SOC 368 1st Edition Lecture 1 Outline of Current Lecture I. Defining CrimeII. How “knowledge”/beliefs inform actionsIII. Interpersonal CrimeIV. Fear of crime as a social resourceCurrent LectureIntroduction to CriminologyCrime is a social problem for many reasons; to start we must define the different aspects of crime today1. Defining CrimeA. “omnipresence” of crimea. it is always present and acknowledged in some form b. at least ⅓ of all TV includes crime/police workB. “knowledge” of crimea. similarly, there is an awareness of generally what constitutes as crimeb. what do we consider crime in “everyday life”C. “fear” of crimea. feeds into “knowledge” of crime, although much of what we know is misconceptions2. How “knowledge”/beliefs inform actionsA. In this case, “knowledge” often refers to misconceptions, or what we simply believe to be true; when a lot of our actions are based on incorrect notions, it results in social issuesa. social policies are more readily rectified on the basis that certain crime issues are more prevalent than they actually areb. individual action is alteredi. people mostly fear violent crime (interpersonal)ii. corporations also engage in violent crime that often goes unheard of, yet they affect people much more than interpersonal 3. Interpersonal CrimeA. This is what is commonly interpreted as “street” crimea. Violent Crimeb. Property (taking or damaging property) CrimeThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.B. Rates have been decreasing generally, while the fear of crime has been increasinga. View “ideal criminals” as being someone very different from oneselfb. Data shows that those who commit the majority of the crimes that hurt the most people do not fit the “ideal criminal” description that most people havei. White, middle aged, corporate males vs. young, black, urban malesii. Most crime that causes victimization and death occurs from the former male, though we tend to fear & criminalize the latter C. Fear of crime as a social resourcea. Because of the general fear for this victimization, the public is manipulated into pursuing different programs that may not be necessary at alli. Extra surveillance, harsher punishments for different crimes, etc.b. Great campaign tactic, as fear can be used to bait people in one direction or anotherc. It offers a distraction from things like war, economy, education, political scandals, etc. d. Resource in “moral panics”i. It offers distortions on what is reality1. Content bias: fear of interracial crime, while most is intraracial;violence as the main form of crime, when in reality it is mostlyproperty crime2. Omissions: certain facts are hidden, making white people overrepresented as being victimized ii. individualization1. rather than portraying these crimes as being issues of social concern, they are often spun as being specifically related to individuals and contextualizeda. makes it difficult to address the social issues