Crime Crime affects everyone in the United States, some as victims, some as criminals, and some as observers. Crimes are grouped into five general categories:

Crime• Crime affects everyone in the United States, some as victims,

some as criminals, and some as observers.• Crimes are grouped into five general categories: violent crime,

property crime, victimless crime, white-collar crime, and organized crime.

• Crime statistics are gathered and reported by two main sources, the Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Victimization Survey.

• The criminal-justice system—made up of the police, the courts, and corrections—deals with crimes that have been committed and reported.

Section 3 at a Glance

• A crime is any act that is labeled as such by those in authority and is prohibited by law.

• An act that is immoral is not necessarily illegal.• Criminals can be any age, gender, or race, although people under 35 are

more likely to be involved in crime.

Crime and Criminals

Property Crime• Burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson• One every three seconds in the United States • People under 25 commit most crimes• Many crimes committed by those on drugs

Violent Crime• Murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault• Make up small percentage of total crime rates, but still alarming • One every 22 seconds in the United States• Most victims are African Americans• Majority of murders committed with guns

Types of Crime

Victimless Crime• Prostitution, illegal gambling, illegal drug use, and vagrancy

• Although classified as “victimless,” often have negative consequences for society

White-Collar Crime• White-collar crimes include fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement,

price-fixing, toxic pollution, insider trading, and political corruption

• Corporations can be charged with crimes, not just individuals

Organized Crime• Crime syndicate: a large-scale organization of professional criminals

that controls some vice or legitimate business through violence

• Legitimate businesses can serve as “fronts” for illegal activities

• The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) is published annually by the FBI.– Uses data from local police departments– Factors that limit reporting of crimes:

• Not all complaints make it into a formal report.• People less likely to make a report against friend or family member.• Police more likely to make an official report when crime is against a high-

status person.• Victims less likely to report some forms of crime.

• The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

– Uses data from crime victims about reported and unreported crimes– Relies on interviews with representative sample

Crime Statistics

Police• Control over who is arrested• Police discretion: the ability to

decide who is actually arrested• Racial profiling: the practice of

assuming that nonwhite Americans are more likely to commit crimes

Corrections• Corrections: Imprisonment,

parole, probation, community service

• Functions: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, social protection

• Recidivism: repeated criminal behavior

Courts• Hold trials to determine guilt or

innocence• If guilty, assign punishments• Plea bargaining: the process of

legal negotiation that allows a guilty plea in return for a lighter sentence

Juvenile-Justice System• Young offenders cannot be

expected to be as responsible as adults

• New laws ensure juveniles receive fair treatment

• Some places treat young as adults

The Criminal-Justice System

Identity Theft

Identity theft occurs when a criminal uses another person’s name and

financial standing to buy items or complete financial transactions.

Victims of identity theft often lose their financial standings because of

the crime.

Sociology in Today’s World

• Identity thieves may rent an apartment, get medical services, make large purchases, or use another’s name while being arrested.

• Federal Trade Commission estimates there are more than 9 million cases a year.

• Methods of theft include stealing wallets or phishing.

• Prevention methods include shredding documents and monitoring bank statements.

Functionalism and Crime

Functionalist Approach

• Rather than starting with the individual as with biological and psychological theories, the functionalist analysis of deviance starts begins with society as a whole.

Crime as Inevitable

• Durkheim argued that crime is an inevitable and normal aspect of social life.

• Crime is present in all types of society, indeed the crime rate is higher in the more advanced, industrialized countries.

• It is inevitable because not every member of society can be equally committed to the collective sentiments (shared values and beliefs)

Haralambos and Holborn (1995) 4ed., pg 389

Durkheim

• Durkheim imagines a ‘society of saints’ populated by perfect individuals.

• In such a society there would be no murder or robbery but there would still be deviance as the slightest slip would be regarded as a serious offence and would attract strong disapproval.

Haralambos and Holborn (1995) 4ed., pg 389

Crime as functional

• Crime is not only inevitable – it is functional. • Durkheim argued it only becomes

dysfunctional when it its rate is unusually high or low.

• He argues that all social change begins with some form of deviance.

• If collective sentiments are too strong – there will be little deviance and little change or progress.

Haralambos and Holborn (1995) 4ed., pg 389

Crime as functional

• Conversely if there is little collective sentiment, there will be too much crime and deviance and individuality rises and the status quo breaks down.

• This is what Durkheim referred to as anomie – the loss of shared and guiding principles and norms.

Crime as Functional

• Durkheim also suggested that crime strengthens social cohesion

• By publically condemning those who have broken significant rules we are aware of the norms and values and the limits of toleration and unite against the condemned

• The public response to crime and deviance is what is functional as it reinforces social solidarity and integrates society

Watch Chris Livesey cliphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9DgtZ0fbL0

The Function of Punishment

• According to Durkheim, the function of punishment is not remove crime, but to ‘heal the wounds done to the collective sentiments’.

• Without punishment – the collective sentiments would lose their force and strength

• For Durkheim – crime and punishment are both inevitable and functional.

Haralambos and Holborn (1995) 4ed., pg 389

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZs0KYbD0Gg

Albert Cohen• Albert K. Cohen identified two possible functions

of deviance:1. A safety valve – deviance provides a relatively

harmless expression of discontent. For example, prostitution performs a safety valve function without threatening the institution of the family.

2. Certain deviant acts also act as warning devices to indicate an aspect of society is malfunctioning. For example, truancy in schools may reveal unsuspected causes of discontent leading to changes.

Haralambos and Holborn (1995) 4ed., pg 390

Criticisms of Durkheim

• Durkheim didn’t explain why some groups were more prone to deviance than others or why certain forms of deviance seem to be associated with certain groups.

• It was Robert K Merton who provided these answers within a functionalist framework.

Robert K Merton (1930s)

• Merton argued that deviance resulted from the culture and structure of society itself (structuralist).

• He begins from the standard functionalist position of value consensus – that is, all members of society share the same values.

• According to Merton culture, especially Western, attaches great importance to the values of competition, success and wealth.

Social Structure and Anomie

• Since members of society are placed in different positions in the social structure (e.g. they differ in terms of class position), they do not have the same opportunity of realizing the shared values.

• This situation can generate anomie and deviance.

• He refers to this as strain theory

Strain Theory

• Merton highlights that there is a strain between the cultural goals of a society (in his study the American Dream) and the legitimate means to achieve these goals.

• Those who are at the bottom of the ladder find it hardest to succeed, therefore they are the ones who are more likely to seek alternative routes to success.

Varieties of Deviant Responses

• Merton identifies five ways in which individuals may respond to the strain between goals and the means of achieving them in society:

Conformity Most of the population cope by doing their best and making the most of what society offers them

Innovation Commitment to cultural goals may remain strong, but some people reject the conventional means of acquiring wealth and turn to illegal means

Ritualism Some people have lost sight of material goals, but derive satisfaction from fairly meaningless jobs

Sir Allen Stanford was accused in connection with an $8bn (£5.6bn) investment fraud.

Retreatism A small number of people reject both the goals and the means, by dropping out of society

Rebellion People may rebel and seek to replace shared goals and institutional means with more radical alternatives, and may use violent methods to achieve this

What Is Social Control?

• Internal social control takes place when individuals internalize norms and values and follow those norms and values in their lives.

• External social control involves negative sanctions that proscribe certain behaviors and punish rule breakers.

Functionalist Perspective

Deviance serves three functions:1. Deviance clarifies rules.2. Deviance unites a group.3. Deviance promotes social change.

Symbolic Interactionism / Labelling Theory

• No actions are by nature criminal or deviant – it depends on the norms of the society and the reaction of members of society of society in different situations and contexts.

Howard Becker

• States there is no such thing as a deviant act.

• No act is inherently criminal or deviant in itself, in all situations and at all times.

• An act only becomes criminal or deviant when others label it as such.

Labelling and Power

• The social construction of deviance requires two activities:1. One group which normally lacks power, behaves in a

particular way.2. Another group with more power, responds

negatively to it and labels it as criminal.• Becker claims a powerful groups create rules or

laws to define what counts as deviance and labels those who fail to conform as criminals or outlaws (outsiders)

Edwin Lemert

• Distinguished between primary and secondary deviance

• Primary deviance is insignificant deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled.

• Secondary deviance is the result of societal reaction – of labelling.

• Secondary deviance leads to stigmatization where people are shunned and excluded from normal society.

Secondary Deviance• Lemert asserts that the criminal label can become

a master status where society interprets all actions and motives within the context of the label.

• Secondary deviance leads to prejudice, discrimination and produce a self-fulfilling prophecy and the labelled person may seek refuge with other people branded with a similar label.

• Think of the consequences for sex offenders and ex-cons.