Sociology key terms

The reversal of mainstream values, so that behaviour condemned by wider society is rewarded within a group.

A characteristic or factor that can vary between people, groups or situations, such as household income or educational achievement.

Research that asks people about crimes they have experienced as victims, including incidents not reported to the police.

A survey asking people about crimes committed against them during a specified period.

Education directly related to employment or a career, such as engineering, travel and tourism, or health and social care.

The number of offences in a specified place and period.

Income received from paid work, usually calculated or paid hourly, daily, weekly or monthly.

Paid work: workers sell their labour to an employer in return for wages.

Assets owned, such as property, land, savings and shares.

Payments intended to support people’s welfare, for example when their income is low or they face unemployment, disability or old age.

Reliance on state benefits for support; New Right theorists argue that welfare provision can encourage this reliance by reducing incentives to work.

Changes to the organisation, funding or rules of welfare provision, including benefit levels and eligibility.

A derogatory label implying that someone receives welfare support while avoiding work or responsibility.

A negative label portraying a benefit recipient as undeserving. A benefit cheat receives benefits fraudulently; receiving benefits alone does not establish wrongdoing.

A system in which the state takes responsibility for citizens’ health and welfare through services and financial support, such as the NHS and benefits system.

Crime committed through a person's occupational position, such as financial fraud.

A worker doing non-manual, usually office-based work that primarily involves mental rather than physical effort.

Connections between relatives beyond the immediate nuclear family, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

A social class commonly associated with manual, routine and semi-routine occupations.

People who are in paid employment but whose household resources are still insufficient to escape poverty.

A perspective through which someone understands society and the social world.

Unlawful behaviour by young people, such as theft, vandalism or assault.

Shared ways of life among young people, including values, behaviour and styles of dress that distinguish them from older generations.

An employment contract under which an employer does not guarantee a minimum number of working hours.