Date post: | 14-Dec-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | micaela-richmond |
View: | 220 times |
Download: | 0 times |
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Chapter 13: Crime
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Measuring Crime: Crime Statistics
Crime:• Violation of norms written into law
Two basic types of street crime• Violent and nonviolent crimes• Violent crime:
An illegal act committed against another person
• Nonviolent crime: An illegal act committed against property
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
Nobody wants crime in their neighborhood, but people like crime in their TV programming
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Bones • May make crime sexy and interesting• Don’t capture complicated process of solving and
preventing crime as done by real-life officers and public officials
Paperwork is one piece of the process rarely seen Paperwork is an important aspect of detective work
• Tracking and analyzing crime statistics
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
Criminology:• Scientific study of crime, deviance, and social policies
that the criminal justice system applies Uniform Crime Reports (UCR):
• UCR data comes from official police statistics of reported crimes and is collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
UCR crime index uses eight major offenses to measure crime• Four are violent crimes: homicide, rape, robbery, and
aggravated assault• Other four are property crimes: burglary, larceny-theft,
motor vehicle theft, and arson
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)• One of nation’s largest ongoing household surveys• Calculates how many violent and nonviolent crimes U.S.
residents aged 12 and older experience each year• Survey reaches nearly 70,000 households in US and
reports higher rates of crime than the UCR• Supports the rule of thumb that about half of the crimes
committed in the United States go unreported
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
Criminologists (sociologists who study crime) often use both UCR and NCVS data
UCR data useful as source for reliable and timely statistics on crimes reported to law enforcement agencies nationwide
NCVS data useful as a source for information on the characteristics of criminal victimization and the details behind unreported crimes
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Crime Demographics
Age• Majority of criminal behavior occurs between ages of 15
and 25 After age 25, criminal behavior less likely to occur
throughout life• Age/crime relationship important when developing
target audiences for crime prevention programs• This demographic factor most important aspect in
predicting the rise and fall of crime rates in the US• Type of crime correlates to age of those most likely to
commit it
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
Gender• Historically, crime’s a male-dominated activity
77% of people arrested are men, as are 90% of inmates in U.S. state and federal prisons
Statistics more startling because men make up less than half the population in the United States
• Differences are fluid Number of female inmates in US growing steadily
• Bureau of Justice statistics 1.2% increase in number of incarcerated women Number of incarcerated males only increased by
0.7%
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
Race• Relationship between race and crime very controversial
More so than any other demographic• Due to long history of racial inequality in US
Many questions can be raised regarding legitimacy of statistics
• African Americans represent approximately 12% of population
Yet account for 27% of arrests in the United States
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
• Minorities hold more negative views of police and criminal justice system than whites
More likely to be victims of police brutality More likely to perceive police actions as
racially motivated• Criminologists suggest this statistic may be
skewed due to practice of racial profiling Act of using race to determine whether a
person is likely to have committed a crime
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
• No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System, author David Cole
Although 95% of residents in Florida County were white, 70% of drivers stopped by the police were African American and Latino
Findings give support to the claim that “driving while black” is considered a criminal offense in some areas
• Minorities tend to be poorer and may live in neighborhoods where crime more frequent
Such areas also attract more police surveillance
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
Socioeconomic Status• Social class can be linked to crime• Direct correlation between those caught and lower
social class• Author Jeffrey Reiman
More crimes reported in deprived areas due to fact that poor people are easier to catch and convict and lack access to same resources that the affluent do
• Every step of the criminal justice system wealthy weeded out by a system of:
Bail, public defenders, and plea bargains that all work in their favor
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Media and Crime
Crime is sensational• Scares, enrages, and intrigues
NCIS, The Mentalist, CSI: Miami, and CSI: New York• Nielsen’s list of top 10 TV programs• Do not portray accurate depiction of crime or
crime solving• Shows add exaggerated details that make
viewers think most crime is dangerous, tense, and provocative
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
Criminologist Marcus Felson• The “dramatic fallacy” of crime
Offenses most publicized by media are far more dramatic than those found in real life
Lead viewers to develop a misperception of crime• Particularly true regarding murder
Murders account for less than 1% of violent crimes and even smaller percentage of overall crime
Offense most commonly portrayed in television shows
• Media use real-life crime as a ratings boost
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Psychological Perspectives on Crime
Stanton Samenow• Criminals think differently than non-criminals
Tend to engage in chronic lying (even to themselves) View others’ property as their own Have an inflated self-image
American Psychiatric Association• Criminals are antisocial and unable to conform to the
norms of society• Criminals are impulsive, aggressive, and irritable; they
deceive often and feel no remorse for their actions
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Functionalist Theories
French social scientist Emile Durkheim• Crime is always present in society and must
serve some function• Crime provides a clear moral contrast between
what is right and what is wrong Helps unify society
• Crime unites people in the fight against it• Crime can also bring about social revolution
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
American sociologist Robert K. Merton• Social factors play a role in criminality• Theory of Anomie
Argues that criminal activity results from an offender’s inability to achieve certain goals
There is a structural problem in America – poor people blocked from achieving goals they believe they should be able to reach
• Social Disorganization Theory Poor neighborhoods with weak social institutions
have higher rates of crime
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Symbolic Interactionist Theories
American criminologist Edwin Sutherland• Differential Association Theory
Criminal activity is a learned behavior that stems from the people with whom we interact
The more a person associates with delinquents, the more likely it is that the person will learn criminal behavior
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
Criminologist Ronald Akers & Psychologist Albert Bandura• Social Learning Theory
Learning is the key component of criminality People learn all kinds of things, from aggression and
violence to kindness and peace Social learning comes about in the same way as
other types of learning – from being enforced Potential “learning experiences” can come from
those closest to us, and from other interpersonal interactions as well, such as media
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Social Control Theories
Social control theories• People are self-interested, and these natural traits can
prompt criminal activity Walter Reckless
• Criminality influenced by both internal and external forces
Internal forces include sense of morality and knowledge of right and wrong
External forces are factors such as police presence• Containment theory
Criminals cannot resist the temptations that surround them
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
• Criminologist Travis Hirschi There are four social bonds that affect personal
restraint• Attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief• People who lack these social bonds often become
involved in criminal behavior Attachment, refers to our relationship with others Commitment, refers to our dedication to live a
socially acceptable life Involvement, refers to participating in conventional
activities Belief, refers to a person’s dedication and conviction
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Conflict Theory
Social conflict theories• Focus on how issues of social class, power, and
capitalism relate to crime Dutch criminologist Willem Bonger
• Capitalism causes crime because it encourages people to be egoistic and selfish
• Creates a conflict in society that the poor cannot win
Turn to crime as a way to combat social injustice
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
Jeffrey Reiman• Capitalism creates a system in which actions of
the rich are not considered criminal, yet actions of the poor are
• Your boss and/or your doctor are more likely to kill you than a stranger, and yet whom do you fear?
• Capitalism creates egoism, whereby people do not care about others, and the ends (obtaining wealth) justify the means
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
General Theories of Crime Causation
Robert Agnew• General Strain Theory
Strains from society lead people to perform criminal activity
• From individual goals or needs• Strain can result from unpleasant life events• Person might suffer strain from negative
experiences such as abuse and pain
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Continued
Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi• Self-control Theory
Criminals simply lack self-control Criminals are not able to delay gratification, so they
seek short-term rewards at the expense of long-term consequences
Most crimes involve spur-of-the-moment decisions Most people learn this form of self-control from their
parents Criminals are raised by people who fail to teach the
importance of rejecting short-term, brief rewards in favor of more pleasurable long-term ones
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.