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Types of Crimes

Crimes Against Persons

Crimes against persons, also called personal crimes, include murder, aggravated assault, rape, and

robbery. Personal crimes are unevenly distributed in the United States, with young, urban, poor, and

racial minorities committing these crimes more than others.

Crimes Against Property

Property crimes involve theft of property without bodily harm, such as burglary, larceny, auto theft, and

arson. Like personal crimes, young, urban, poor, and racial minorities generally commit these crimes

more than others.

Crimes 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 ones 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 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 partnerswho control the business profits, workers who manage and work for the business, and clients who buy

the goods and services that the organization provides.

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Types of Deviance

ConformityConformity is the category that Merton reserves for those who generally do not engage indeviant behavior. This is the section for those that conform to and accept cultural and social

norms. Society dictates certain goals depending on class and social status, and an individual in

the conformist category accepts those goals and the legitimate means of obtaining them.

InnovationInnovation is a slight warping of the conformist's views. Goals such as wealth and power are

accepted, but the means of attaining these goals is deviant from social norms. An example

would be a stockbroker who accepts that society has dictated wealth as a measure of success,

but rejects the social stigma against illegitimate practices like insider trading to obtain this goal.

RitualismRitualistic deviance is the opposite of innovative deviance. Instead of accepting the goals andrejecting the means, the ritualistic deviant rejects the goal but accepts the means. This is often

the case when a certain behavior is part of a routine, such as going to work every day even if

you disagree with or outright reject the goals of your employer.

RetreatismRetreatism is a combination of both innovative and ritualistic deviance. A retreatist deviant

rejects both the goals of society and the legitimate means of obtaining these goals. Transients,

drug addicts, vagrants or the habitually unemployed are examples of retreatists. As Merton

maintains that deviance involves a conscious choice, this refers to an individual who remains in

their circumstances by their own free will instead of by force.

RebellionIn the rebellion category we have revolutionaries, terrorists and certain gangs. These individuals

reject both the cultural means of society and the venues for obtaining them, but unlike the

retreatist they pursue alternatives and seek to replace existing cultural norms with those in the

counter culture. Merton considered the rebellion category to be special, and placed it separately

under a "new means, new goals" category.