Slides for Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Crimes and Social Controls Study Guide for Soc 306

Author: Sherri Verdugo

Instructor, CSUF

Chapter Outline

4.1 The Global Context: International Crime and Social Control

4.2 Sources of Crime Statistics

4.3 Sociological Theories of Crime

4.4 Types of Crime

4.5 Demographic Patterns of Crime

4.6 The Societal Costs of Crime and Social Control

4.7 Strategies for Action: Crime and Social Control

4.8 Understanding Crime and Social Control

4.9 Key Terms

4.1 The Global Context: International Crime and Social Control

Several facts about crime throughout the world:

• There is no country without crime.
• Most countries have the same components in their criminal justice systems: police, courts, and prisons.
• Adult males make up the largest category of crime suspects.
• In all countries theft is the most common crime committed and violent crime is a relatively rare event.

4.1 The Global Context: International Crime and Social Control

In 2010, globally, there were over 450,000 homicides:

4.1 The Global Context: International Crime and Social Control

Crime rates, the number of particular crimes per 100,000 people in a population, take into consideration differences in population size and are more accurate.

4.1 The Global Context: International Crime and Social Control

• Transnational crime:

As defined by the U.S. Department of Justice, transnational crime is “organized criminal activity across one or more national borders” (U.S. Department of Justice 2003).

4.1 The Global Context: International Crime and Social Control

A. Similarities in international crime

4.1 The Global Context: International Crime and Social Control

B. Differences in international crime rates

4.1 The Global Context: International Crime and Social Control

C. Global priority areas

4.2 Sources of Crime Statistics

What is Crime?

A violation of a federal, state or local criminal law. The three major types of statistics used to measure crime are:

official statistics

victimization surveys

self-report offender surveys.

4.2 Sources of Crime Statistics: Official Statistics

The Uniform Crime Report – Annually compiled by the FBI:

FBI compiles reported crimes and arrests annually and publishes them in the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), which lists:

4.2 Sources of Crime Statistics: Problems of Official Statistics

4.2 Sources of Crime Statistics: Victamization Surveys

• In 2011: 508 million violent crimes and 1547.1 million property crimes

4.2 Sources of Crime Statistics: Self-Report Offender Surveys

4.3 Sociological Theories of Crime: Structural-Functionalist

According to Durkheim and other functionalists, crime can have the following functions for society:

• Strengthens group cohesion and can lead to social change

Structural functionalist is a perspective and not a theory of crime. There are three functionalist theories of crime:

• Merton’s Strain Theory
• Subcultural Theories
• Control Theories:
  • attachment, commitment, involvement, belief

4.3 Sociological Theories of Crime: Conflict

• Social inequality leads to crimes as means of economic survival.
• Those in power define what is criminal.
• Law enforcement penalizes those without power and benefits those with power.

4.3 Sociological Theories of Crime: Symbolic Interactionist

• Labeling theory
• Primary and secondary deviance

4.4 Types of Crime

• Index offenses (street crimes)
• Violent crime
• Property crime
• Vice crime
• Organized crime
• White-collar crime
• Computer crime
• Juvenile delinquency

4.5 Demographic Patterns of Crime

• It is a universal truth that women everywhere are less likely to commit crime than men.
• In 2011, males accounted for 73.8 percent of all arrests, 80.1 percent of all arrests for violent crime, and 62.6 percent of all arrests for property crimes.
• Feminist criminology focuses on how the subordinate position of women in society affects their criminal behavior and victimization.
• In general, criminal activity is more prevalent among younger people than among older people.
• Race is a factor in who gets arrested. Minorities are disproportionately represented in official statistics.

4.6 The Societal Costs of Crime and Social Control

• Crime often results in physical injury and loss of life.
• Moreover, the U.S. Public Health Service now defines violence as one of the top health concerns facing Americans.
• Conklin's Six Economic Costs
  • Direct losses from crime
  • Transferring of property
  • Criminal violence
  • Illegal expenditures
  • Prevention and protection
  • Controlling crime
• Costs include psychological and economic

4.7 Strategies for Action: Crime and Social Control

• Local initiatives: youth and community programs
• Criminal Justice Policies: deterrence
• Legislative

4.8 Understanding Crime and Social Control

• Multilevel problem
• Multinational problem
• Multi-disciplinary problem
• Support exists for both a functionalist and conflict approach to crime
• Recent declines in crime should not be taken as support for “get tough” approaches as there are other, more valid, explanations.
• Some advocate for increased prevention and restorative justice because of their effectiveness in reducing future crimes.

4.10 Key Concepts

• Acquaintance Rape, pg. 108
  • Rape committed by someone known to the victim.
• Breeding Ground Hypothesis, pg. 128
  • A hypothesis that argues that incarceration serves to increase criminal behavior through the transmission of criminal skills, techniques, and motivations.
• Capital Punishment, pg. 132
  • The state (the federal government or state) takes the life of a person as punishment for a crime.

4.10 Key Concepts, continued

• Classic Rape, pg. 108
  • Rape committed by a stranger, with the use of a weapon, resulting in serious bodily injury to the victim.
• Clearance Rate, pg. 102
  • The percentage of crimes in which an arrest and official charge have been made and the case has been turned over to the courts.
• Computer Crime, pg. 113
  • Any violation of the law in which a computer is the target or means of criminal activity.

4.10 Key Concepts, continued

• Corporate Violence, pg. 113
  • The production of unsafe products and the failure of corporations to provide a safe working environment for their employees.
• Crime, pg. 101
  • An act, or the omission of an act, that is a violation of a federal, state, or local criminal law for which the state can apply sanctions.
• Crime Rate, pg. 102
  • The number of crimes committed per 100,000 population.

4.10 Key Concepts, continued

• Deterrence, pg. 126
  • The use of harm or the threat of harm to prevent unwanted behaviors.
• Feminist Criminology, pg. 116
  • An approach that focuses on how the subordinate position of women in society affects their criminal behavior and victimization.
• Identity Theft, pg. 113
  • The use of someone else's identification (e.g. Social Security Number, birthdate, or other personal information) to obtain credit or other economic rewards.

4.10 Key Concepts, continued

• Incapacitation, pg. 128
  • A criminal justice philosophy that argues that recidivism can be reduced by placing offenders in prison so that they are unable to commit further crimes against the general public.
• Index Offenses, pg. 107
  • Crimes identified by the FBI as the most serious, including personal or violent crimes (homicide, assault, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (larceny, motor vehicle theft, burglary, and arson).
• INTERPOL, pg. 136
  • The largest international police organization in the world.

4.10 Key Concepts, continued

• Insider Trading, pg. 112
  • The use of privileged (i.e., nonpublic) information by an employee of an organization that gives that employee an unfair advantage in buying, selling, and trading stocks or other securities.
• Larceny, pg. 109
  • Larceny is simple theft; it does not entail force or the use of force, or breaking and entering.
• Organized Crime, pg. 111
  • Criminal activity conducted by members of a hierarchically arranged structure devoted primarily to making money through illegal means.

4.10 Key Concepts, continued

• Parole, pg. 129
  • Parole entails release from prison, for a specific time period and subject to certain conditions, before the inmate's sentence is finished.
• Primary Deviance, pg. 106
  • Deviant behavior committed before a person is caught and labeled an offender.
• Probation, pg. 129
  • The conditional release of an offender who, for a specific time period and subject to certain conditions, before the inmate's sentence is finished.

4.10 Key Concepts, continued

• Racial Profiling, pg. 117
  • The law enforcement practice of targeting suspects on the basis of race.
• Recidivism, pg. 127
  • A return to criminal behavior by a former inmate, most often measured by rearrest, reconviction, reincarceration.
• Rehabilitation, pg. 128
  • A criminal justice philosophy that argues that recidivism can be reduced by changing the criminal through such programs as substance abuse counseling, job training, education, and so on.

4.10 Key Concepts, continued

• Restorative Justice, pg. 132
  • A philosophy primarily concerned with reconciling conflict between the victim, the offender, and the community.
• Secondary Deviance, pg. 106
  • Deviant behavior that results from being caught and labeled as an offender.
• Transnational Crime, pg. 100
  • Criminal activity that occurs across one or more national borders.

4.10 Key Concepts, continued

• Victimless Crime, pg. 110
  • Illegal activities that no complaining participant(s) and are often thought of as crimes against morality, such as prostitution.
• White-Collar Crime, pg. 112
  • Includes both occupational crime, in which individuals commit crimes in the course of their employment, and corporate crime in which corporations violate the law in the interest of maximizing profits.