes)

Error Review

Review any questions answered incorrectly. Identify whether the error was knowledge, method, or reading the question.

Lesson 4: Exam Practice: crime, deviance & social control

Duration: 50 minutes

Starter Activity (5 minutes)

Command Words

Review what these command words require: state (one point), describe (say what happens), explain (say why), compare (both sides), evaluate (judgement).

Main Content (35 minutes)

Extended Answer

Extended question: Full-Mark Response Evaluate the view that definitions of crime and deviance reflect the interests of the powerful. <div class="

A grade 9 response will: define crime and deviance as socially constructed; present Marxist evidence (Chambliss: property laws serve the bourgeoisie; Reiman: selective enforcement; white-collar crime is under-policed); present counter-evidence (laws against murder and assault protect everyone; some powerful people are prosecuted; democratic societies can change laws); evaluate: while some laws clearly serve powerful interests, not all laws can be reduced to class interest. Conclusion: definitions of crime do reflect power relations, but they also reflect genuine social consensus about harmful behaviour. The issue is selective enforcement rather than selective law-making.

Exam Tips: Crime = illegal. Deviance = non-normative. NOT all deviance is crime; NOT all crime is deviance. | Formal social control = police, courts, prisons (written laws). Informal = family, peers, community (unwritten norms). | Becker: deviance is in the RESPONSE, not the act. Chambliss: laws protect the ruling class. Reiman: the poor get prison.
Common Errors: Watch Out! Students often make mistakes here. Wrong: Something is deviant because it is naturally wrong, regardless of what society thinks. Correct: Deviance is socially constructed - what is deviant in one society may be normal in another, and what is deviant at one time may become acceptable later. Examples: homosexuality, cohabitation, and women drinking in pubs were all once considered deviant but are now widely accepted. Conversely, drink-driving and smoking indoors were once acceptable but are now deviant. Deviance depends on social context, cultural norms and power relations, not inherent wrongness.
Stretch & Challenge (Grade 8-9):
  • Synoptic links: explain how crime, deviance & social control connects to another Sociology topic you have studied
  • Real-world: research one real-world use or example of crime, deviance & social control
  • Critical: "What are the limitations of the models used in crime, deviance & social control?"

Plenary (5 minutes)

Assessment Criteria
  • Got it: Confident explanation + correct worked examples
  • Getting there: Main points OK, needs support with detail
  • Not yet: Confused on key concepts - re-run Lesson 2

Homework & Consolidation

Recommended Resources

🎓 Smart Lesson (Guided)