Various definitions of crime:1. Labeling theory: the theory that the terms crime, deviance or punishment are labels, variously applied by an act of power and not by a natural reflection of events – American criminologist Howard Becker2. Social construction: our concepts and the practical consequences that arise from them are the products (constructions) of social interaction and only have meaning within the communities in which this interaction takes place. Crime is a label created in social interaction, but once created it has both a symbolic and practical reality.5 Assumptions/assertions → complicate/differentiate the understanding of what crime is:1. Crime is an action/omission that causes harm in a situation in which the person or group responsible “should” be held accountable and punished regardless of what state law says.2. A crime is an action against the law of God, regardless of its existence/non-existence in the law books of the State3. Only an act defined by the validly enacted laws of the nation-state in which it occurred, such that punishment must flow from that behavior4. Crimes and criminals only exist when a public body has judged them according to accepted procedures; no public authority → no crime5. Crime is an irrelevant concept because it is linked to the formal mechanism of social control of the state; Deviance is a concept that belongs to sociology, so our study should be the sociology of deviance rather than criminology. Pleading for the abolition of crime: Nils Christie: Crimes don't exist. Only acts exist, acts having special meaning in various social conditions. Crime as a socially constructed process. Factors that distort the relationship between actual and recorded crime rate: 1. ...... middle of paper ......ings. LondonChristie, N. (1986) “The Ideal Victim”, in E. Fattah, (Ed.), From Crime Policy to Victim Policy: Reorienting the Justice System New York: St Matins PressElias, R. (1993) Victims Still: The Political manipulation of victims. Newbery Park: Sage [Chapter 2] Morrison, W. (2009) “What is crime? Definitions and contrasting perspectives”, in C. Hale, K. Hayward, A. Wahadin and E. Wincup, (eds.), Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press Weatherburn, D. and Indermaur, D. (2004) 'Public perceptions of crime trends in New South Wales and Western Australia', Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice, 80: 1-8 Weatherburn , D. (2011) “Uses and abuses of crime statistics”, Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice, 153: 1-16White, R. and Perrone, S. (2009) Crime, criminality and criminal justice. Melbourne: University of Oxford [Chapter 2 “Crime and Media »’]