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Defining the Concept of Crime: A Sociological Perspective

This paper argues that the traditional construction of ‘crime’ is narrow and unnecessarily constrictive of criminological work. Most criminologists have traditionally relied on a ‘legal’ conception of crime which defines it as behavior in violation of the criminal law and liable for sanctioning by criminal justice agencies under the political authority of the state. There have been, however, repeated attempts by leading criminologists to move beyond the narrow confines of the criminal law and thus develop more inclusive social definitions of crime. Instead of crime being an act which contravenes an elementary, universal human sentiment and which is socially harmful, it is an act which is believed to be socially harmful by a group of people which has the power to enforce its beliefs. By clarifying these underlying paradigms and displaying the value questions and domain assumptions contained within them, we are in position to develop sociological definitions of crime which are more suitable to the task of criminology.