Crime is behavior that violates the social norms of a society. Criminal law (or penal code) laws define what counts as a crime in any given jurisdiction, and how crimes are prosecuted and punished.
The definition of a crime varies worldwide. For example, while murder, rape, and robbery are crimes in most common law nations, some civil law societies do not include these offenses in their criminal code. Other differences involve what counts as a crime and how that behavior is classified.
For instance, some behaviors that are harmful to society, such as a death by suicide or the possession of cocaine, are illegal in American culture but are legally permitted in other countries. The difference is a result of the power struggles that occur to determine what kinds of harm are deemed criminal and who has the resources to assert their views in popular culture and the media.
Social constructionists and critical criminologists argue that it is not just the actions of individuals or groups that determine whether or not something is considered a crime but also how these truth claims are communicated and how they shape the political economy that defines what is criminal. They are concerned with the way in which a powerful group uses its control over media and the symbolic meaning of law to demonize others in order to gain access to state sanctioned resources and power.
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