Types of Crime and Victiminzation

Crimes can be classified in several ways... Severity Felonies and misdemeanors 2. mala in se & mala prohibita mala in se: crimes that everyone considers wrong mala prohibita: actions that are illegal because of laws

3. Statistic Classifications Violent Crimes: crimes against people Murder Manslaughter assault rape robbery kidnapping

Property Crimes: crimes against property larceny burglary embezzlement arson blackmail fraud forgery/counterfeiting

Public Order Offenses: crimes that threaten the peace public drunkenness driving while intoxicated disorderly conduct

Victimization Crime statistics are very unreliable "dark figure of crime": fact that a lot of crimes go unreported to the police Any number of "crimes committed" is an index, or estimate, of crime rates in an area We will never know the true number of crimes!!!

Why would people not report crimes to the police? 1. Crime not that serious 2. Do not want to embarrass the offender 3. Do not want the publicity 4. May have a part in the crime 5. Want to avoid the inconvenience 6. Scared of the offender 7. Dislike the police 8. Feel the police will not be able to do anything

Fear of Victimization About 80% of Americans fear being a victim of a crime 40% fear sexual assault 40% burglaries not at home, 25% at home 30% attacked in car 30% mugged 25% assault 20% murdered

Fear of violent crime is greater at night Most Americans feel safe at home, but do not feel safe walking alone at night near home

Who Fears Crime Females more than males Minorities Ppl. over 50 most fearful Jews more fearful than other religious gps Ppl. living in urban areas Ppl. living in the South and West Ppl. with less education Democrats more fearful than Republicans Fear of crime goes down as income goes up.

Most of these generalizations deals with specific crimes in these groups, and does not mean they will be a victim Why would specific people fear being a victim of crime?

Who is Most Likely to be a Victim of Crime? Young People Ppl. 12-24 are twice as likely to be victim of a crime than older people. Single People Are 4 times more likely to be a victim than a married person Poorer People Less than $7,500/year 2.5 times more likely

African Americans and Latin Americans Rate of violent crimes (per 1,000 people) African Americans: 31.2 Latin Americans: 29.5 Whites: 24.5 City Dwellers Urban: 33.2 Suburban: 22.3 Rural: 21.1

Men Rate of violent crimes (per 1,000 people) Men: 27.3 Women: 23 Living in the West West: 32.3 Midwest: 24.4 South: 23.8 Northeast: 20.2

Applying Positivist Theories Read the back ground on Timothy McVeigh, one of the men responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing In a short essay (paragraph) write down which positivist theory you think best describes why McVeigh committed the Oklahoma bombing.

Critical Theories to Crime Labeling Theory 1. Once someone commits a crime, they are "labeled" as a criminal 2. They are ignored and shunned by society b/c of this label 3. With no other options, they commit more crimes

Conflict Theory Society is divided between competing groups; rich vs. poor, men vs. women, etc. One group is dominant over the other The dominant group uses the CJ system to control and keep down the weaker group.

Radical Theory Comes from Karl Marx and his theories on economics Crime is a natural result of the competition caused by capitalism between rich and poor. As incomes become more equal, crime will go down.

Left Realism It is not just the powerful that commit crimes against working class people Working class people commit crimes against themselves as well. Peacemaking "Wars" on crime are ineffective To reduce crime, human suffering needs to be reduced

Feminist Theory Questions the validity of other theories towards women. Brings more attention to the victimization of women Postmodernism There is no one "Law"; criminal law can be changed to mean anything. Seeks to change the CJ system to be more adaptable