“Criminology should reject legal definitions of crime and instead seek to define crime in terms of the harms an action causes” Critically discuss this statement.

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Description
In this assessment, you are required to: Look at the arguments surrounding the expansion of the definition of
“crime” to include acts that are currently dealt with by civil legislation or are not criminalised at all. You should
weigh up the benefits of this approach, with particular emphasis given on uncovering the hidden crime that is
ignored by society. You should also discuss the issues associated with this approach, showing understanding as
to why expanding the definition of crime within academic discussion may not change the issues. You can
explicitly take a theoretical perspective (for example a Marxist perspective on capitalism) but this is not
necessary for a full answer. There are a number of approaches you can take to the question, offering the reader a
discussion of the policy implications, the perspective from victims of crime, a legal perspective or a moral
perspective as some examples. You do not have to take one perspective and can instead discuss each of these
issues within your answer if you wish. It is important that you are critical throughout the essay. Ensure that you
offer a range of opinions on the material and ideas you present and a range of authors on the subjects you
discuss.
You MUST use academic journal articles and books as the backbone of the essay. Please do not use websites and
unacademic sources as your main sources of knowledge, but be aware that charities (such as domestic abuse or
online victimisation charities) are viable sources, but should not be the main source for your information. Vary
your sources depending on the type of information you are discussing and show the reader that you understand
the material from a number of perspectives