Crime in the US & Crime Patterns

Unit 1 CRiminology, Week 3+4

Crime rates have fallen becuase…

incarceration (punishment), policing, opportunities (technology is helping), economics, demographics changing, long term social dynamics

American fear of crime is often…

overestimated

American crime fear is fueled by…

not having a clear idea of crime stats, media highlighting, concern ofver who is threatneing (they think its interacial but its not), political highliting

broken windows

refers to the idea that if communities take care of small problems, they prevent big ones. A metaphor for broken windows signals community is neglected and can lead to increased criminal behavior if left unaddressed.

Mean World Syndrome

A form of cognitive bias in which people who have long-term moderate to heavy exposure of violence in their media consumption begin to perceive the world as being more dangerous than it actually is.

There was a 30% increase in murders in 2020, which is one of the largest increases in crime in a single year since the early 1900s. How would a criminologist contextualize this increase?

This one year increase is not necessarily indicative of a new trend, so we should examine whether that increase holds over time or if it was an anomaly due to historic conditions like the pandemic.

connection between demographics and crime rates

Birth rate declines over time means that in each generation there is a smaller portion of people who will reach peak offending ages, so there are fewer people who are likely to commit crime.

What’s problematic about policing "disorder”

What is considered to be disorderly is based on subjective judgments by the public and police and such judgments may be rooted in bias.

Presdee's "carnival of crime thesis?"

A sociological perspective suggesting that certain forms of crime can be seen as a spectacle, reflecting societal norms and issues, and that the experience of crime can be seen as a form of entertainment or a temporary escape from everyday life.

Afican americans and hispanics/latinos are…

disproportionately represented across all types of crime states (arrests, offenders, victims, filings, plea bargains, incarcerations)

convict leasing

lease out prisoners to private bussinesses for labor, often in harsh conditions.

racial terror lynching

public acts of racial terrorism towards African Americans in an effort to terrorize the community (social control)

racial threat theory

As the size of the black population increases, the perceived threat
to the white population also increases = results in greater social control efforts directed at African Americans

racial profiling

police initiated action directed at a suspect or a group of suspects based solely on race or ethnicity. can be intentional or subconscious

older people can stil commit crimes

failure to “age out”, fear of future, financial trouble, boredom, and stress/frustration

geriatric release

laws that allow for inmates to be considered for release when they reach a specified age

compassionate release/medical parole

based on the judgement of a medical provider, the inmate suffers from a medical condition are thus no longer a threat and/or likely to die with imn set time frame and should be released