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Sociological Study Of Crime

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One of the biggest challenges in estimating the cost of crimes is that so many crimes go unreported. Many times, a victim of rape will not report the crime. They feel ashamed or even scared of the perpetrator. It is unknown how much is spent on doctors and psychologist when an event like this takes place. Another crime that goes unreported is fraud. People do not want to know someone swindled them out of money. A very popular incidence of fraud is online perpetrators that prey on older lonely women and swindle them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. This type of fraud, to me, is one of the worst because they take peoples entire retirement money and leave them broke and sometimes homeless which cost taxpayer 's money for them to …show more content…

All of these theories explain crime in terms of social environment, including peer groups, family, school, workplace, community, and society. Yet these theories differ from one another. They offer different explanations why social environment causes crime. Some focus on individual differences in crime while others try to explain group differences. The strain theory suggest that people commit crimes because some type of stress or strain going on in their lives. They engage in crime to “let off steam” and to reduce the pressure of the problem they are facing. They may engage in crimes with illicit drugs because they are trying to change the way they feel. Usually when someone prevents you from attaining a goal or takes something of value to you may commit a crime out of revenge. Money seems to be the main cause of strain on people who commit crimes. When people are short on cash they may attempt to get money through illegal channels such as theft, robbery, or prostitution. After money comes status and respect. When someone feels they are not getting the respect they need they may commit crimes to prove their …show more content…

Take marijuana for instance, once illegal everywhere. Now it is either legal or with get you a simple citation if you are caught with it and sent on your way. At one time drinking and driving was a simple misdemeanor and even though it is still classified as a misdemeanor, you are required to spend forty-eight hours in jail for first offenses. Not all people who are arrested are guilty. There is the variable criminal which has a major influence on the definition of the concept of criminal. A variable is a concept that has been operationalized or measures in a specific manner and that can vary or take on different values (Hagen, 2017). Crimes are defined as acts punishable by law so if a small child steals something without their parents knowledge it is stealing but is it a crime. It is said that ignorance of the law is not a legal defense against a criminal act but a child is too young to know right from wrong. It is important to study the deviants and the social structural contexts that define them. It is possible to make standard legal definitions. Alternatives define crime in terms like the type of victim and type of offender, object of the crime or the method of criminal activity. Definitions cover one or more of the standard legal definitions. Organized crime and criminal changes over time. Some crimes fall under one description such as organized crime that

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Why is crime such a large part of our everyday society? Since the beginning of time, crime has been a large part of history, which gradually increased throughout the years, and continues today in everyday life. Crime is something that people do out of either force, impulse, fun, by accident, or their environment. Some people have been raised since childhood in areas where crime rates were at an high and maybe that caused them to follow what they learned while growing up and pursuing crimes as well. Malcolm Gladwell, author of Power of Context: Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime, mentions how these key concepts shape the way in which crimes are performed through their involvement with their environment and communities.

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The strain theory implies that crime may occur because of the stress or frustration placed on people when

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A criminal is someone that commits criminal like activities such as murder, theft, arson, robbery, etc. with the intent to harm another person and/or pursue personal goals. There is no constraint as to who can be a criminal; criminals do not have to be a specific race, gender, age, or particular sexuality. Some, if not most, criminals commit crimes due to either have learned the behavior, have the ability to do so freely, or their connection with social bonds.

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637 Words | 3 Pages

These attributes can be something that a person has no control over, such as their race or socio-economic background. Criminalization is not often based on laws, but instead revolves around customs that others have been understood as good or bad, which can later lead to laws. This idea consists of the reinterpretation of everyday actions or ideas and vilifying them (Merry 14 -15). In the cases of children there exists the idea that a child who commits a violent and heinous crime will only become more violent and will continue to commit crimes. Therefore, once a despicable act has been committed by a child he or she becomes labeled as a violent criminal.

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This theory clearly rules out the effect of inherited or innate factors, and the last is the cognitive theory, which is based on how the perception of an individual is manifested into affecting his or her potential and capability to commit a crime. (Psychological theories of crime) Relating these theories to the case under study, it’s clear that the behaviour can be traced most times to faulty relationships in the family during the first years of

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257 Words | 2 Pages

Individuals may not report crime for many reasons. One reason may be that he/ she may be afraid that if the crime is reported, then the perpetrator may invoke revenge on them. There is a modern cultural ideal of “no snitching” throughout urban areas within the country. Additionally, one may not report a crime if that individual is afraid that he may be subjected to the law in a negative fashion.

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991 Words | 4 Pages

Fifth, the specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable. Sixth, a person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of the law. Seventh, Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity. Eighth, the process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning. Lastly, while criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those needs and values, since non-criminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values.

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This essay will examine the legal aspects of defining crime, there are many ways in which you can define crime whether it is deemed to be right or wrong. The concept of crime has changed throughout the years and there is no simple answer to what is crime, the idea of crime is constantly changing and it will keep changing as the perception is surrounded of what constitutes criminal behaviour. As stated in the sage dictionary of criminology crime “Depends upon which of its multiple constitutive elements is emphasized, this in turn depends upon the theoretical position taken by those defining crime” (The Sage Dictionary of Criminology, Eugene and John, P.85). Therefore defining crime is not as simple as it may look as it depends on which position you are thinking from.

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Surprisingly, they also found that in communities with a small black population that the white on white crime went up. Segregation of these communities not only has income disparity, it also has poverty which fosters crime. This can be explained through social disorganization and strain theory. Strain theory is based on the strain or stress one receives that may result from the failure to achieve a variety of goals and so they engage in crime as a result. In poverty, many choose crime as a means to obtain

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1288 Words | 6 Pages

Some of the activities classified by criminal law theorist as a crime or illegal include murder, rape and

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This explanation is mainly focused on the individual, which ignores the larger social and environmental influences that affect a person’s behavior. Shaw and Mckay (1969) provide an environmental explanation for criminality. They argue that daily experiences shape behavior. Areas that have high poverty rates and high levels of social change will contain a value system that is supportive of crime. Though adults may try to impress upon their children a non-criminal value system, they compete against a number of organizations that support the criminal value

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161 Words | 1 Pages

Crimes are classified differently by the law and by sociologist. “Sociologist classify crimes in terms of how they are committed and how society views the offenses” (Schaefer 163). While the law classifies crime in terms of what court holds jurisdiction, the age of the offender, the severity of the offense and the potential punishment. Sociologist classify crimes into 6 categories: victimless crimes, organized crime, white-collar and technology based crime, professional crime, hate crime, and transnational crime. One of the most controversial subject in this nation, is victimless crimes.

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1299 Words | 6 Pages

Over the past decade, the world has changed drastically due to globalization. Although everybody experiences it, the third world countries are proven to be the most affected. Not only does it affect the economic, political and cultural aspects of the world, but it is also one of the main factors for the growth of crime rate. Although globalization may be sought to be an opportunity for developing countries to improve, those who benefit are minorities.

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1021 Words | 5 Pages

To put it simply, crime is constructed by the use of social laws and the decisions of those with power to make some of these social laws and the decisions of those with power to make some of these social laws into criminal laws. Crime can be seen as a social construction as what is legal or illegal in one society or culture may not be in another, the same can be said of deviance. Crime is repeatedly viewed as a ‘physical fact’ by the government or media. However it can be argued that when one thinks of acts which are criminal in one place yet are not in another that crime is a social construction. To refer back to the point of these with power deciphering which acts are criminal, it can also be argued that those with power (e.g. government) define these acts as criminal, whether socially deviant or not, to suit their own purpose and to control certain parts of society.

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1877 Words | 8 Pages

This is an increase of nearly 20’000 recorded crimes in just 3 years. Note that these are only the recorded figures. Many more crimes go unreported. This may be because of intimidation, blackmail or embarrassment among many reasons.

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