Economic Crime (Brown- Chapter 12)1) Definition:a) Crimes of acquisition (in the streets and in the suites)b) Majority is property crime2) Types:a) Robbery i) Definition: use of threat or force to gain propertyii) Both violent and property offensesiii) Requires face-to-face encounter with victimiv) Many target drug dealers (cash on hand, won’t report)v) Those living in immediate area are often targetedvi) Expanding use of credit cards serves as a deterrentvii)Those in which a gun is used (as a threat) produce less physical harm(1) People are more likely to just give up the propertyb) Larceny/Theft i) Definition: “the taking of property from a person with the intent of permanently depriving them of its use”ii) Represents 2/3 of all property crimeiii) Includes shoplifting, purse snatching, pick pocketing, employee, theftiv) Explanations:(1) Kleptomania(a) Incessant urge/compulsion to steal(b) Sneaky thrills (stolen candy tastes a bit sweeter)c) Burglary i) Definiton: “the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft”ii) 8% of American households victimized each year (1) Repeat victimizationiii) 2/3 are against residencesiv) Motivation:(1) Perceived threat (a) Largely due to identity(2) Psychological encapsulation(a) Inability to access legitimate means for addressing threat feel isolated(3) Criminal actv) Proceeds fuel “party lifestyle”vi) The burglary event: (1) Primary motive to avoid contact with home occupant(2) Offender looks for cue to determine that home is unoccupied(3) Location and time are important(4) Offenders develop sources to determine which are worth breaking into(5) Most offenders are low level opportunists, victimize local community(6) Communities with unemployment have lower burglary rates- more people at home(7) “Black market” to dispose of proceedsd) White Collar Crime i) nonviolentii) Competing definitions:(1) Restricted to class position of people who commit certain kinds of crimes (a) Ex: corporate and banking executives(b) Criminal not typical (i) Generally male, upper class, white, older (35-50)1. They have opportunity- degree of power to commit this type of crime(ii) Exception to our crime data(2) Applied to the offenses themselves, regardless of who perpetrators are(a) Ex: abusing your position within a company for personal gain(b) Criminal all genders and agesiii) Study WC crime(1) Difficult results from its complexity(a) Criminology, criminal law, organization theory, psychology, accounting and others(b) Offenders are less accessible to research efforts (2) 99.9% of research of WC will look at companies/industries(a) No one considers government(i) Giving special favors to campaigns WC?(ii) Senators get preferential treatment from companies WC?(iii) Congress exempt from insider trainingiv) Punishments are less severeClassical Criminology (Vold- Chapter 2)AKA Deterrence or Rational Choice Theory1) Pre modern understanding of criminalitya) Demonic perspectiveb) Crime resulted from supernatural forces (i.e. demons)c) Crime conceived of as a sini) Crime invites the wrath of g-d punishment)d) Theological understanding of its cures (causes/preventions)i) What drives people to commit crimee) Corporal punishments for wrongdoersi) Barbaric punishments directed at body- no jail, CJ system didn’t existii) Examples: (show cultural environment- send message action is wrong)(1) Burning alive(2) Exorcism to purge evil spirits(3) Branding(a) Hot stakes through tongues who speak ill(b) Ostracism/ banishmentf) The legal environmenti) Arbitrary and capricious justice(1) Determines particular punishmentii) Sentence often depended on one’s social statusiii) Corruption was a problemiv) Judges had wide discretion in applying as much law as would suit their interests2) Cesare Beccaria a) An Essay on Crimes and Punishment (1764)i) Revolutionary document(1) Fundamental shift in criminology(2) Revolutionary: upsets those in power(3) Informed the US constitution(4) Banned by the Vatican(a) Book undermined their authorityii) First rational scientific approach to crime (1) Fruit of the enlightenment(a) Theological apparatus been displaced- shift from religion to science(b) men more capable and though as independent thinkers/rational beings(2) ideas are at the foundation of nearly ALL modern criminal justiceb) Deterrence- Capital punishmenti) Beccaria was against for all expect 1 crime:(1) When criminals rebellion could topple the governmentii) Instead of capital punishment “perpetual slavery”(1) Perpetual- public slave(2) Sufferer can’t think of future(3) Way to repress rebellioniii) Problems:(1) Element of causation: temporal order (a) Perceptual Detterance (i) Everyone perceives cost differently if people don’t have the right perception won’t deter crime(ii) Perception impacts choices/crime1. A lot of crime, low perception of deterrence- what causes whata. Lot of crime low perception?b. Low perception lot of crime?(b) Brutalization hypothesis effect(i) High crime implement more severe penalties(ii) Again what causes what? (punishment led to crime or crime led to punishment?)1. Severe penalty high crime?2. High crime severe penalty?3) The Philosophy of Classical Theory a) Thomas Hobbes i) The Social Contract(1) What would happen if there was a small group with no laws?(a) Predict: everyone fight against one another for personal gain- creation of all out war against all (Lord of the Flies)(2) Need authority/structure/institution to control behavior- avoid socialconflict(3) Social contract:(a) Gives authority t the state- consent to of the govern(4) Incorporates ideas of Jeremy Bentham (father of utilitarianism)(a) man is assumed to be a rational actor- utility maximizer(i) utility maximizer: 1. do what will maximize self profit, man is oriented toward reducing cost and maximizing benefitsa. reduce cost and maximize benefit CJ system should increase the cost (risk) and minimize possible benefitsb) Classical theory defined:i) In order to deter crime, penalties must be made known and applied with:(1) Swiftness (middle importance)(a) Immediate punishment(2) Severity (least important)(a) Imposed with just enough costs to outweigh the benefits of crime(i) Need perfect balance(3) Certainty (most important)(a) Chances/likelihood criminal will be caught, convicted, and punishedii) Aimed at general and specific deterrence:(1) General:(a) Community at large (deter others from
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