Crime is behavior that violates laws and causes harm to people. Most crimes involve an illegal act or omission that is defined by law as deserving of punishment, but some offenses such as parking violations do not require prosecutors to prove intent. Governing bodies separate the severity of crimes into felonies and misdemeanors, with more serious offenses earning harsher penalties.

Sociological theories of crime are concerned with the social construction of what counts as undesirable behavior and how that shapes criminal acts. The social constructionist view sees a political struggle among different interests for the power to define what is acceptable and unacceptable. These struggles take place in the public arena of opinion and popular culture, as well as in the legal system in which the competing views are translated into formal law. The central question is who wins this contest, whose views are dominant in the media and in public opinion and whose are adopted by lawmakers?

Critical criminologists build on the work of sociologists such as Edwin Sutherland to propose that definitions of crime need to be broadened. They see the need to add to a definition of crime a concept of “social injury” that encompasses harm produced by those who are structurally powerful toward those who lack power and is not simply limited to physical violence. For example, some corporations and government agencies produce environmental, health, or safety problems but they are often treated as violations of administrative regulations rather than as crimes under the criminal code.