Transcript The Social Dimensions of Crime

The Social Dimensions of
Crime
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Age and Crime
Class and Crime
Gender and Crime
Race and Crime
Age and Crime
 Age is inversely related to criminality
 Younger people (regardless class, race, sex)
commit crime more often than their older peers
What do we know from criminological research
about Age and Crime? (Farringdon, 2003)
 The peak age of onset of offending is
between 8 and 14
 Prevalence of offending peaks in the late
teenage years (between 15 and 19)
 The peak of desistance from offending is
between 20 and 29
Age-graded Theory
8-9 years
15-19 years
45-55 years
Age and Crime
 How can this phenomenon be explained?
Age and Crime
 Early onset predicts a long career and many offences
 Small fraction of the population, “chronic offenders”
commit a large fraction of all crimes
 Most offences up to the late teenage years are
committed with others, whereas most offences from
age 20 onwards are committed alone
 Reasons given for offending up to late teenage years:
utilitarian, excitement/joy, relive boredom, anger
 Reasons for later offending are mostly utilitarian
Several competing explanations
 Maturation reform (hormones, burning out, aging
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causes desistance)
Life-course view (Sampson, Laub, 1993) – based on
social bond theory, turning points in life
M. Warr “Number of friends and age”
Moffitt’s typology (Adolescents-limited, life-course
persistent, risk factors: neuropsychological deficit,
hyperactivity, impulsivity, low self-control)
Matza’s Drift Theory (Neutralization)
Latent Trait theory (Gottfredson and Hirschi) - a
person’s level of self-control) Opportunity might
change but self-control is stable
Age-Graded Life-Course Theory
 Causal relationship between early delinquent
offending and later adult deviant behavior is
not solely a product of individual
characteristics
 Social events may change some individuals
while others continue to offend
 Informal social bonds to family and
employment during adulthood explain
changes in criminality
Age-Graded Life-Course Theory
Life-course model
 Social bonds created by strong attachment to
a spouse, military, job stability and
commitment, and employee-employer
interdependence reduce crime
 The social ties embedded in adult transitions
(i.e. marital attachment and job stability)
explain variations in crime
Latent Trait Model
 Low self-control is evident in early childhood
through specific personality characteristics
 Inability to postpone gratification, a low tolerance
for frustration, high levels of risk-taking behavior,
shamelessness
Latent Trait Model
 Self-control develops through parental
emotional investment in the child
 Monitoring the child's behavior, recognizing
deviance when it occurs, and punishing the
child
 Parental emotional investment is necessary
in order to activate the self-control
Latent Trait Model
 Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) defined self-control as
the degree to which a person is “vulnerable to the
temptations of the moment” (p. 87).
 They viewed Low Self-Control as a behavior pattern
arising from ineffective socialization early in life
 This pattern was said to be quite stable, when
established, and was cited as the primary individuallevel factor explaining crime
 People with low self-control have unstable marriages,
jobs, and friends
Social Class System (Warner's model)
 The American class structure, for all the
social mobility (moving up) that's
supposed to be going on, has really been
fairly rigid and fixed
Class System
 UPPER-UPPER is a class that we know little about
("Less than 2% of the population controls over 65%
of the wealth“). They have low visibility, luxurious
living, and a lot of inherited wealth (which they
usually keep within their own social class).
 LOWER-UPPER is a class of the new rich, consisting
of lottery winners, self-made billionaires, savvy
investors. They tend to seek out visibility and highprestige occupations, often in politics or higher
education (they like honorary degrees).
Class System
 UPPER-MIDDLE class is living the American
Dream, and they spend most of their time
worrying about how "good" their possessions
are; their house, their neighborhood, their city.
 LOWER-MIDDLE is the class which is
"getting by" or "living paycheck to paycheck“.
Class System
 UPPER-LOWER or the Working Class is the
largest class in America.
 They make up the bulk of the labor force in
both skilled, semi-skilled, and service
professions. Apartment or mobile home
dwellers, usually, this group is living in so
much debt nowadays that it's almost like
economic slavery
 They have extremely strong pride and a lot of
contact with the criminal justice system.
Class System
 LOWER-LOWER or the Underclass is a fairly
permanent class that is so dependent on
government services, subsidies, and
assistance that they might even starve if not
for some kind of intervention that always
seems to be needed
 Poor health and lots of contact with the
criminal justice system occur regularly with
this class
System of Values
 MIDDLE CLASS
 LOWER CLASS VALUES
VALUES
 Deferred gratification
Verbal skills
Rationality
Asceticism
Ambition
Individual Responsibility
& Talent
Courtesy & Chivalry
 Instant gratification
Motor skills
SpontaneityExpressiveness
Sociability
Generosity
Childhood-like approach to
Responsibility
Sensuality & Sexuality
Social Class and Crime
 Official statistics indicate that crime rates in
inner-city, high-poverty areas are higher than
those in suburban areas
 Self-reports of prison inmates show that
prisoners are members of the lower class
 Self reports of adolescents found little or no
relationship between social class and crime
Possible Explanations
 W. Chambliss’s study of “Saints and
Roughnecks”
 Less visible, public bias, better demeanor
 Who you are is more important than what you
do
Gender and Crime
 Women commit a small share of all crimes
 Their crimes are fewer, less serious, more
rarely professional and less likely to be
repeated
 Females are less likely to be arrested if they
cry, express concern for their children, or
claim to be “led” by men (DeFleur, 1990)
 In consequence, women formed a small
proportion of prison populations
Gender and Crime
Most victims and perpetrators in
homicides are male:
 Male offender/Male victim
65.1%
 Male offender/Female victim 22.6%
 Female offender/Male victim 9.9%
 Female offender/Female victim 2.4%
The gender distribution of homicide victims and
offenders differs by type of homicide
Women are particularly at risk for intimate killings, sex-related
homicides, and murder by arson or poison.
Women are more likely to commit murder as a result of an
argument or murder by poison.
Gender and crime
 How can we explain gender differences in
criminal behavior?
Gender and crime
 Differential socialization
 Hagan’s power control theory (patriarchal
families vs egalitarian families)
 “liberation hypothesis” (competitiveness,
increased opportunities to offend, equal in
everything)
Racial differences exist, with blacks
disproportionately represented among
homicide victims and offenders
Family Structure
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Research on family structure has usually
examined the impact of broken homes on
delinquency.
Smith(1978) found that in the majority of
African American homes father absence had
no outcome or positive effects.
Social and economic factors influence the
role of the father in the family.
Future research should look at the strength
and nature of relationships within the family.
Arrest Rates per 100,000 by Race
Most murders are intraracial
1000
5
.6
0
3
.4
0
15
Arrest Rate
2
100
.8
7
3
0. 9
3
.2
5
8
.6
5
2
8.5
10
3.5
1
Homicide
Rape
Robbery
African American
White
AA
Arrests Rates
Per 100,000
by Race
Homicide
victimization
rates
by age,
gender, and race, 1976-2002
10000
5
3
4
,
1
Arrest Rate
1000
.8
2
1
.2
4
9
3
1
.4
4
4
100
.8
4
1
10
44
.4
0
11
6.7
1
Arson
MVT
Burglary
African American
White
Larceny
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