CHAPTER THREE

CRIME, CRIMINALS AND VICTIMS

TYPES OF CRIME

• Visible crime—street crime • Ranges from shoplifting to homicide • Violent crime • Property crime • Public order crimes

HISTORICAL CRIME TYPES

• • • • Crime against the state-treason Crime against person-murder Crime against property and persons-robbery Crimes against habitation burglary

• • Crimes against property stealing Crimes against public order and morality—disorderly conduct • Most serious to less serious

• OTHERS ADDED TO BRING IT UP TO DATE

• OCCUPATIONAL CRIMES— EMPLOYMENT, BUSINESS OR PROFESSION • Internet crimes • Crimes against vulnerable adults

CRIMES OF BIAS

• POLICE BIAS

MUST

REPORT CRIMES OF • • • • • • • RACE RELIGION NATIONAL ORIGIN SEX AGE DISABILITY SEXUAL ORIENTATION

• IF CONVICTED OF A BIAS CRIME THERE ARE NO PLEA BARGAINS STATUTES HAVE ENHANCED PENALTIES:

− − −

ASSAULTS MOTIVATED BY BIAS (2-4) DAMAGE TO PROPERTY HARASSMENT STALKING VICTIMLESS CRIMES

MEASURING CRIME

• • • Two sources • Police reports • Victim surveys 1930—FBI first Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) • Numbers and kinds of crimes • Numbers and people arrested and crimes they were arrested for Published every year— Crime in the United States

• CRIME INDEX—THE NUMBER FOR EVERY 100,000 PEOPLE • Murder • • • • • • • Burglary Motor vehicle theft Aggravated assault Rape Arson (added in 1979) Theft Robbery

PROBLEMS WITH UCR

• • • • All crimes are not reported to police Over represents serious crime— includes attempts People tend to report the more serious crimes White collar crimes are not represented

• •

NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMIZATION SURVEY

Began in 1972 Every 6 months U.S. Census workers take a telephone poll of more than 40,000 households. Gathered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Published in the

Criminal Victimization

• Ask about • Victimization—victim of a crime • • Victims—age, race, sex, educational level, income Crime—location, personal injury, economic loss from crime • • Perpetrator—gender, age, race, and relationship to victim Reporting—reported to PD, if not why?

FINDINGS

• • • Victims report less than 40% of all offenses Victims report violent crimes more often than property crimes Victims report completed crimes more than attempts

UNREPORTED CRIMES

• DARK FIGURE OF CRIME • More crime occurs than is reported to police

PROBLEMS WITH NCVS

• • • • • MURDER IS NOT INCLUDED HAVE TO HAVE A PHONE UNDERREPORTING DUE TO FORGETTING MISINTERPRETATION—STOLEN WALLET VS LOST COMMUNICATION/LANGUAGE BARRIERS

SELF-REPORTS

• • ASK THE PEOPLE WHO COMMIT THEM PROBLEMS WITH THIS: • • Convicted criminals do not represent all criminals Exaggeration • • Play games Paint a good picture of themselves

CRIMINALS

• • • • • • Only 1 out of 100 are violent Men=74% Under 25=50% Over 50=very few White=over two thirds Know their victim=over 50%

FEMALE CRIMINALS

• • • • • • Women commit 10% of crimes Commit crimes earlier Stop committing crimes earlier Do not return back to a life of crime FEMALE CRIME IS INCREASING Almost all women who kill kill those they are intimately involved with

CRIMINALS AND THEIR VICTIMS

• • • Relationships: intimates, relatives, acquaintances and strangers Men kill women in relationships 70% of female homicide victims were killed by a husband or boyfriend

CRIME VICTIMS

• • • • Young people are majority of violent crime victims Young males more than females are victims of violent crimes More minority violent crime victims Lower income families are victims

HOW TO BECOME A VICTIM

• • Lifestyle-exposure theory “hot spots”

VICTIM’S RIGHTS

• • • • • • • Personal advocacy Referral Restitution assistance Court orientation Transportation Escort services Emotional support

WHY DO PEOPLE COMMIT CRIMES???

• • INDIVIDUAL RESPONSBILITY EXPLANATIONS BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION • SOCIAL EXPLANATIONS

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

• • • Middle ages—criminals possessed by Satan or other demons Eighteenth century—free will and capacity to choose between right and wrong Utilitarian theory • We seek pleasure and avoid pain • We are free to choose

• • • Therefore, if the pleasure from committing a crime outweighs the pain of getting caught, criminal behavior will occur Determinist theory-1800’s • “criminals are born not made” Lead to Biological explanation

• Nineteenth century— Psychoanalytic Explanation • Sigmund Freud—1920’s • “It’s not my fault, blame my cruel father and my domineering mother.”

SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS

• • Link criminal behavior to social conditions Emile Dirkheim—Anomie Theory 1951 • • A society in transition weakens the bonds that ordinarily control behavior; crime follows France was changing from agricultural to an industrialized nation

• Two forms of theory were developed to describe conditions in U.S.

• • STRAIN THEORY-1938 Great Depression • People commit crimes when they work hard but fail to attain the American dream OPPORTUNITY THEORY-1960 • When you can’t get $$, power and prestige legally, you break the law to get them

SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES

• • • • Interactions among members Social learning theories • We are born like blank slates and can learn values and behaviors Social control theory • Everybody is born with the desire to break the rules Labeling theory • CJ system creates criminals

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORIES

• Differential association • • Any behavior depends on our associations with other people. Who you identify with.

The more intense the relationship the more we learn from them and the longer we will retain that information

SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY

• • CONTROL THEORY • We obey rules because we have ties to established institutions and they place boundaries on us Social bond elements • Attachment • • • Commitment Involvement in legal activities Belief in conventional order

LABELING THEORY

• • • WE ARE TURNED INTO CRIMINALS BY THE CJ SYSTEM • Once the “system” says we are criminals we act as such Emphasis is taken from lawbreakers to lawmakers and law enforcers Responsible for the shift into diversion in the 1960s and 1970s

RATIONAL CHOICE

• • LATE 1960’S—RETURNED THE INDIVIDUAL TO MAIN FOCUS IN EXPLAINING CRIME THREE ELEMENTS • • • A REASONING CRIMINAL A CRIME-SPECIFIC FOCUS SEPARATE AYALYSES OF CRIMINAL INVOLVEMENT AND CRIMINAL ELEMENTS

• REASONING CRIMINAL ELEMENT • • Offenders commit crimes to benefit themselves Criminals have specific goals • Rational decision making

• CRIME SPECIFIC ELEMENT • Decision making is different for each crime • Motivation • Method

• • CRIMINAL INVOLVEMENT • Three stages • Deciding to get into a crime • Continuing to be involved • Deciding to get out of involvement Rational choice does not apply to all crimes—crimes of passion do happen

SEDUCTION OF CRIME

• • • The “thrill” of the crime Transition from choice to commit a crime to a compulsion to do so The criminal controls the

transition

compulsion from choice to

SITUATION THEORIES

• • • Looks at time, place, opportunity and temptation

Modus operandi

ROUTINE ACTIVITIES THEORY • MOTIVATED OFFENDER • • SUITABLE TARGET NO CAPABLE GUARDIAN