CRIME

Topic:

Crime

DEFINATION:In Sociology, crime is identified as a deviant behavior. It is deviant in that it goes against accepted or written rules and laws that guide a society.

• Crime is one of the big problems in society that sociologists address in their theories. By an investigation of what leads people to become criminals, sociologists can present lawmakers and people of influence with proposals to prevent crime in communities, cities, and even nations

THREE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES

• DIFFERENTIAL THOERY• CONTROL THEORY• ROUTINE ACTIVITIES THEORY

DIFFERENTIAL THEORY

• The theory of differential association asserts that definitions of crime are an important factor causing criminal behavior, and these definitions are learned through interactions with social groups. By being a part of a group that legitimizes crime, a person is more likely to become a criminal, because their social group has looser definitions for what is okay and not.

• This theory suggests that lawmakers (and parents!) should take strides to keep people in social groups that define crime more strictly to prevent criminal behavior.

CONTROL THEORY

• Control theory, on the other hand, poses the question of why people do not commit crimes. The theory proposes that people who are bound to society and support its morality will refrain from committing crime. This approach takes a positive spin on things, suggesting that the most effective reforms will be the ones that draw people into society in a way that will cause them to support it and not want to commit crimes against it.

Routine activity theory

• Another explanation for crime is the routine activities theory, which proposes that criminal activity is dependent on opportunities to commit crime in everyday life.

• Routine activity theory is a sub-field of crime opportunity theory, developed by Marcus Felson and Lawrence E. Cohen

• It focuses on situations of crimes (e.g., you are more likely to be robbed or a victim in the park than in your locked home).

• Routine activity theory premise is that crime is relatively unaffected by social causes such as

• poverty• inequality• unemployment

• For instance, after World War II the economy of Western countries was booming and the Welfare states were expanding. During that time, crime rose significantly. According to Felson and Cohen, this is because the prosperity of society offers so many opportunities for crime to occur there is much more to steal.

• Routine activity theory is controversial among sociologists who believe in the social causes of crime. But several types of crime are very well explained by routine activity theory including

• copyright infringement• corporate crime etc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Routine_activity_theory.png

• A graphical model of the Routine activity theory. The theory stipulates three necessary conditions for most crime; a likely offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian, coming together in time and space.

• In other words: for a crime to occur, a likely offender must find a suitable target without gaurdian.

History

• To understand crime and sociology, one must first understand the "Conflict Theory"

• Founded by Karl Marx. • Conflict theory sees society as two struggling groups

engaged in conflict.• Under this theory, it is believed that the capitalist class (or

the society elites) commit acts of deviance just as the working class does. The main difference is that society elites determine the rules regarding what is deviant. This difference among the people will always lead to conflict. This idea explains why there is crime in societies and why it will never cease.

TYPES OF CRIME

• CRIME AGAINST PERSON• CRIME AGAINST PROPERTY• VICTIMLESS CRIMES

CRIME AGAINST PERSON

• Crimes against a person include any offenses where violence is used or threatened. Mugging and assault are examples of crimes against a person.

CRIME AGAINST PROPERTY

• Crimes against property include theft of property or damage done to someone else's property. Burglary and arson are crimes against property.

VICTIMLESS CRIME

• victimless crimes are crimes that are against the law, but no victim exists. Prostitution and marijuana are common examples of victimless crimes. In sociology, all crimes fall into one of these three categories.

CRIME AGAINST MORALITY

• Crimes against morality are also called victimless crimes because there is not complainant, or victim. Prostitution, illegal gambling, and illegal drug use are all examples of victimless crimes.

WHITE COLLAR CRIME

• White-collar crimes are crimes that committed by people of high social status who commit their crimes in the context of their occupation. This includes embezzling (stealing money from one’s employer), insider trading, and tax evasion and other violations of income tax laws.

• White-collar crimes generally generate less concern in the public mind than other types of crime, however in terms of total dollars, white-collar crimes are even more consequential for society. Nonetheless, these crimes are generally the least investigated and least prosecuted.

Organized Crime

Organized Crime

• Organized crime is crime committed by structured groups typically involving the distribution of illegal goods and services to others.

• Many people think of the Mafia when they think of organized crime, but the term can refer to any group that exercises

control over large illegal enterprises (such as the drug trade, illegal gambling, prostitution, weapons smuggling, or money

laundering).

• A key sociological concept in the study or organized crime is that these industries are organized along the same lines as legitimate businesses and take on a corporate form.

• There are typically senior partners who control the business’ profits, workers who manage and work for the business, and clients who buy the goods and services that the organization provides.

A Sociological Look at Crime

• Arrest data show a clear pattern of arrests in terms of race, gender, and class.

• For instance, as mentioned above, young, urban, poor, and racial minorities generally commit personal and property crimes more so than other demographic groups.

• To sociologists, the question posed by this data is whether this reflects actual differences in committing crimes among different groups or whether this reflects differential treatment by the criminal justice system.

Pattern of Arrests

Patterns of Arrests

Race

GenderClass

Reasons of personal and property crimes

Reasons of

personal and

property crimes

Young minoritie

s

racial minoritie

s

Urban minoritie

s

Poor minoritie

s

• Studies show that the answer here is “both.” • Certain groups are in fact more likely to commit

crimes than others because crime is linked to patterns of inequality in the United States.

• However, the process of prosecution in the criminal justice system is also significantly related to patterns of race, class, and gender inequality.

• We see this in the official arrest statistics, in treatment by the police, in sentencing patterns, and in studies of imprisonment.

Features

• In order to identify who commits crimes and why they do it, the study of sociology utilizes age, gender, race, social class, and ethnicity.

• These features are helpful when breaking down what demographics commit which types of crime.

• By using this information, sociologists have been able to determine that younger individuals in society are more likely to commit crimes than older ones.

They found out that men are more likely to commit a crime than women.

• A more appropriate example to the study of sociology and crime is that violent crimes are most often perpetrated by poor individuals.

• White-collar crime is more prevalent among the wealthy, and the laws involved in that sort of crime are less frequently enforced.

Effects:

• Studying crime together with sociology is important due to the effects that crime has on society.

• In addition to the victims of the crime, the rest of society is charged with the responsibility of paying for the incarceration of hundreds of thousands of criminals each year.

Crimes against property often have devastating financial impacts on areas of high crime, particularly urban areas filled with low-income individuals unlikely to report crimes committed against them

• Studying crime and sociology together seeks to identify why these individuals turn to crime, and it shows how we, as a society, can prevent it.

• With nearly 300 individuals under the age of 19 incarcerated in federal prisons, learning how to prevent children from turning into lifetime criminals is a current goal of sociologists.

• Finding alternative rehabilitation facilities is a first step in making sure underage offenders don't perfect their criminal skills while in the presence of career criminals

Significance

• Understanding crime and sociology together has great significance for the future of any society• . By identifying the "who" and the

"why" of crime, we are better equipped to find solutions that don't lead to a life of crime.

• For example, removing a child from an abusive home is the first step in making certain that child does not learn to express himself in only a physical manner.

• Without understanding the make up of the criminal, it is not possible to understand his or her motives

• . Sociology seeks to understand these individuals and their situations. By doing so, the goal is to determine a way to treat these individuals that will reduce their recidivism rate.

• A lower crime rate has a positive effect on society as a whole, including more money available for more necessary projects, greater property value in urban areas and less children incarcerated.

Difference between crime and deviance

• Crime is behaviour that breaks the formal written laws of a society. If someone commits a crime they can be arrested, charged and prosecuted. Action can be illegal but not deviant

• Deviance is behaviour which does not comply with the dominant norms of a specific society. If people are seen as deviant it can lead to negative sanctions such as being told off or ridiculed.

Justice and crime:

• Justice is a small word, but it has a great and transcendental meaning as it play an important role in crimes and punishment. A judge has to take the balance of each criminal to be perfectly matched with his crime. Justice also makes criminals be afraid, timed and coward of each punishment. Such punishments become compel to the criminal to think hundreds of times before committing any crime.

Prevention of crime:• Create, implement and monitor a national action plan for violence

prevention.• Enhance capacity for collecting data on violence.• Define priorities for, and support research on, the causes, consequences,

costs and prevention of violence.• Promote primary prevention responses.• Strengthen responses for victims of violence.• Integrate violence prevention into social and educational policies, and

thereby promote gender and social equality.• Increase collaboration and exchange of information on violence prevention.• Promote and monitor adherence to international treaties, laws and other

mechanisms to protect human rights.• Seek practical, internationally agreed responses to the global drugs and

global arms trade.