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Chapter 3 Violent Crime Homicide Assault and Robbery Interpersonal violence the threat attempt or actual use of physical force by one or more persons that results in physical or nonphysical harm to one or more other persons o Nonphysical harm refers to fear anxiety and other emotional states o Interpersonal rules out things such as pollution unsafe products and dangerous work places These types of crimes that affect 1 000 s of people a year are called corporate violence o Political violence includes things such as terrorism sabotage and genocide Although most political violence is interpersonal it s special nature puts it in a broader category Homicide captures the attention of the public media and criminologists more Homicide and Assault P 60 than any other crime Because there is always a corpse when dealing with a homicide they are far likely than other crimes to be known to the police Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter are Part 1 offense according to the FBI in their UCR data collection o This category refers to the willful killing of another and excludes death by gross negligence suicide and justifiable homicide o Justifiable homicide refers the killing of an armed and dangerous felon by police or private citizens Criminal law divides murder and nonnegligent manslaughter into 4 subcategories Placing a murder into one of these 4 categories depends upon the offenders intent and the amount and nature of the of the physical force that resulted in death 1 First degree Murder Malice aforethought Planned to kill and then did so Key word Premeditated murders and felony murder Any person killed during a commission of a felony 2 Second degree Murder The offender intended to do serious bodily harm short of killing the victim but they died anyways 4 3 Voluntary manslaughter Killings made out of intense emotion such as anger or fear Involuntary manslaughter killings committed because the offender was reckless Killing someone in a car accident or accidently shaking your kid too hard Manslaughter refers to the killings that are less serious and less blame worthy but still not justifiable Prosecutors have great latitude in deciding which category a homicide fits in and their decision result heavily in which category they can prove a crime was committed beyond a reasonable doubt The UCR defines two types of assaults o Aggravated Assault an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily harm They involve a weapon or other likely means to produce death or great harm o Simple assaults are assaults in which no weapon is used and do not result in serous or aggravated injury to the victim Only aggravated assaults are Part 1 offenses used in UCR collections Both assaults are represented in NCVS data The big difference between homicide and aggravated assault is whether or not the person dies PARENTING AND SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF HOMICIDE P61 About half of the offenders and victims of homicide are African Americans even though they only make up about 13 of the population Homicide is largely an intraracial crime o For single offender single victim homicides 92 of African American victims are killed by African Americans and 86 of White murders are by While offenders Men are much more likely than woman to kill and be killed Homicide is a distinctly masculine matter Woman are much more likely to kill if they are battered o This is why woman are more likely than men to be killed by their o 35 of women are likely to be killed by an intimate It s only 3 for current or ex partner men Young people are also disproportionally more likely to be murdered than older generations Geographic Patterns The homicide rate the number of homicides per 100 000 residents is 10 2 in the nations largest cities verses only 2 7 in towns with populations under 25 000 Homicide rates are highest in the South and lowest in the Northeast This subculture arose for these 3 reasons Southerners are thought to have a code of honor that demands responses o The South has a history with slavery which as a violent institution made the South accustomed to the use of violence in everyday life The South s history with lynching is said to of had a similar effect o The South is also very warm Higher temperatures have been known to cause greater violence o The South s economy was built on herding not farming Herded animals made a good target for potential rustlers Because of this herders were very protective and often resulted in violence Some scholars attribute the South s high homicide rates not to a subculture of violence but instead it s level of economic deprivation The South also is said to be the highest region when dealing with gun ownership rates o It also has a high rate of aggravated assault showing the South has a lot of violence even when not dealing with guns The United State s has the highest homicide rate of out any industrialized nation The Victim Offender Relationship 63 According to UCR data the relationship between offender and victim was unknown in 44 of the 2009 homicide cases Of the remaining victims 78 were killed by someone they knew and only Most of the unknown relationship cases arise because this data goes to the 22 were murdered by a stranger FBI before an arrest occurs o If a homicide is unsolved the victim offender relationship is recorded as unknown This is why the UCR data in the unknown category is artfully high Murder victims are 3x more likely to be killed by someone they know then to be killed by a stranger The Type of Weapon 65 Handguns accounted for 47 In 2009 2 3 of homicides involved a firearm Circumstances Leading to Homicide 65 The typical U S murder is relatively spontaneous event arising from an argument that gets out of hand Marvin Wolfgang found at a victim precipitates about 25 of all homicides by starting the argument or being the first to use force o Depending on how precipitation is defined some researches say the number could be even greater at 50 Often the offender victim or both have been drinking Trends in U S Homicide Rates 66 U S homicide rates rose sharply after the mid1960 s in the 70 s before declining in the beginning of the 80 s to rise again after 1985 into the early 90 s The post 1985 homicide rise had a lot to do with young males under 24 in urban areas This increase stemmed from several factors 1 A growing sense of despair due to declining economic opportunities in urban areas in the 1980 s Increased drug trafficking in inner cities


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FSU CCJ 4614 - Chapter 3: Violent Crime

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