CCJS105 NOTES Summer 2015 Crime 40 percent of americans are fearful of a specific type of crime 80 percent of americans are fearful of crime in general Black Individuals are more likely to be victimized Women and older folks are less likely to be victimized African Americans as criminals Tv news drug stories depict blacks 50 of the time v whites 32 of the time 75 of drug users are white Crime Waves and Moral Panics but most blacks get convicted of it Crime Wave Moral panic Sudden rise or fall of a particular type of crime E g crime against the elderly or child abductions Discrepancy b w perceived and actual threat The police over or downplay crimes depending on their immediate goals A critical approach social inequality and power at the center of criminology inquiry Criminology breaking of laws the study of crimes and criminals scope the process of making laws breaking laws reacting toward the The politics of crime control Reagan Bush and Clinton Reagan drugs Bush terrorism Clinton gun control Brady Bill Each president another focus The US Patriot Act Liberals focus on underlying causes Conservatives focus on personal responsibility agency Crime A legalistic Definition penalized by the state Infotainment Intentional violation of the criminal law or penal code w o defense or excuse and Consistent with consensus approach law expresses will of the people entertainment w real facts Contrasted with conflict approach interests of the people who are in power Disadvantage Major advantage Ignores civil and regulatory laws Narrower and less ambiguous than a social definition CJS refuses to label and treat as crime a large number of acts of the rich that produce as much or more damage as the crimes of the poor For the same crimes members of the lower classes are much more likely than members Social reality of crime decision making Legislators Police and prosecutors Juries and judges Sentencing judges Media The Poor Get Prison of the middle and upper classes to be Arrested Convicted and imprisoned broader goal link experience to history more beyond the obvious challenge legalistic definition of crime Social Imagination Dark figure of crime crime Crimes that happen but the police knows nothing about are called the dark figure of most of crimes arent even punished crimes that are reported half are arrested half get a court hearing etc UCR crime known to the police FBI 1929 Annual crime data reported by police departments across the nation Part 1 index 8 crimes Violent personal and property Index offenses Crimes against the person Murder Rape Assault Robbery Crimes against property Burglary Larceny Motor vehicle theft Arson Forgery and counterfeiting Fraud Embezzlement Stolen property buying receiving possessing Vandalism Weapons carrying possessing etc Prostitution and commercialized vice The Part II offenses for which only arrest data are collected are Other assaults simple Assaults and attempted assaults which are not of an aggravated nature and do not result in serious injury to the victim Sex offenses Drug abuse violations Gambling Driving under the influence Liquor laws Drunkenness All other offenses All violations of state or local laws not specifically identified as Part I or Part II offenses except traffic violations Suspicion Arrested for no specific offense and released without formal charges being placed Curfew and loitering laws persons under age 18 Violations by juveniles of local curfew or loitering ordinances Runaways persons under age 18 Limited to juveniles taken into protective custody under the provisions of local statutes Advantages of UCR Widely used Aggregated data Pretty uniform Ready for analysis Problems with crimes known to the police Disadvantages Police decision Faulty reporting Dark figures Not all police department send reports It is not mandatory to participate Clerical data processing political problems Hierarchy rule the most serious crime is reported in one incident a person robs a bank and rapes somebody at the same time only one will be reported Effort by FBI to replace UCR National incident based reporting system NIBRS Broader aspect No hierarchy rule NIBRS NCVS National crime victimization report Illuminates dark figure of crime Represents the victims They collect data from victims Provide a more accurate dark figure of crime Nationally representative sample of households Uniform sampling and survey procedures Perspective of the victim victim survey Missing murder however murder is hard to go unnoticed Missing a lot of populations jails nursing homes etc Self report surveys Anonymous Often limited to petty offenses Typically focus on juvenile delinquency But most students involved in violent crime aren t in school Examples National youth survey NYS Monitoring the Future Comparisons with official data Females involved in higher proportion Race factor not as strong Violent offenders begin career earlier than thought Other research methods Experiments Evaluations Field research Historical and comparative criminology Violent crime rates decreased in the mid 90s reaching their lowest rate since 1973 The crime drop of the 90s has been in the center of much debate and speculation Why do you think crime dropped in the 90s Committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of gun laws drugs dropped a good economy White Collar Crime his occupation Good news Bad news Violent crime is the lowest it has been for years since the 70s It is still relatively high Disproportionate minority confinement DMC is still high Nationwide measures mask violent crime concentration Homicide in the city Flint Michigan 50 Gary Indiana 65 Little Chester PA 70 Baltimore 34 8 New Orleans 49 Facts about crime Crime is 1 Committed disproportionately by males 2 Committed disproportionately by 15 25y olds Why do people commit Crime Explaining Crime Schools of Thought Why do people commit crime Theory A set of interrelated propositions explaining our lives and the world around us Theories of criminal and deviant behavior attempt to explain why an individual commits criminal or delinquency acts Theories of law and criminal justice attempt to explain how laws are made and how the criminal justice system operates as a whole Basic parts Dependent variable y topic question asked Reasons why IV causes DV Independent variable x cause Why study theories of crime Explain why some are more likely to commit crime Guide research on crime Help society better control and prevent
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