Crime and Violence

1. Crime and Violence Chapter 5

2. Introduction • Americans consistently rank crime among the most serious social problems. • It is extremely difficult to measure actual rates of crime. • The early 1970s showed a rapid increase in crime, followed by a leveling off in the 1980s and substantial decrease in the 1990s. • The extent of the nation’s crime problem is measured by the crime index.

3. The Nature of Crime • Definition of the term crime • Crime is any act or omission of an act for which the state can apply sanctions • The difference between criminal and civil law • Criminal law: the prohibition of acts and sanctions for their violation • Civil law: laws that deal with non criminal acts

4. Police Discretion • Police discretion and crime • Police discretion in the enforcement of law is a factor in understanding the nature of crime in society • Bureaucratic structure of police departments has an impact on police discretion • Small departments are less likely to formally apply the law in minor situations • Large departments are more likely to apply the law in minor situations

5. Police Discretion • William Chambliss’ study of police discretion of juvenile delinquents in a Midwestern town • Police bias affects how the police treat youth from the lower-class differently than youth from the middle-class • Saints - middle class youth • Roughnecks - lower class youth • Social class and demeanor of the two groups was related to how the police reacted

6. Problems of Accuracy • Sources and factors in determining the validity of crime data from police reports • Not all crimes are reported or known to the police • Police department policies on policing and the reporting of crime impact the validity of the data

7. Problems of Accuracy • Major sources of data on crime • UCR – Uniform Crime Report major source of official statistics on crime • Self report studies • Victimization reports

8. Types of Crimes and Criminals • Violent Personal Crimes • Assault • Robbery • Various types of homicide • Types of Criminal homicide • Murder - unlawful killing of a human being with malice and aforethought • Manslaughter - unlawful homicide without malice and forethought

9. Types of Crimes and Criminals • Criminal homicide • Murder rate is higher in large metropolitan areas • Murder rate is higher in the South than in other regions of the country • Function of a culture that has legitimized violence and the use of weapons • Most murderers are male • Most murderers are young, between the ages of 17 and 34

10. Types of Crimes and Criminals • Criminal homicide • Most victims of homicide are young • Murder is an intra-racial crime • Most murders are committed by someone a person knows • Family member • Friend • Acquaintance

11. Types of Crimes and Criminals • Criminal homicide • Most murders occur during a quarrel or argument among people

12. Types of Crimes and Criminals • Mass Murderers and Serial Killers • Mass murders are distinguished from other types of killing by the number of people killed at the same time or over a short period of time usually four or more • Most serial killers have deep emotional problems concerning sexuality and describe the act of violence itself as thrilling and compelling

13. Occasional Property Crimes • Types of occasional property crimes • Vandalism • Check forgery • Shoplifting • Some types of auto theft - joy riding • Occasional offenders commit crime on an irregular basis • Occasional offenders do not identify strongly with criminal roles

14. Occupational (White-Collar) Crimes • Edwin Sutherland pioneered the research into the study of white-collar crime • Differential association-white collar criminality is learned in frequent association with other people who are engaging in crime

15. Occupational (White-Collar) Crimes • Embezzlement - theft from one’s employer • Donald Cressey’s study of embezzlers identified three conditions that motivated the embezzler • 1. Unshareable financial problem • 2. Opportunity to steal • 3. Rationalization for conducting the crime

16. Occupational (White-Collar) Crimes • Fraud - obtaining money or property under false pretenses • Computer crime is on the rise

17. Corporate Crimes • Some types of corporate crimes • Environmental • Credit card manipulations • Illegal business practices • Illegal labor practices • Defrauding pension plans • Falsifying company records • Bribing public officials • Computer crime

18. Public-Order Crimes • Public order offenses constitutes the largest category of offenders • Public order offenses include • Prostitution • Gambling • Use of drugs • Drunkenness • Vagrancy • Disorderly conduct • Traffic violations

19. Public-Order Crimes • Public order offenders do not identify with criminal roles • Public order offenses are often crimes without victims - victimless crime • Enforcement of public order offenses may lead to unsavory policy practices like entrapment • Public order offenses and the legalization debate

20. Organized Crime • Organized crime - crimes committed by a criminal organization • Large and diversified regional or national criminal organizations • Rationally planned national and international criminal activities • Organized crime supplies illegal goods and services that are demanded by a large segment of the public

21. Organized Crime • Organized crime • Major sources of organized crime activity are • Gambling • Loan sharking • Pornography and prostitution • Drug trafficking • Organized crime can only survive through the corruption of public officials

22. Conventional and Professional Crimes • Some conventional crimes are: • Robbery • Larceny • Burglary • Gang theft • Conventional offenders tend to be young adults • Begin their criminal career early • For some, crime is as a form of thrill seeking behavior

23. Conventional and Professional Crimes • Professional criminals identify strongly with criminal roles and activity • Criminal activity and crime as a career • Professional offenders come from the upper strata of criminals • A rapidly growing area of professional crime is cybercrime: the use of computers and the Internet in fraudulent activities • The vast increase in the use of credit cards has resulted in an explosion in the crime of identity theft.

24. Juvenile Delinquency • Juveniles and criminal intent • Juveniles are held to a lower standard of intent • There is a separate family court system to handle juvenile crime • Criminal offenses - behaviors in violation of criminal statutes • Status offenses - crimes that apply only to juveniles because of their age, such as running away

25. Hate Crimes • Hate crimes - crimes motivated by racial, sexual, national origin or religious hatred • Sixty-one percent of hate crimes are based on race, 13 percent on sexual orientation, and 10 percent on ethnicity or national origin

26. Gangs, Guns, and Violent Death • Violence has been related to: • Increase in gang activity and violence in the 1980s and early 1990s • Drug trafficking in urban areas • Gang related offenses with the use of weapons • Increased availability of handguns • Economic deprivation of urban areas • The gang problem seems to be worsening

27. Conditions and Causesof Crime and Violence • Biological Explanations of Crime • Cesare Lombroso, a nineteenth-century Italian physician and the born atavist • Concept criminal atavism • Criminals could be identified by physical stigmata • Genetics and crime • XYY theory

28. Conditions and Causesof Crime and Violence • Biology, Violence, and Criminality • Aggression and violence are part of human nature • Inherent and instinctual • Neurological or biological • Biology is not destiny - biological theories fail to take into account the role of environment

29. Gender and Crime • Males are two to five times more likely to be arrested as females for various types of crimes • The gender gap is closing between men and women and crime • Function of the changing roles of women and greater opportunities to commit crime

30. Age and Crime • Age is strongly correlated with crime • Young adults accounted for over 44 percent of arrests in 2005 • Violent Youth Crime • Violent youth crime has gone up at the same time that overall violent crime has declined in society • The overall decline in violence is in part a function of the aging of our population

31. Sociological Explanations of Crime • Conflict Approaches to the Study of Crime • Conflict theorists focus on the role of inequality and its relationship to crime • Inequality and crime • Inverse relationship between class status and crime • Cross-cultural studies indicate there is a relationship between a rapid increase in inequality and crime

32. Sociological Explanations of Crime • Race and Crime • Crime rates vary by race and ethnicity • Overrepresentation of African Americans in official crime statistics is a function of: • 1. Greater surveillance by law enforcement of African American communities – racial profiling • 2. Higher rate of African American victimization • 3. Higher concentration of African Americans in poverty • 4. Social isolation of African American communities

33. Sociological Explanations of Crime • The Functionalist View: Anomie Theory • Robert Merton’s Strain Theory Of Deviance • Cultural goals & institutionalized means • Deviance is caused by conditions that lead to a disjuncture between cultural goals and the legitimate means to achieve them • Merton called that disjuncture anomie or a state of normlessness

34. Interactionist Approaches: Differential Association and Delinquent Subcultures • Differential Association – Edwin Sutherland • Criminal behavior is a result of a learning process that occurs chiefly within small, intimate groups

35. Delinquent Subculturesand Conflicting Values • Albert Cohen • Delinquent subculture is based on non-utilitarian values: • Short run hedonism • Maliciousness • The search for thrills and excitement • Delinquency is a response to adapting to failure when judged according to middle-class standards

36. Delinquent Subculturesand Conflicting Values • Walter Miller - lower class focal concerns and crime • 1. Trouble • 2. Toughness • 3. Smartness • 4. Excitement • 5. Fate • 6. Autonomy • Focus on lower class

37. Controlling Crime • Social Control - is the capacity of a social group to regulate itself according to social standards • Criminal Justice system and types of social control • Retribution-Deterrence • Retribution is based on the principle that someone that violates the law needs to pay back society • Deterrence focuses on how punishment deters crime

38. Controlling Crime • Rehabilitation - involves programs designed to change the behavior of offenders • Recidivism is high among offenders that have been incarcerated • Rehabilitation programs are hampered by • 1. A maze of rules and regulations • 2. Prison system and the effect of deprivation

39. Controlling Crime • Prevention - preventing crime before it occurs • Crime prevention is based largely on three approaches • 1. Influencing the development of non deviants • Improve housing and job opportunities • 2. Improve people’s environment • Differential association • 3. Increase services and programs to prevent crime

40. Social Policy • In their efforts to reduce crime, governments at all levels experience more frustration than success • In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal mandatory sentencing law • In 2005, about 10 million violent and property crimes were committed in the United States and only about 20 percent were cleared by arrest • One of the most controversial yet widespread strategies is plea bargaining

41. Social Policy • The Prison Paradox: As crime rates have decreased over the past few years, rates of imprisonment of Americans have increased • The racial disparities in sentencing in the United States are dramatic: one out of every eight African American males is incarcerated • Alternatives to Incarceration: The costs of imprisonment are soaring, and probation, parole, and community corrections are becoming more viable options

42. Social Policy • Occupational and Corporate Crime • Increase penalties and fines • Legal reform and more rigorous enforcement of laws • Organized Crime • Increase in FBI personnel to fight organized crime • Surveillance technology and use of informants

43. Social Policy • Public-Order and Juvenile-Justice Reforms • Tougher penalties • Community based programs • Gun Control • Stricter gun control legislation • Liability laws