Property Vs Property Crime

Crime is the violation of a normal behavior that has been made into a law (Godwin, PPT). Variations and differences between crime exist because some crimes are classified differently. Violent crimes, for example, are crimes where violence is the motive (Godwin, PPT). One example of a violent crime would be aggravated assault, because the person committing the crime was intended to injure another person due to conflict or rage. Property crimes however, are different than violent crimes. Property crimes do not involve violence, but they harm individuals by taking their materials (Godwin, PPT). An example of a property crime would be when an individual breaks into another individual’s house, and by stealing items of monetary value, you harm that person by taking away resources that they …show more content…
The new crackdown on street crimes lead to harsher penalties for those who were convicted. When harsh penalties are inflicted it will in turn result in people fearing the punishment which would result in people not committing the crimes, this is known as the deterrence theory (Godwin, PPT). With the new crackdown on the smaller scaled street crimes Nixon, through deterrence theory, was hoping for the decrease in violent crimes. Although, a crackdown on crime did not spread across the board. White collar crime does not face punishments as harsh as those who commit a street crime. For example, a high class person can embezzle loads of cash and not receive as harsh of a punishment from a lower class individual who committed a property crime of stealing something of far less monetary value. Society did not view white collar crimes as negatively as a street crime. In conclusion, varieties of crime are seen in American society, and the stereotype behind certain crimes committed will result in the differentiation of