What is the relationship between criminal behaviour and deviance?

• A. Criminal behaviour and deviance are identical concepts in all societies.
• B. Deviance refers to behaviours that violate social norms and may not be illegal; crime is legally defined misconduct.
• C. All deviant acts are crimes, and all crimes are deviant by definition.
• D. Deviance is purely a legal category determined by statutes.

Answer: (B)

Deviance is about violating social norms, and what counts as deviant depends on culture, context, and time; it doesn’t require any legal punishment. Crime is defined by law as misconduct and carries formal legal penalties. This means there can be acts that society views as deviant but are not illegal, and there can be illegal acts that some people don’t see as deviant. In practice, many criminal acts are also seen as deviant, but the two concepts come from different bases: norms versus laws. For example, unconventional dress can be deviant in some settings but not illegal, while tax evasion is illegal even if some people don’t label it as deviant.