1. FLTCC CJ Crime and Its Consequences
© 2011 Cengage Learning

2. Define crime and identify the different types of crime.

3. What is crime?
“a wrong against society proclaimed by law and, if committed under certain circumstances, punishable by society.”
Different societies can have vastly different ideas of what constitutes a crime.
© 2011 Cengage Learning

4. Crime vs. Deviance
Deviance is behavior which goes against norms established by society.
Deviance is subjective.
Deviant acts are crimes only when a majority accepts that those acts should be punished.
Not all crimes are considered particularly deviant.
Criminal law defines acts the legislature has decided are so unacceptable, they must be prevented.

5. A Legal Definition
A legal definition of crime is used in criminal justice in the United States.

6. A Legal Definition
Some behaviors prohibited by criminal law should not be. Overcriminalization arises in victimless crimes:
Gambling
Prostitution involving consenting adults
Homosexual acts between consenting adults
Use of some illegal drugs, such as marijuana

7. A Legal Definition
For some behaviors prohibited by criminal law, the law is not routinely enforced. Nonenforcement is common for:
White-collar crimes
Government crimes
Victimless crimes
Minor crimes
Nonenforcement causes disrespect for the law.

8. undercriminalization
A Legal Definition
Behaviors that some people think should be prohibited by criminal law are not. This is undercriminalization.
undercriminalization
The failure to prohibit some behaviors that arguably should be prohibited.

9. Elements of Crime
Technically and ideally, a crime has not been committed unless the following elements are present:
Causation
Concurrence
Punishment
Harm
Legality
Actus reus
Mens rea

10. The external consequence required to make an
A Legal Definition
For crime to occur, there must be harm, either physical or verbal.
Thinking about committing a crime is not a crime.
A verbal threat to strike another person is a crime.
harm
The external consequence required to make an
action a crime.

11. Legality Legality has two aspects: The harm must be legally forbidden
A criminal law must not be ex post facto.

12. Actus Reus
Actus reus requires actual criminal conduct, or criminal negligence:
If parents fail to provide food, clothing, and shelter for their children, they are committing a crime.

13. Mens rea refers to the mental aspect of crime.
Criminal conduct usually refers to intentional action or inaction.
Sometimes, negligence or reckless action can be criminal.

14. mens rea negligence Criminal intent; a guilty state of mind.
The failure to take reasonable precautions to prevent harm.

15. Mens Rea – Legal Defenses
In the United States, an offender is not considered responsible or is considered less resp. if he or she:
Acted under duress
Was underage
Was insane
Acted in self-defense or defense of a third party
Was entrapped
Acted out of necessity

16. Causation
In order for a crime to be a legal crime, there must be a causal relationship between the legally forbidden harm and the actus reus. The criminal act must lead directly to the harm without a long delay.

17. Concurrence
There must be concurrence between the actus reus and the mens rea; the criminal conduct and the criminal intent must occur together.

18. Punishment
For a behavior to be considered a crime, there must be a statutory provision for punishment or at least the threat of punishment.

19. Degrees or Categories of Crime
Crimes can be distinguished by degree or severity of the offense by being divided into:
Felonies—severe crimes
Misdemeanors—less severe crimes

20. Degrees or Categories of Crime
Another way of distinguishing crime is between:
Mala prohibita
Mala in se
Trespassing
Gambling
Prostitution
Rape
Murder

21. mala in se mala prohibita
“Wrong in themselves.” A description applied to crimes that are characterized by universality and timelessness.
mala prohibita
Offenses that are illegal because laws define them as such. They lack universality and timelessness.

22. Crime Models Consensus Model Conflict Model Integrated Crime Model
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23. The Consensus Model The Consensus Model
Assumes that a diverse group of people have similar morals and share an ideal of what is “right” and “wrong.”
Crime are acts that violate this shared value system and are deemed harmful to society.
© 2011 Cengage Learning

24. Consensus Model
Assumes that as people gather together to form a society, its members will informally come to a basic agreement with regard to shared norms and values.

25. The Conflict Model
Assumes that different segments of society, separated by social class, income, age and race, will inevitably have different norms and value systems and struggle with each other to control society.
The most politically powerful members of society have the most influence on criminal law and impose their value system on the rest of the community.
Crimes are defined by whichever group holds power at a given time.
© 2011 Cengage Learning

26. Integrated Definition of Crime
Takes into account both consensus and conflict models.
Defines crime as any action or activity which includes:
Acts punishable by criminal law, as determined by the majority of society, or a powerful minority.
Is an offense against society as a whole.
Prosecuted by public officials.
Punishable by statutorily defined sanctions.

27. An Integrated Definition of Crime
Punishable under criminal law, as determined by the majority, or in some cases, by a powerful minority.
Considered an offense against society as a whole and prosecuted by public officials, not by victims and their relatives or friends.
Punishable by statutorily determined sanctions that bring about the loss of personal freedom or life.
© 2011 Cengage Learning

28. Types of Crime Criminal behavior can be grouped into six categories:
Violent crime
Property crime
Public order crime
White collar crime
Organized crime
High-tech crime
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29. Violent Crime Violent Crime Crimes against persons. Includes: Murder
Sexual assault
Assault and battery
Robbery
© 2011 Cengage Learning

30. Property Crime The most common form of criminal activity.
The goal of the offender is some form of economic gain or to damage property.
Includes:
Larceny/theft
Burglary
Motor vehicle theft
Arson
© 2011 Cengage Learning

31. The Big Picture 2005: approximately 23 million crimes in the U.S. 20%
80%
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005

32. Property Crime Statistics (2005)
# of crimes
% of victims
Motor vehicle theft
2.5 million
0.8
Burglary
8.9 3
Theft
35.1 12
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005

33. Property crime # of crimes = 46.5 million % victims in pop.= 15%
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005

34. Violent Crime Statistics (2005)
# of crimes
% of victims
Simple assault
4.1 million 1
Aggravated assault
1.3
0.4
Robbery
785,000
0.3
Rape
151,000
0.05
Homicide
30,200
0.01
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005

35. Violent crime # of crimes = 6.3 million % victims in pop.= 3%
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005

36. Public Order Crimes
Behavior that is outlawed because it violates shared social values.
Also referred to as victimless crime.
Includes:
Public drunkenness
Prostitution
Gambling
Illicit drug use
Disorderly Conduct
Riot
© 2011 Cengage Learning

37. White Collar Crime Business related offenses.
Illegal act(s) committed to obtain personal or business advantage.
White collar crime costs U.S. businesses as much as $994 billion a year.
© 2011 Cengage Learning

38. Components of White-Collar Crime
Stings and swindles
Chiseling
Individual exploitation of institutional position
Influence peddling and bribery
Embezzlement and employee fraud
Client fraud
Corporate crime

40. Organized Crime Illegal acts by illegal organizations (often violent.
Usually geared toward satisfying a public demand for unlawful goods and services.
Implies a conspiratorial and illegal relationship among a number of people engaged in unlawful acts.
Includes:
Loan sharking
Gambling
Prostitution
© 2011 Cengage Learning

41. © 2011 Cengage Learning

42. Hierachical Structure of a Typical Organized Crime Family
Figure 15.1
Hierachical Structure of a Typical Organized Crime Family
Adapted from President's Commission on Organized Crime, 1986, p. 469.

43. Organized Crime
Illegal activities of people and organizations whose acknowledged purpose is profit through illegitimate business enterprise
General characteristics
Conspiratorial activity
Continuous commitment of primary members
Economic gain is the primary goal (also power and status)
Not all activities are illicit
Use predatory tactics
Groups are quick and effective in controlling and disciplining
Not always the “Mafia”
Does not include terrorists dedicated to political change

44. Activities of Organized Crime
Narcotics distribution
Loan sharking
Prostitution
Gambling
Theft ring
Pornography
Stock market manipulation

49. High-Tech Crime Also referred to as cyber crimes. Includes:
Selling pornographic material online
Cyberstalking
Hacking
© 2011 Cengage Learning

50. © 2011 Cengage Learning

51. © 2011 Cengage Learning

52. © 2011 Cengage Learning

53. Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Hi Tech Crime
Classification
Unique Feature
Types of crime
Computer
Computer system or capability is the object of the crime.
Viruses, theft of system capabilities
Computer Related
Computer facilitates crime or keeps records of crime. Some are traditional crimes, others are crime created as a result of computer age.
Traditional:
Child pornography, Narcotics Trafficking
Non-Traditional: Software Piracy, Internet Fraud.
Technology Crime
Technology is stolen, or other technology services are stolen
Computer Hardware theft, theft of cellular telephone service, theft of cable television services
Copyright : Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster

54. © 2011 Cengage Learning

55. © 2011 Cengage Learning

56. © 2011 Cengage Learning

57. © 2011 Cengage Learning

58. The Measurement of Crime
What Americans know about crime is, by and large, based on statistics supplied by government agencies.

59. Crime Statistics
Statistics about crime and delinquency are probably the most unreliable and most difficult of all social statistics.
Behavior may be wrongly labeled.
Crimes go undetected.
Crimes are sometimes not reported to police.
Crimes may be inaccurately recorded by police.
Statistics do not include the dark figure of crime.

60. The number of crimes not officially recorded by the police.
dark figure of crime
The number of crimes not officially recorded by the police.

61. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
One of the primary sources of crime statistics in the United States is the uniform crime reports.
Today more than 17,000 city, county, and state law enforcement agencies (representing 95 percent of the U.S. population) are active in the program.

62. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
The UCR includes two major indexes:
Offenses known to the police
Statistics about persons arrested

63. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Offenses known to the police include eight index crimes.
Only about 35% of crimes, on average, are reported to the police.

64. eight index crimes Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter Forcible rape
The Part I offenses in the
FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports.
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
Forcible rape
Robbery
Aggravated assault
Burglary
Larceny-theft
Motor vehicle theft
Arson

65. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
The other major crime index in the UCR is based on arrest statistics, provided for the eight index crimes as well as 21 other crimes and status offenses.
status offenses
An act that is illegal for a juvenile but would not be a crime if committed by an adult.

66. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
The UCR also includes statistics on crime index offenses cleared by the police, which is a rough index of police performance in solving crimes.
Murder – 70% Burglary – 15%
Rape – 50% Larceny – 20%
Robbery – 25% MVT – 15%
Agg. Assault – 60% Arson – 15%
20% of all Index crimes

67. National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
The NIBRS is the result of a joint task force of the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the FBI aimed at improving the quality of information contained in the UCR.
The NIBRS contains more data on more crimes than the UCR.

68. National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS)
The other major source of crime statistics in the U.S. is the National Crime Victimization Surveys.
For nearly all offenses, the NCVS shows more crimes being committed than the UCR, because of victims’ failure to report crimes or failure by police to report crimes to the FBI.

69. national crime victimization surveys
A source of crime statistics based on interviews in which respondents are asked whether they have been victims of any of the FBI’s index offenses (except murder and nonnegligent manslaughter and arson) or other crimes during the past six months. If they have, they are asked to provide information about the experience.

70. Self-Report Crimes
Self-report crime surveys ask selected subjects (often high school students) whether they have committed crimes.
Examples:
The National Youth Survey
The National Institute on Drug Abuse effort to ascertain levels of smoking, drinking and drug use among high school students

71. Who the Victims Are
Victimization is not spread evenly through the U.S. population. The most likely victims of violent crime are
Younger (age 12-24)
Never married, divorced, or separated
Poor
Minority
Urban residents
Men
Living in the West or Midwest

72. Who the Victims Are
The majority of men (55%) were victimized by strangers.
The majority of women (68%) were victimized by someone they knew.