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Psychology
Key terms
Deviation from norms

GCSE Psychology · key term

Deviation from norms

Definition

Behaviour that departs from a society's or group's norms; it is not necessarily illegal.

Used by OCR

How each exam board covers it

OCR GCSE Psychology · J203

Paper 1

Departing from these expectations is called deviation from norms. Norms help shape laws, but the two are not identical: breaking an expectation is only criminal if it also breaks a law.
Revise: Concepts in Criminal Psychology

OCR Psychology past papers

Related key terms

Acquisitive crime
Anti-social behaviour
Criminal behaviour
Culture
Dark figure of crime

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Deviation from norms — OCR GCSE Psychology Definition

Drug-related crime

Official crime statistics

Self-report survey

Social construct