What is the difference between criminal behaviour and deviant behaviour?

Some crimes may be thought of as deviant but not criminal and other, criminal but not deviant. In some cases however it can be both, as in child pornography which violates social norm AND is against the law. Not all crime is deviant (marijuana use) however and not all deviance is criminal (bystander apathy) which is why there is laws for crimes and not for deviance. However crime and deviance happen from some of the same factors such as bad parenting, peer groups etc. The main difference seperating deviance from criminal behaviour is breaking the law(crime) or violating the social norm(deviance). Although deviance isn't considered as bad as crimes it can technically be just a bad there is just no law stopping it from occurring.


Deviant but not Criminal:

• picking your nose, wiping it on a wall
• bystander apathy
• abortion

Criminal but not Deviant:

• smoking in public (beaches, lakes)
• marijuana use
• drinking in public

Out of this list I believe that bystander apathy should be made into a law because your letting a crime happen before your eyes and you aren't doing anything to help. The death of someone could result in your decision not to assist. However, this would have to be a bendable law in the fact that if it puts you in harms way you should not be expected to help. If you are physically or emotionally able then I see no problem with lending a hand.

Why is crime committed?

There are theories as to why crime is committed all over the world but not one theory is one hundred percent accurate. The reason behind crimes varies on the background of the unsub, mental disorders, traumatic events, and many many other factors. How we form a theory is based on these factors by adding them all up and including them into our thoughts and ideas about crime. There is never just one reason for a crime because not one person in this world is exactly the same. Every individual has such different minds, looks, personalities that it is virtually impossible to detect any two people as being the same. Before modern day technologies there were different ways of determining a victim from a criminal such as if you had a bump behind your ear, or perhaps even if you were held underwater and you didnt drown. Thankfully our perspective has changed and those methods no longer exist, there are more humane ways to accomplish solving crimes.
One of the major claims of committing small crimes such as break and enter or stealing are due to boredom or lack of adrenaline in day to day life. How indivuals break this mundane lifestyle is by committing these petty crimes and look for the rush in doing so. In bigger crimes however the reasons are more scattered and lawyers have a harder time determining the reasons behind the crimes. A lot of the time the reasons for bigger crimes are both psychologically (mental disorders) and socially (lonely, bullied, traumatic events/childhood).
Overall my theory as to why crime is committed has nothing to do with drugs or alcohol, those are excuses in order to hide something bigger and deeper. Drugs, crime and alcohol are all connected yes, but in a different way than most would think. In order to escape from whatever is causing them to commit crimes, like traumatic events, they use drugs and alcohol to feel better or to 'forget'. Sadly that just makes the whole situation worse and the individual becomes even more lost and alone, that is when the major crimes happen, the most devastating ones. Serial killers and mass murderers didn't grow up thinking, "Hey you know what, I'm going to become a killer when I grow up." In fact they were just like everyone else at first, maybe they wanted to become a teacher or a fire fighter. You may ask, what went wrong? Which is where the question why is crime commited comes into play. In order to understand where these criminals are coming from we need to look back before their crime and determine possible causes.
Crime is committed when both psychological and social reasonings combine to create such intense desire to throw away any hope they have left and release their anger in a devastating way. Unfortunately this isn't something we can escape from, this is something individuals need to face and control in a safe way to stop all suffering. Whether help from professionals is needed, or just a friend, crimes can be stopped and prevented just by being you.

Example:

http://news.aol.ca/article/accused-ex-boxing-champ-kills-self-police/794756/