Crime And Violence

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Violence

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Behavior intended to cause pain, injury, or death to another.

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Crime

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Violation of a criminal law.

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Felony

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A serious offense, usually punishable by death or a prison term of a year or longer.

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Misdemeanor

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A minor offense, usually punishable by a short term in jail or by payment of a fine.

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Violent crime

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A crime directed against a person.

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Property crime

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A theft of other crime against property.

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Victimless crime

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A crime with no obvious victim, such as gambling or prostitution.

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Homicide

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The killing of a human being.

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Murder

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The unlawful killing of another person with malice.

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Manslaughter

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The unlawful killing of another person without malice.

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Assault

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An attack on a person with the intention of hurting or killing the victim.

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Forcible rape

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Sexual intercourse forced on someone against his or her will.

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Statutory rape

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Sexual intercourse with someone below the legally defined age of consent (usually 16 or 18).

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Robbery

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Taking another person's property by force or threat of force.

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Theft

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Taking the property of another; stealing.

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Burglary

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Unlawful entry into a structure with the intent to commit a felony.

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Fraud

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Aquiring money or property through the use of deception or false pretenses.

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Arson

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The illegal burning of a structure or other property.

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Syndicated crime

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A crime committed by an organized group of professional criminals working together over a long period of time.

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White-collar crime

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Crime committed by someone of respectibility and high social status in the course of his or her occupation.

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Organized crime

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Crime committed by someone acting on behalf of a larger organization, often his or her employer.

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Occupational crime

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Crime committed in the course of the offender's occupation but without the support or encouragement of his or her employer.

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Juvenile delinquent

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A minor (usually defined as an individual below the age of 18) who violates the criminal law or the special legal standards set for juveniles.

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Status offense

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A juvenile offense that is not in violation of the criminal law.

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Uniform crime reports

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A national summary of all the crimes reported to the police.

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National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

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A yearly survey of Americans, which attempts to determine how many have been victimized by crime.

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self-report study

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A survey that asks its respondents to report crimes they have committed.

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Classical theory

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A theory holding that people commit crimes because it offers them more pleasure and less pain than their other possible options.

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Rational choice theory

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A theory that holds crime to be the result of the rational choice of the offender.

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Positive school

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A theoretical school in criminology that rejected the classical theory's assumption that crime was based on free choice.

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Sociopathic theory

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An antisocial person with a complex of personality characteristics including impulsiveness, immaturity, and lack of concern for other people.

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General theory of crime

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A theory that holds crime to be the result of the weak self-control of the criminal.

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Differential association theory

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A theory holding that people commit crimes because they have more and stronger associations with those who favor a certain criminal behavior than with those who oppose it.

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Deviant subculture

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A social group with perspectives, attitudes, and values that encourage crime or other deviant activity

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Labeling theory

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A theory that holds that branding someone with a deviant label (junkie, juvenile delinquent, insane, etc.) encourages further deviant behavior.

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Control theory

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A theory that holds that people commit crimes because of the failure of social controls on criminal behavior.

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Strain theory

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A theory holding that crime is caused by the strain produced when society tells people that wealth is available to all but nevertheless restricts access to the means for achieveing wealth.

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Anomie

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A condition in which social norms have broken down and no longer regulate induvidual behavior.

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Critical theory

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A theory holding that the capitalist economic system is the root cause of the crime problem in modern industrial societies.

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Crime control model

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A model of criminal justice the favors speedy arrest and punishment of anyone who commits a crime.

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Due process model

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A model of criminal justice that places more emphasis on protecting human rights and dignity than on punishing criminals.

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Police brutality

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The use of excessive and unnecessary force by police offiicers in the performance of their duties.

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Bail

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A sum of money put up as security to be forfeited if a person accused of commiting a crime does not appear for trial.

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Plea bargaining

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A process by which a defense attorney and a prosecutor agree to let a defendent plead guilty in return for a reduction in the charge or other considerations.

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Retribution

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The idea that criminals should be punished because they deserve it.

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Detterence

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The idea that criminals should be punished in order to discourage criminal behavior.

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Incapacitation

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The idea that criminals should be locked up (or executed) so that they cannot commit other crimes.

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Rehabilitation

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The idea that criminals should be helped to change their ways.

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Probation

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Suspension of the sentences of persons who have been convicted but not yet imprisoned, on the condition that they live up to the terms set by the court.

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Functionalist Perspective- Crime and Violence

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-They study crime rates rather than individual criminal behavior.
-They hold, generally, that a certain amount of crime is inevitable in a society because crime makes a contribution to social order.
-It is also argued that crime is functional because it provides an "escape valve" for the pressures arising from unjust laws or excessive conformity.
-Feel that current levels of crime pose a major social problem.
-Argue that the high crime rates in the industrialized nations have been caused by the hectic pace of social change in the 20th century and the social disorganization it created.
-The weakening of such institutions as the family and community have disrupted the socialization process and left many children without proper supervision and guidance.
-To deal with these problems, functionalists often call for greater social intergration and return to the traditional values of the past. Many functionalists believe that crime and violence would be reduced if people were encouraged to commit themsleves to primary groups such as the family, religious organizations, social clubs, and political groups.
-Also recommenda through reorganization of the criminal-justice system so that criminals can be dealt with more quickly and efficiently, as well as a greater effort by the schools to deal with the problems that promote delinquency among their students.

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Conflict Perspective- Crime and Violence

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-Emphasize that both crime and the laws defining it are products of a struggle for power. They argue that a few powerful groups control the legislative process and that these groups outlaw behavior that threatens their interests.
-Also see that class and ethnic exploitation as a basic cause of many different kinds of crime.
-Hold that the greed and competitiveness bred by our capitlist consumer culture encourage crime among all social groups.
-Also believe that crime will be significantly reduced only if inequality and exploitation are also eliminated.

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Feminist Perspective- Crime and Violence

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-Concerned with the role thay violence plays in the exploitation of women, and their general conclusion is that violence has always been a principle means of establishing and enforcing male dominance.
-Feel that as industrialization and technological advances have eroded the underpinnings of the male privilage, violence has become an increasingly important tool in keeping women "in their place."
-Feminists generally support many of the proposals made by conflict theorists to reduce crime rate among all sectors of our society.
-They also call for the criminal-justice system to crack down on spouse abuse and other kinds of violence men perpetrate against women so that society can create truly equal relations between genders.
-Also call on schools to train teachers to recognize and prevent peer-to-peer bullying and sexual harrassment. They argue that one of the most effective tools to end violence against women is to change male socialization so that bullying, sexual harrassment, and violence are clearly shown to be unacceptable.
-Advocate new programs in the schools to teach adolescents how to be in healthy relationships that have an equal balance of power in order to help end the relationship violence is common among young people.
-Finally, feminists encourage women and pro-feminist men to continue to speak out against the attitudes in dominant culture thay perpetuate the devaluation of women and the "rape culture" in which we live.

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Interactionist Perspective- Crime and Violence

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-More focused on the causes of crime than the proponents of any other theoretical perspectives, and many other theories already examined.
-Their general conclusion is that crime and deviance are not special or unique phenomena. Rather, they are learned in interaction with other people like any other behavior.
-If a crime is learned, it follows that it can be unlearned, and interactionists advocate a host of proposals to modify criminal behavior.
-Also urge those who are stuggling to deal with the crime problem to be sensitive to the critical role social learning plays in criminal behavior.