What is crime? Acts committed in violation of the law Crime has increased greatly in the US from the 1960s to the 1990s Violent crime rates are considerably higher in the US than in most other industrialized countries

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 3 Crime –Laws divide crimes into categories based on: Severity of offense Age of offender Potential punishment Jurisdiction Types of Crime Crime: violation of criminal law, for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 4 Crime –Victimless Crimes: willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services –Professional Crime Professional criminal: person who pursues crime as a day-to-day occupation –Organized Crime: group that regulates relations between various criminal enterprises involved in illegal activities Types of Crime

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 5 Computer Crime: use of high technology to carry out illegal activity Corporate Crime: any act by a corporation that is punishable by the government Crime Types of Crime –White Collar and Technology-Based Crime –Transnational Crime Crime that occurs across multiple national borders

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 6 Crime –Not as accurate as social scientists would like –Understanding Crime Statistics Reported crime is very high in the U.S. Public regards crime as major social problem Crime Statistics Victimization Surveys: surveys of ordinary people, not police officers, to determine whether they have been victims of crime

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 7 Crime Violent crimes much more common in U.S. than Western Europe in 1980s and 1990s Disturbing increases in violent crime are evident in other Western societies Crime Statistics –International Crime Rates

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 8 Crime Table 8-3. Types of Transnational Crime Source: Compiled by author based on Mueller 2001 and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2005

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 9 Crime Figure 8-2. Victimization Rates, 1973—2003 Source: Catalano 2004:1

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 10

Interesting Stats on US Crime Rate of homicide in US is 23 times greater than in England In 1995, handguns used to murder # of people: 2 in New Zealand 15 in Japan 30 in Great Britain 106 in Canada 213 in Germany 9, 390 in US

Juvenile Crime Refers to legal violations among those under 18 years of age 3rd largest group of criminals in US Teen crimes include: theft, murder, rape, robbery, assault, and the sale of illegal substances Specific juvenile crimes include: failing to attend school, fighting in school, and underage drinking and smoking

Juvenile Crimes have Gone Down Reached lowest levels in 1999 Why? Decline in demand for crack cocaine Remaining Crack Gangs stopped providing guns to juveniles because of truces Stiffer penalties for repeat offenders Police are cracking down on illegal guns

Crime Control Four approaches 1.Deterrence 2.Retribution 3.Incarceration 4.Rehabilitation

1) Deterrence Uses the threat of punishment to discourage criminal actions Research shows that deterrence works well only if people know 2 things---they will get caught and punishment will be severe. In the US, punishment is not always certain, swift, or severe so it is not as effective as it could be

What about the Death Penalty? Research does not show a decline of murders as a result of the death penalty However, ¾ of Americans believe that it is a deterrent to murder Of the Americans that favored the Death Penalty, ¾ of those people said that they would still favor it even if stolid evidence showed it was not a deterrent—feelings of revenge & retribution fuel this belief

What about the Death Penalty? Attitudes vary by ethnic groups 75% of whites favor it while only 40% of African American do and 52% of Latinos Statistics show that after conviction, both African Americans & Latinos are more likely than whites to receive the death penalty African Americans comprise 13% of population but make up 43% of death row inmates in US

What is the relationship between Race, Ethnicity, & Crime? Conflict Perspective supporters cite these statistics that show that minorities receive unequal treatment—African Americans & Latinos dealt with more harshly than whites More likely to be convicted, serve more time, more likely to be on death row Nearly ½ of all homicide victims are African American; however, the majority of people on death row are there for killing whites

How could this happen??? Minorities have less money for legal services Victim Discounting---process of reducing the seriousness of the crimes that injure people of lower status

2) Retribution Punishment intended to make criminals pay compensation for their actions “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” The law allows designed officials to exact retribution However, private individuals may not take personal revenge

3) Incarceration Keeping criminals in prisons & not out on the streets to commit more crimes is the purpose of incarceration US recently took a tougher stance with the Three Strikes Law that has led to an increase in the number of people in prision

4) Rehabilitation The goal of rehabilitation is to resocialize criminals Most prisons have programs aimed at giving prisoners the work & social skills needed to help them adjust to life when they get out of prison 30-60% of released prisoners go back to jail in 2-5 years; this is called Recidivism Why Recidivism? Basic nature of the offenders Influences of more harden criminals The stigma of being an ex-convict

Let’s Practice.. Indicate which form of punishment applies… ______Imprisonment without parole ______Longer prison sentences ______Extremely harsh conditions ______Psychological counseling in prison ______Swift Justice ______Payment for Damages ______Boot Camp ______Community Service ______Three Strikes Law

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 25 SOCIOLOGY Richard T. Schaefer - Deviance and Social Control

THANKS TO Mrs. Sandy Furbush, Sussex Technical School District, Georgetown, DE Nita Hoelscher empowermentzone.tamu.edu/support/tutor ials/.../Crime_Punishment....