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 Causes of 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 Causes of 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 Subcultures and 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 Subcultures and 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