Social Problems Final Exam Review Crime government Crime is the violatin of a criminal law enacted by the federal state or local o Crime is defined socially a formal norm o Norms are rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its member Many everyday norms are informal and are enforced with just a verbal comment a raised eyebrow or some other nonverbal expression o Stricter norm is laws a norm formally created through a society s political system 2 majors cateogories of crime o misdemeanor is a less serious crime punishable by less than one year in prison o Felony is a more serious crime punished by at least one year in prison Fear of crime itself is a social problem because it limits the things people do and the places they go Biologial causes of crime o In the 1960 s researches began looking for a link between genetics and criminal behavior Men with an extra Y chromosome may have a greater chance of criminal violence But no clear envicedne linking criminality to any specific genetic trait has not yet been found General types of crime o Civil rights o Criminal violates public order Street crimes o Property crime Crimes against property theft burglary arson Crimes against person rape robbery aggravated assauly Social Problems Final Exam Review o Crime against person violence Other types of crimes o Juvenile delinquency o White collar crime committed by people during or a part of their legal occupation employment o Corp crime policies of and actions taken by companies that result in crime o Organized crime business operation Illegal business Both WHITE COLLAR ORGANIZED crime involve illegal activities through enterprises An enterprise is a group of associated individuals such as a business partnership corporation or union The key difference between the two white collar criminals try to profit within legitimate businesses usually nonviolent one or group of individuals organized crime seeks profits through illegal businesses frequently uses violence large number of members o Victimless crime o Hate crimes Arrests very tip of the iceberg o Measure of social control rather than crime or deviance Uniform crime report UCR offenses known to the police near the op of the iceberg o arrest data only measured the tip of the iceberg For one thing most crimes are never cleared by arrest that is offenders are never caught in the majority of common crimes such as theft and assault Furthermore offenders who are caught and arrested may be atypical in many respects as compared to offenders who manage to elude police and escape arrest In other words the great bulk of offenders and offenses which remain in the hidden part of the iceberg may quite different from those known to police Violent crimes against persons account just for 12 percent of all serious offenses Property accounts for 88 percent Social Problems Final Exam Review o Most muder victims are male African Americans are especially at high risk o Stalking is defined as repeated effects by someone to establish or reestablish a relationship against the will of the victim o From 1960 until the early 90 s the rate of violent crime rose quickly After that the trend toward downward Analysts point to a number of factors including a strong economy during the 90s we should expect the economic recession that began in 2008 to push crime rates higher once again The drop in crime rates reflects a drop in the use of cocaine o In 2007 16929 murders someone was killed every 31 minutes in the United States However the murder rate has been falling every since 1993 Street crimes o AGE Arrest rates for both violent crimes and property crime are highest in the late teens and fall steadily among older people Ages 15 24 account for 41 percent of arrest for violent crimes and 47 percent for property crimes o GENDER Men accounted for 67 percent of arrests for the property crimes Men account for 82 percent of violent crimes Women are more often in the arrest data for larcency theft fraud embezzlement runaway youth prostituation From 96 07 number of arrest of women increased 7 percent while arrest in men fell 6 White collar crimes refers to illegal activites conducted by people of high social position business activites o Bank corporation and important members of society o Bernard Madoff convicted of numerous crimes after swindling investors out of at least 50 billion dollars white collar crime Corporate crimes is an illegal act commited by a corporation or by persons acting on its behalf o Gross negligence knowingly producing faulty or dangerous products Social Problems Final Exam Review Hate crimes a crime offense against a person or property or society motivated by the offenders bias against a race religion disability sexual orientation or ethnicity or national orgin o Many hate crimes are NOT reported o Hate crimes laws remain controversial Critics argue that because assault are already against the law special hate crime laws are not need o Hate crimes harm not just a single victim but entire communities they should bring more severe penalities Drug any chemical substance other than food or water that affects the mind or DRUGS body Drug abuse o Use that goes against accepted medical practices or o Non prescription drugs has harmful effects Mentally Physically Socially norms Decriminalization vs legalizing drugs o Decriminalization removing the current criminal penalities that punish drug users like a parking ticket Harm reduction o Public health approach aimed at minimizing the harm caused by drug use laws against it o Emphasizes treatment prevention rather than incarceration Abuse what is considered deviant or problem by society sub groups Drug history o 4000 years ago chinese emperor recommended MJ for female weakness gout malaria beriberi constipation and absentmindedness Social Problems Final Exam Review o accdeptablility of drugs is culturally defined according to type quanitity and freq social status Drugs play a part in many cases of child neglect and family violence o Codependency behavior on the part of others that helps a substance abuser continue the abuse Strategies to control drugs o Interdiction prosecution education treatment Interdiction means stopping movement of drugs across this countrys borders Prosecution putting drug dealers in jail very tough Education discourage use of drugs in the first place Treatment help users who are already addicted fight off the addiction War on drugs o Main focus of 4 strategies is