Counseling Chapter 2 Homework What Else May Help Explain The Gaps

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CHAPTER 2

CRIME AND JUSTICE IN AMERICA

Learning Objectives

1. Categorize crimes by their type.

2. Describe the different methods of measuring crime.

4. Summarize the negative consequences of victimization.

6. Explain why there are gender differences in crime.

Lesson Plan

I. Types of crime

Learning Objective 1: Categorize crimes by their type.

Defining crime

Why does the law label some types of behavior as criminal?

Mala in se

Mala prohibita

A. Types of crimes

Crimes may be classified in various ways

Felony and misdemeanor crime classifications

1. Visible crime

The majority of law enforcement resources are used to deal with them

. a. Violent crime

Public is most fearful of these crimes

Many violent crimes are committed by acquaintances

. b. Property crime

2. Occupational crime

Committed in the context of a business or legal profession

Cost to American society may exceed $994 billion

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Costs far exceed street crimes

Media Tool

3. Organized crime

Framework within which crime occurs

4. Transnational crimes: crimes across state borders

a. Provision of illicit goods, includes drug trafficking and moving stolen property,

such as automobiles and artwork, from one country to another

5. Victimless crimes: Crime without victims

6. Political crime

7. Cyber Crimes

Use of computers and the internet to commit crimes

Internet Crime Complaint Center received 207,000 complaints about cyber crime

losses

Examples: electronic trafficking of child pornography; computer hacking

Class Discussion/Activity

Over the course of the term, have students track the media coverage of crime in a

given region (city, state, country) and then present their research in relation to the

See Assignment 1

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II. How much crime is there?

Learning Objective 2: Describe the different methods of measuring crime.

Crime rate has actually declined since 1980

A. Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

Voluntary submission of data from 16,000 law enforcement agencies

B. National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

Addresses shortcomings of the UCR

C. National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

Interviews samples of Americans to determine number and type of crimes

Intended to provide picture of both unreported and reported crimes

What If Scenario

What if you compared crime data gathered from the UCR and NCVS? What types

of issues would you have when you compared your results?

D. Trends in crime

In recent years the crime rate has steadily decreased

1. Age

2. Crack cocaine

Combination of high crack cocaine us and high number of persons prone to crime age

coupled to create a high rate of violent and property crimes in 1980s

See Assignment 1

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Class Discussion/Activity

What If Scenario

III. Crime victimization

Learning Objective 3: Explain why some people are at higher risk of victimization than others.

Learning Objective 4: Summarize the negative consequences of victimization.

A. Victimology focuses attention on four questions:

1. Who is victimized?

B. Who is victimized?

Not everyone has an equal chance of becoming a victim

Demographics: age, gender, income are factors

What If Scenario

What if you suspected someone you knew (friend, family member, school or work

C. Impact of crime

1. Costs of crime

2. Fear of crime

See Assignment 4

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D. Experiences of victims in the criminal justice system

Some experts argue that the criminal justice victimizes the victim again

attorneys

E. The role of victims in crime

many victims behave in ways that facilitate

do not take proper precautions

Class Discussion/Activity

Use internet-based resources to compare the level of rights of victims

among two or more of the state governments. Which have constitutional

ensuring victim rights?

IV. Causes of crime

Learning Objective 5: Name the theories put forward to explain criminal behavior.

Learning Objective 6: Explain why there are gender differences in crime. Two major

schools of criminological thought are classical and positivist schools

A. Classical school

Until eighteenth century crime was explained in supernatural terms

Cesare Beccaria published Essays on Crime and Punishment, the first attempt to

explain crime in secular terms

Classical criminology evolved from the moveme

The main principles of classical criminology are:

1. Criminal behavior is rational

Neoclassical criminology is rooted in a resurgence of conservative ideology beginning

in the 1980s

B. Positivist school

Based on the scientific theory

Key features of this approach include:

C. Biological explanations

See Assignment 4

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D. Psychological explanations

Emphasize mental processes and behavior

Uses descriptions such as sociopath, psychopath, and anti-social personality

E. Sociological explanations

Causes of criminal behavior are the social conditions that bear on the individual

Social structure theories suggest that criminal behavior is related to social class.

Media Tool

F. Social structure theories

Suggest that criminal behavior is related to social class

Crime is created by the structure of society

1. Robert Merton and anomie

A breakdown or the social disappearance of the rules of social behavior

2. Social process theories

Theories that see criminality as normal behavior

There are three types of social process theories:

1. Learning theory

3. Critical criminology

Several theories fall under the umbrella of critical criminology

4. Life-course theories

See Assignment 2, 3

and 5

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5. Integrated theories

What If Scenario

What if you decided to try to explain why existing crime theories are not very

fruitful when applied to understanding females in relation to crime. What else may

help explain the gaps in our knowledge of females and crime?

G. Women and crime

-why females are less likely to commit crime

Theories also need to explain why females commit different types of crime than males do

Class Discussion/Activity

Media Tool

gender bias in this country? If so, is it changing?

Lecture Notes

There are many different types of crime, such as visible, occupational, organized, victimless, and

political. Law enforcement authorities focus largely upon visible crime, which involves street crimes such

as burglary or homicide, because people fear this type of crime more than any other. However,

occupational and political crime can impose great financial costs upon society.

See Assignment 2, 3

and 5

See Assignment 2, 3

and 5

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not report accurately due to embarrassment, memory problems, or other issues.

Victimology surfaced in the 1950s as a field of criminology that studied the role of the victim in

the criminal act. Researchers have found that young male residents of lower-income communities are the

most likely to be victimized by crime. Because of the connection between race and social status in the

United States, African Americans are more frequently victimized by crime than are whites. Most crime is

intraracial. A significant percentage of crimes are committed by acquaintances and relatives of victims,

especially crimes committed against women. The financial and emotional costs of crime incurred by

crime have a significant impact on our entire society. In recent years, there has been a growing trend for

government agencies to be more sensitive to the needs of crime victims, often in response to demands

and compensation to the victims of crime.

The classical school of criminology emphasized reform of the criminal law, procedures, and

punishments. The rise of the scientific method led to the positivist school, which viewed behavior as

stemming from social, biological, and psychological factors. Positivist criminology has dominated the

Key Terms

Anomie – A breakdown or disappearance of the rules of social behavior. (p. 68)

biological explanations – Explanations of crime that emphasize physiological and neurological

factors that may predispose a person to commit crimes. (p. 66)

classical criminology – A school of criminology that views behavior as stemming from free will,

demands responsibility and accountability of all perpetrators, and stresses the need for

punishments severe enough to deter others. (p. 65)

control theories- Theories holding that criminal behavior occurs when the bonds that tie an

individual to society are broken or weakened. (p. 69)

criminogenic – Having factors thought to bring about criminal behavior in an individual. (p. 66)

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dark figure of crime A metaphor that emphasizes the dangerous dimension of crimes that are

never reported to the police. (p. 51)

feminist theories Theories that criticize existing theories for ignoring or undervaluing

learning theories Theories that see criminal behavior as learned, just as legal behavior is

learned. (p. 69)

life course theories Theories that identify factors affecting the start, duration, nature, and end

of criminal behavior over the life of an offender. (p. 70)

money laundering Moving the proceeds of criminal activities through a maze of businesses,

banks, and brokerage accounts so as to disguise their origin. (p. 46)

occupational crimes Criminal offenses committed through opportunities created in a legal

business or occupation. (p. 45)

organized crime A framework for the perpetuation of criminal acts usually in fields such as

gambling, drugs, and prostitution providing illegal services that are in great demand. (p. 45)

69)

social process theories – Theories that see criminality as normal behavior in the sense that

everyone has the potential to become a criminal, depending on (1) the influences that impel one

toward or away from crime and (2) how one is regarded by others. (p. 69)

social structure theories – Theories that blame crime on the existence of a powerless lower class

that lives with poverty and deprivation and often turns to crime in response. (p. 68)

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) – An annually published statistical summary of crimes reported

to the police, based on voluntary reports to the FBI by local, state, and federal law enforcement

agencies. (p. 52)

Assignments

1. Using the internet or other appropriate resources, compare the structure and classification

of crimes between at least two state governments. The comparisons should include the

2. Use a fictitious scenario of two brothers, born two years apart, raised in the same home by

the same two parents. One brother is involved in increasingly serious crimes beginning

3. Describe the differences in the classical and positivist schools of criminology. What are

the primary and fundamental differences between the two? Are there any similarities

between the two or are they mutually exclusive? Why are those distinctions important?

4. Are there any vi

would provide actual, meaningful entitlements or protections for crime victims? What specific

rights, if any, are plausible? What problems might be created by the implementation of these

rights? (LO 3) Write a one-page report on this topic.