SOCY105 Mini Quiz 4 1 Crime and Criminal Justice a We often imagine crime as violent or life threatening acts not white collar crimes committed by men and women using accounting ledgers and calculators as deadly weapons b Yet an act does not have to be violent or bloody to be considered criminal c Crime any behavior that violates criminal law and is punishable by fine jail or other negative sanctions d Felonies serious offenses which include murder rape robbery and aggravated assault which are punishable by more than a year s imprisonment or death e Misdemeanors minor offenses such as traffic violations that are punishable by a fine or less than a year in jail f Theories on Crime i Biological theories focus on how individuals are biologically predisposed to criminal behavior ii Psychological theories focus on individual personality development moral development or mental disorders iii Sociological theories focus on why crime rates vary between urban and rural areas different neighborhoods or social or economic groups Crime and Functionalist Perspectives 2 Durkheim a Criminal behavior is normal and inevitable i Crime is functional 1 it separates acceptable from non acceptable behavior in society ii Society and its rules are what make us human 1 without any social regulation humans are able to pursue their own desires even criminal ones b Anomie a state of normlessless i a structural condition where there is no or little regulation of behavior which leads to deviant or criminal behavior 3 Robert Merton s strain theory a We are socialized to attain traditional material and social goals b When opportunities are blocked due to discrimination social position or talent we experience anomie c This leads to crime d Criminal activity would decline if economic conditions improve 4 Agnew s Expanded Strain Theory a three types of social psychological sources of strain b failure to achieve positively valued outcomes because of individual inadequacies due to ability or skill c removal of positive or desired stimuli from the individual d confrontation with negative action or stimuli by others e Provides insight into criminal offending differences by gender class race ethnicity communities and over the life course as well as situational variations in crime a Social control theorists ask why someone doesn t commit crime b Four elements control behaviour i Attachments relationships with others ii Commitment acceptance of conventional goals and means Involvement participation in conventional activities iii iv Beliefs acceptance of conventional values and norms 5 Social Control Conflict Perspective 1 Criminal laws do not exist for our good they exist to preserve the interests and power of specific groups 2 Criminal justice decisions are discriminatory and designed to sanction offenders based on their minority or subordinate group 3 While the powerful are able to resist criminal labels they seem to stick to the powerless the poor youth and minorities 4 Turk status criminality is a way to define a persons social status Feminist Perspective 1 Focuses on how women s criminal experiences are different from men and also from each other based on race ethnicity class age and sexual orientation 2 Gender inequality theories have been presented as explanations of female crime a Patriarchal power relations shape gender differences in crime pushing women into criminal behavior through role entrapment economic marginalization victimization or as a survival response Internationalist Perspective 1 Interactionists examine the process that defines certain individuals and acts as criminal a Labeling theory it isn t the criminal or his her act that is important but the audience that labels the person or act as criminal 2 Race and class matter in our perception of crime 3 Differential association Theory individuals are likely to commit deviant acts if they associate with others who are deviants Sources of Crime statistics 1 Primary source of crime data is collected by the FBI a Uniform Crime Report UCR i Reports two categories of crimes index crimes murder rape robbery assault burglary car theft arson and larceny and non index crimes all others b Problems with the UCR 2 The data only reflects reported crimes 3 Estimates suggest that only 3 to 4 percent of crimes are actually discovered by police Kappeler Blumberg and Potter 2000 4 National Crime Victimization Survey NCVS or NCS identifies crime victims regardless if the crime was reported or not 5 Comparing results of the NCVS and UCR suggests the number of crimes committed is actually higher than the number of crimes reported suggesting that the UCR may not be an adequate measure of violent crime Types of Crime 1 Violent crime 2 Property crime 3 Juvenile Delinquency 1 Actions which involve force or the threat of force aggravated assault murder rape and robbery 2 Except for rape sexual assault males have higher victimization rates than females 1973 3 Blacks have had the highest violent crime victimization rates since 4 Often explained by structural factors such as neighborhood poverty unemployment social isolation and economic disadvantage 5 Younger people more likely to experience violent crime a Taking money or property from another without force or the threat of force against the victims b Makes up about 3 4 of all crime in the U S c In 2008 there were an estimated 17 5 million property crimes a Juvenile status offender a juvenile who has violated a law that only applies to persons 7 to 17 like cutting school or buying and consuming alcohol b Delinquency often explained by the absence of strong bonds to society or lack of social controls i Most juvenile crime is committed by males but rates for females are increasing ii Almost half of all juvenile arrests involved larceny theft simple assault drug abuse violation disorderly conduct or liquor law violation iii Black youth were overrepresented in juvenile arrests given their proportion of the juvenile offender population 4 White collar Crime i a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation ii high social status and respectability iii Motivation financial or economic gain iv Occur in a particular organization or business b It is estimated that white collar crimes cost taxpayers more than all other types of crime c Cybercrime internet fraud and abuse including i Identity theft online credit card fraud schemes theft of trade secrets sales of counterfeit software and