Figure 8. Sourcebook of criminal justice statistics. Research on violent crime tends to focus on homicide and on rape and sexual assault. Homicide, of course, is considered the most serious crime because it involves the taking of a human life. As well, homicide data are considered more accurate than those for other crimes because most homicides come to the attention of the police and are more likely than other crimes to lead to an arrest.
Certain aspects of homicide are worth noting. Two people may begin arguing for any number of reasons, and things escalate. A fight may then ensue that results in a fatal injury, but one of the antagonists may also pick up a weapon and use it. About 25—50 percent of all homicides are victim-precipitated, meaning that the eventual victim is the one who starts the argument or the first one to escalate it once it has begun.
Second, and related to the first aspect, most homicide offenders and victims knew each other before the homicide occurred. Indeed, about three-fourths of all homicides involve nonstrangers, and only one-fourth involve strangers. Thus although fear of a deadly attack by a stranger dominates the American consciousness, we in fact are much more likely on average to be killed by someone we know than by someone we do not know.
About two-thirds of homicides involve firearms, and half involve a handgun. Third, about two-thirds of homicides involve firearms. To be a bit more precise, just over half involve a handgun, and the remaining firearm-related homicides involve a shotgun, rifle, or another undetermined firearm. Combining these first three aspects, then, the most typical homicide involves nonstrangers who have an argument that escalates and then results in the use of deadly force when one of the antagonists uses a handgun.
Fourth, most homicides as most violent crime in general are intraracial , meaning that they occur within the same race; the offender and victim are of the same race. Although whites fear victimization by African Americans more than by whites, whites in fact are much more likely to be killed by other whites than by African Americans. While African Americans do commit about half of all homicides, most of their victims are also African American. Fifth, males commit about 90 percent of all homicides and females commit only 10 percent.
As we discuss in Section 3. Sixth, the homicide rate is much higher in large cities than in small towns. In , the homicide rate number of homicides per , population in cities with a population at or over , was Thus the risk for homicide is four times greater in large cities than in small towns.
While most people in large cities certainly do not die from homicide, where we live still makes a difference in our chances of being victimized by homicide and other crime. Crime in the United States, Washington, DC: Author. Finally, the homicide rate rose in the late s and peaked during the early s before declining sharply until the early s and then leveling off and declining a bit further since then.
Some observers believe rising imprisonment rates also made a difference, and we return to this issue later in this chapter. Like homicide, about three-fourths of all rapes and sexual assaults involve individuals who know each other, not strangers. Property Crime As noted earlier, the major property crimes are burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. These crimes are quite common in the United States and other nations and, as Table 8.
Many Americans have installed burglar alarms and other security measures in their homes and similar devices in their cars and SUVs. While property crime by definition does not involve physical harm, it still makes us concerned, in part because it touches so many of us. Although property crime has in fact declined along with violent crime since the early s, it still is considered a major component of the crime problem, because it is so common and produces losses of billions of dollars annually.
Much property crime can be understood in terms of the roles and social networks of property criminals. In this regard, many scholars distinguish between amateur theft and professional theft. Most property offenders are amateur offenders: They are young and unskilled in the ways of crime, and the amount they gain from any single theft is relatively small. They also do not plan their crimes and instead commit them when they see an opportunity for quick illegal gain.
In contrast, professional property offenders tend to be older and quite skilled in the ways of crime, and the amount they gain from any single theft is relatively large. Not surprisingly, they often plan their crimes well in advance. The so-called cat burglar, someone who scales tall buildings to steal jewels, expensive artwork, or large sums of money, is perhaps the prototypical example of the professional property criminals.
Many professional thieves learn how to do their crimes from other professional thieves, and in this sense they are mentored by the latter just as students are mentored by professors, and young workers by older workers.
White-Collar Crime If you were asked to picture a criminal in your mind, what image would you be likely to think of first: a scruffy young male with a scowl or sneer on his face, or a handsome, middle-aged man dressed in a three-piece business suit? No doubt the former image would come to mind first, if only because violent crime and property crime dominate newspaper headlines and television newscasts and because many of us have been victims of violent or property crime.
Yet white-collar crime is arguably much more harmful than street crime, both in terms of economic loss and of physical injury, illness, and even death. What exactly is white-collar crime? The most famous definition comes from Edwin Sutherland , p. Several had engaged in crimes during either World War I or II; they provided defective weapons and spoiled food to US troops and even sold weapons to Germany and other nations the United States was fighting. For example, some physicians bill Medicare and private insurance for services that patients do not really need and may never receive.
Medical supply companies sometimes furnish substandard equipment. To compensate for the economic loss it incurs, health-care fraud drives up medical expenses and insurance costs. In this sense, it steals from the public even though no one ever breaks into your house or robs you at gunpoint.
Although health-care and other professional fraud are serious, corporate crime dwarfs all other forms of white-collar crime in the economic loss it incurs and in the death, injury, and illness it causes. Corporate financial crime involves such activities as fraud, price fixing, and false advertising. The Enron scandal in involved an energy corporation whose chief executives exaggerated profits. Its thousands of workers lost their jobs and pensions, and investors in its stock lost billions of dollars.
Several other major corporations engaged in or strongly suspected of doing so accounting fraud during the late s and early s, but Enron was merely the most notorious example of widespread scandal that marked this period. While corporate financial crime and corruption have cost the nation untold billions of dollars in this and earlier decades, corporate violence —actions by corporations that kill or maim people or leave them ill—is even more scandalous. The victims of corporate violence include corporate employees, consumers of corporate goods, and the public as a whole.
Annual deaths from corporate violence exceed the number of deaths from homicide, and illness and injury from corporate violence affect an untold number of people every year. The asbestos industry learned in the s that asbestos was a major health hazard, but it kept this discovery a secret for more than three decades.
Employees of corporations suffer from unsafe workplaces in which workers are exposed to hazardous conditions and chemicals because their companies fail to take adequate measures to reduce or eliminate this exposure. Such exposure may result in illness, and exposure over many years can result in death. According to a recent estimate, more than 50, people die each year from workplace exposure American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations [AFL-CIO], , a figure about three times greater than the number of annual homicides.
About 1, coal miners die each year from black lung disease, which results from the breathing of coal dust; many and perhaps most of these deaths would be preventable if coal mining companies took adequate safety measures G. Harris, In another example, the asbestos industry learned during the s that exposure to asbestos could cause fatal lung disease and cancer. Despite this knowledge, asbestos companies hid evidence of this hazard for more than three decades: They allowed their workers to continue to work with asbestos and marketed asbestos as a fire retardant that was widely installed in schools and other buildings.
More than , asbestos workers and members of the public either have already died or are expected to die from asbestos exposure; most or all of these deaths could have been prevented if the asbestos industry had acted responsibly when it first discovered it was manufacturing a dangerous product Lilienfeld, Sumerians however later issued other codes as the one known as "code of Lipit-Istar" last king of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, Isin - 20th century BC.
This code contains some 50 articles and has been reconstructed by the comparison among several sources. In Babylon the code of Esnunna before, and the code of Hammurabi one of the richest ones of ancient times after, were used and reflected society's belief that law was derived from the will of the gods. Similarly, some codes of conduct of religious origins or reference have been included in penal codes, forbidden behaviours resulting in real crimes in the states ruled by theocracy even in more recent times.
Natural law theory of crime An alternative view of crime is derived from the theory of natural law. In this view, crime is the violation of individual rights. Since rights are considered as natural, rather than man-made, what constitutes a crime is also natural, in contrast to laws, which are man-made. Adam Smith illustrates this view, saying a smuggler would be an excellent citizen, "had not the laws of his country made that a crime which nature never meant to be so.
The two concepts are sometimes expressed with the phrases " malum in se " and " malum prohibitum ". This view leads to a seeming paradox , that an act can be illegal that is no crime, while a criminal act could be perfectly legal. Many Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith and the American Founding Fathers subscribed to this view to some extent, and it remains influential among so-called classical liberals and libertarians.
A crime malum in se is argued to be inherently criminal; whereas a crime malum prohibitum is argued to be criminal only because the law has decreed it so. Penal law in USA The current American legal system derives from English common law , usually case law rather than statutory law , in all states except Louisiana , which follows a French system.
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For a deeper understanding of what constitutes a 'crime', we should distinguish it from a 'violation of the law'. All of the above types of crime are violations of the law, and so are punishable by a public authority. However, not all violations of the law are crimes. Some violations, such as a breach of contract, are violations of private law.
These are enforceable by private entities, such as individuals or businesses, through civil proceedings. What is deviance? The definition of 'deviance' is acting in a deviant manner. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, someone is 'deviant' if they are 'straying or deviating, especially from an accepted norm'. In sociology, deviance refers to actions that fall outside the scope of accepted norms, values, and behaviours.
For example, if a group of people in a public place are drinking and playing loud music, it may be seen as deviant because they are 'loitering'. Even if they are not breaking the law, their behaviour may be seen as anti-social and, therefore, deviant. Difference between crime and deviance All crimes are deviances, but not all deviances are crimes. Deviances can be used to describe behaviours that are socially and morally 'unacceptable'.
For this reason, not everyone will agree on what constitutes deviant behaviour. Social and moral values differ according to individuals and their cultures. This is called the context-dependency of deviance. This refers to the perception of behaviours as deviant or not , depending on their social, cultural, moral, and historical contexts. Here are two examples. Is adultery criminal? In some countries, adultery is illegal.
Regardless of social or moral perceptions, an adulterer will be punished by the relevant laws. In the UK and many other countries, adultery is not illegal. However, many will disapprove of this behaviour because it is seen as ruining the sanctity of marriage. It goes against norms and values, specifically the one that states one should stay faithful to their spouse. Therefore, it is deviant behaviour. Deviant dropouts In some cultures, it is common for young people to drop out of school and seek employment instead of pursuing higher education.
As a result, it is unlikely that the act of dropping out of school will be considered deviant in that context. However, in other cultures where a strong emphasis is placed on higher education, dropping out of school can be seen as deviant behaviour, as it may show a lack of discipline or ambition for the future. In both examples, cultural contexts affect how behaviour is viewed. Drinking too much, whilst not illegal, may be viewed as deviant behaviour. Functionalism on crime and deviance Functionalism looks at the role of crime in the overall functioning of society.
Functionalists believe some crime is necessary for the healthy functioning of society, as it enables the strengthening of social norms and values. Too much crime, however, threatens social solidarity and may cause anomie. Emile Durkheim and Robert Merton are key functionalist theorists in crime and deviance. The social construction of crime and deviance: labelling theory The labelling theory of crime is an interactionist perspective. It states that crime is not due to individuals' behaviour, but rather individuals being labelled by authorities.
There is no such thing as an inherently deviant act, as deviance is 'socially constructed'. Labelling individuals as 'criminals' leads to a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'. This can also be applied to education and deviance in education. Howard Becker is a key theorist in this regard. Conflict theory on crime and deviance: Marxism Marxism looks at how crime is perceived and treated based on the social class of the criminal.
Marxists argue that unequal power structures and injustices in society result in crime. Therefore, society is 'criminogenic'. While individuals from all social classes commit crimes, bourgeoisie crimes are usually more harmful but go unpunished, because the bourgeoisie controls the justice system and institutions. Karl Marx and William Chambliss are key Marxist theorists in crime and deviance. A criminogenic society is a society that is likely to cause criminal behaviour.
Realism This splits further into right-realist and left-realist theories. Right-realist theories emphasise that the criminal is responsible for their crimes, not societal and economic structures. Right-realist theorists believe in making tough measures to control and prevent crime. As such, it is associated with right-wing neoliberal governments such as Margaret Thatcher's in the late ss.
Key right realist theories include: Rational choice theory Broken windows theory Underclass theory, by Charles Murray Left-realist theories of crime argue that inequality, marginalisation and relative deprivation are the main causes of crime. Left realism emphasises crime prevention through community orientation and fostering better relationships between communities and enforcement authorities. Key left realist theories: Relative deprivation Marginalisation Other approaches: postmodernism and feminism Postmodernist theories of crime argue that crime and its causes are complex.
Due to globalisation, media, and consumerist changes we have increased personal freedom, increasing the likelihood of committing crimes. Pressure to conform to a fast-paced, materialistic society may result in more crimes committed as employment levels also fluctuate. Postmodern theories of crime explain how crime patterns have changed and how the causes of crime differ in recent times. There are many different ways to define crime, many different theories about the origins of criminal activity, and just as many sociological theories of crime.
While there is no simple definition within the field of sociology, broadly speaking, you could say that crime is the study of social deviance and violations of established norms. But why do those norms exist? Some sociologists ask us to reflect on the creation of individual laws: Whose interests are served by the law in question? Who benefits, and who pays the costs of various behaviors that are classified as illegal?
Sociological theories of crime need to explain a diverse range of social phenomena. Definitions of crime have implications for the kind of questions you ask, the kinds of data you use to study criminal behavior, and the kinds of theories applied. Some of the most commonly defined types of crime in sociology include: Violent crime — A crime in which a person is harmed or or threatened.
Violent crimes include murder, assault, rape, sexual assault, robbery, kidnapping, and harassment. Property crime — Property crime involves criminal activity that does not do bodily harm to a person, but rather focuses on private property.
This type of crime involves burglary, theft, arson, defacement of property, motor vehicle theft, and more. White-collar crime — White-collar crime is the name for acts of fraud committed by businessmen. Violent behavior is typically not associated with white-collar crime. Rather, these types of crimes are committed to gain or avoid losing money or property. Some examples of white-collar crimes include money laundering, corporate fraud, mortgage fraud, Ponzi schemes, and embezzlement among others.
Organized crime — Organized crime refers to criminal activity committed by an organized group of individuals at a local, regional, national, or international level. Some groups commonly associated with organized crime include the mafia, terrorist groups, and mobsters. Drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, and counterfeiting are among some of the most prevalent illegal activities committed under the banner of organized crime.
Consensual or victimless crime — Consensual crime refers to crimes that do not directly harm other individuals or property. Rather, individuals choose to participate in risky behaviors that may be considered against the law. This includes indulging in drug use, prostitution, or obscenity.
Outside of these five types of crime in sociology, you can find a wealth of different ideas. Committing a crime violates social laws, while deviant behavior violates social norms and rules. However, deviant behavior can also tiptoe over the line of criminal behavior. While there are many different sociological theories about crime, there are four primary perspectives about deviance: Structural Functionalism, Social Strain Typology, Conflict Theory, and Labeling Theory. Starting with these theories can provide the context and perspective necessary to better appreciate other sociological theories of crime.
Structural Functionalism Structural Functionalism argues deviant behavior plays a constructive part in society as it brings together different parts of the population within a society. While deviant behavior can throw off social balance, society may adjust social norms in the process of restoring that balance. In other words, deviant behavior can then contribute to social stability in the long term because it challenges norms while promoting social cohesion. For example, some people turn to crime for the culturally accepted value of seeking to lead a wealthy life.
Deviance can mean breaking one norm to place another before it, which is a fundamental insight of social strain typology.
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