Transcript Chapter 3: Crime in the United States Offenders and Victims

Chapter 3: Crime in the
United States
Offenders and Victims
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The most frequently used sources of
information about crime are the media,
self-reporting surveys and official
government statistics.
Media:
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Over-dramatized and distorts the true extend
and seriousness of the problem.
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Self-Reporting Surveys:
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Shows a much higher incidence of criminal
offending than did official records.
Typically conducted with school-age youths.
Official Sources:
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FBI’s Uniform Crime Report & NIBRS:
1930’s Congress assigned the FBI to serve as a
national clearinghouse for crime statistics
 http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
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Index Crimes:
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Part 1: murder, aggravated assault causing serious
bodily harm, forcible rape, robbery, burglary,
larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.
Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime
Victimization Survey.
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Gathers information on personal crime experience
through interview with approximately 160,000 people
age 12 and over.
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Dark figure of crime:
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Less than half the crimes committed are reported to
the police. The true number of crimes is called the
Dark Figure of crime.
Violent Crimes:
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Murder: defined in UCR as the willful killing of one
human by another
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First Degree murder: willful, deliberate and premeditated
taking of another persons life.
Second Degree murder: not premeditated but the intent to
kill is there. (may not involve a weapon)
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Manslaughter: no element of malice; the
death was accidental with no original
intent, hatred, ill will or disregard for the
lives of others.
Negligent homicide: accidental death that
results from the reckless operation of a
motor vehicle, boat, plane, or firearm.
Justifiable homicide: self-defense or
defense of another.
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Assault:
unlawful attack on another to inflict sever bodily
injury.
Aggravated assault: assault while in possession
of a weapon.
Rape: sexual intercourse through force or the
threat of force.
Aggravated Rape: sexual intercourse with an
unconscious or helpless victim (mental defect)
reasonably know to the attacker.
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Robbery:
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Stealing or taking anything of value from the
care, custody or control of a person by force
of threat of force.
Crimes against Property:
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Burglary: unlawful entrance into a building to
commit theft or another felony.
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Forcible entry, unlawful entry where no force is
used and attempted entry.
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Larceny/Theft: unlawful taking and removing of
another’s personal property with intent to
deprive the owner of the property.
Identity Theft:
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Misappropriation of name, SSN, credit card #, or
other pieces of personal information for fraudulent
purposes
Arson: intentionally damaging or destroying or
attempting to damage or destroy by means of
fire or explosion the property of another with
out consent.
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Part II Index Crimes:
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White Collar Crime: occupational or businessrelated crime
Computer-related Crime: (cybercrime)
Relatively easy to commit and difficult to detect
 Committed by insiders
 Often not prosecuted
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Cybercops: highly trained police officers who
investigate technological crime.
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Organized Crime:
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Continuing criminal conspiracy seeking high profits
with an organized structure that uses fear and
corruption.
Gambling, drugs, prostitution, pornography, loan
sharking, and infiltration of legitimate businesses.
Hate Crimes:
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FBI defines bias or hate crimes as a criminal offense
committed against a person, property or society that
is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s
bias against race, religion, disability, sexual
orientation or ethnic/national origin.
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Xenophobia: fear and hatred of strangers or
foreigners.
Hate Crimes may be motivated by bias against a
person’s race, religion, disability, sexual
orientation or ethnicity.
Race is the most frequent motivation of hate
crimes.
May involve cross burning, swastika paintings,
bombings, hanging in effigy, disturbing a public
meeting, graffiti, obscene letters or phone calls
or face to oral abuse.
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Matthew Shepard and James Bryd
Hate Crimes Statistics Act 1990 directed the US
Justice Department to collect bias-crime data
nationwide.
Ritualistic Crime:
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A system of rites, a ceremonial act linked to a belief
system and may include symbols, artifacts, words,
gestures, costumes and music.
An unlawful act committed during a ceremony related
to a belief system
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Theories of Criminality and Causes of
Crime:
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Classical Theory: people are free agents with
free will. People commit crimes because they
want to.
Positivist Theory: sees criminals as “victims of
society” and of their own biological,
sociological, cultural and physical
enviornments.
Influence of Biology:
Biological functions and conditions that
have been related to criminal behavior
include such variables as brain tumors,
disorders of the limbic system, endocrine
abnormalities, chromosomal abnormalities
and neurological dysfunction produced by
prenatal and postnatal experience.
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Influence of Environment:
Poverty
Unemployment
Family
Drug and alcohol abuse
It is likely that criminal behavior is the
result of both heredity and life
experiences.
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Juvenile Offenders:
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Delinquency: refers to actions or conduct by a
juvenile in violation of criminal law or
constitution.
Status Offenders:
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Violations of the law applying to only those
under legal age (smoking, curfew violations,
alcoholic beverages)
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Victims of Crime and Violence
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Direct or primary victims: those initially harmed by
injury, death, or loss of property as a result of a
crime.
Indirect or secondary victims: all others threatened or
fearful as a result of the commission of crime.
Victims may suffer financially through the loss or
destruction of property (time lost from work,
medical costs, and the introduction of security
measures to prevent further victimization.
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A second victimization may occur as a result of
insensitivity on the part of those in the criminal
justice system.
Victims may also be victimized again by lack of
release data and notification and by intimidation.
Victims Rights: may include the right to appear
at sentencing, the right to appear at plea
bargaining, the use of victim impact statements
prior to sentencing, the right to be informed of
the status of their case, the right to be informed
of an offender’s release from prison and the
right to receive restitution.