True crime or moral panic?Evaluate and apply sociological theories relating to crime and devianceExplanations of crime and devianceCrime - an action or omission that constitutes a crime and is punishable by law.Deviance-the fact or state of divergence from usual or accepted norms, particularly in matters of social or sexual behavior. Crime and deviance are seemingly effortlessly defined by the Oxford Dictionary. However, sociological perspectives have divergent views on crime and its explanations. Postmodernists begin by being criticized for their denial of the existence of crime. Indeed, postmodernists tend to reject all the “meta-narratives” proposed by other foresightists. Postmodernism asserts that these explanations of crimes are outdated. Rather, it tends to affirm that society has changed. There are new crimes that cannot be explained from other perspectives. Crimes such as cyber theft, terrorism and racism etc. Postmodernists prefer to focus on the individual, crime is a one-time event expressing the identity an individual chooses. Whereas functionalism mainly focuses on society as a whole. Crime is seen as inevitable and expected. Furthermore, the functionalist Durkheim argued that crime is an element of a healthy society. He said: (crime is) “an integral part of all healthy societies”. cited by Harman, 1995.p.38. Therefore, this could explain why many functionalists, such as Durkheim, believe that the existence of crime indicates that society does not excessively control its citizens. Furthermore, functionalism recognizes that everyday crime (e.g. shoplifting) does not pose a threat to the social order. In fact, society requires criminal behavior (and legal reactions to it) to function properly, the reason being middle of paper. ICT theory does not lead to a positive result. Conflict will always be present because society can function without it. Works Cited Cohen, S (2011), Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance, Routledge, Oxon, UKGoode and Ben-Yehuda (2009), Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance. Second edition, Blackwell Publishing, Chichester, UK Padhy, P (2006) Crime and Criminology, Isha Books, IndiaWalsh and Hemmens (2011) Introduction to Criminology: A Text/Reader. Second edition, SAGE Publications, California, USAHarman, (1995), Deviance: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach, General hall, division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Boston, USAFreeman, C Journal The Guardian (February 2014) [online ] http://www .telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10649851/Ukraine-protests-a-timeline-of-the-crisis.html last accessed on (23/02/2014)