Examples Of Socially Constructed Crimes

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Hi Abigail, I agree with what you wrote about socially constructed crimes. To summarize, I think the crimes are socially constructed in two ways: 1)social norms that shape the definition of crimes 2)societal views that affect the severity of punishments of crimes. An example I can think of that supports the first way of socially constructing crimes is adultery. Adultery remains a criminal offense in 21 states. Massachusetts, Idaho, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Wisconsin consider adultery a felony, while in the other states it is a misdemeanor. The difference of treating adultery in different states demonstrates different social norms to some extent. The reason is that state legislatures are passed by state government officials, and these officials

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