Criminology: Theories, Crime Types, and Cultural Factors

Labeling Theory

People are labeled as deviant by others, and those labels can stick.

Primary Deviance

The initial rule-breaking that may be small or unnoticed.

Secondary Deviance

Happens after a person is labeled and begins to accept or live into that deviant identity.

Disintegrative Shaming

Excludes and stigmatizes people.

Reintegrative Shaming

Shows disapproval but follows with forgiveness and acceptance back into the community.

Differential Association Theory

Behavior is learned through interaction with significant others; delinquency depends on who we interact with.

Focal Concerns

Distinct 'focal concerns' of lower-class culture that can lead to delinquency: autonomy, excitement, fate, smartness, toughness, and trouble.

Crime

An act considered socially injurious and punishable by the state.

Violent Crime

Offenses like homicide, rape (sexual assault), robbery, and assault.

Violent Crime Rate Peak

Violent crime peaked in 1991 at 758.2 per 100,000.

Current Violent Crime Rate

By 2024, the rate was 359.1 per 100,000.

Fear of Violent Crime

Media coverage emphasizes violence, making it seem more common than it is.

Non-Violent Crime

Occurs more and is the most common form of crime.

Homicide

The unlawful taking of life by another human.

Arkansas Homicide Rate

Higher than the national average: Arkansas: 11.3 (2024), U.S.: 5.0 (2024).

U.S. Violence Compared to Other Countries

The U.S. is more violent than many industrialized nations.

Reasons for U.S. Violence

Firearm availability, a violent cultural history, and higher economic inequality/low social support.

Firearm Availability and Homicide

~67% of homicides involve guns; U.S. has ~120.5 guns per 100 people.

Cultural History and Violence

Includes evidence from frontier/settlers vs Native Americans, wars, slavery, and 'culture of honor'.

Economic Inequality and Homicide

More inequality and lower social support correlate with higher homicide.

Connection of Guns and Violent Crime

Research shows more guns are associated with more homicide and suicide.

Handguns

The most commonly used firearms in homicides.

Gun Ownership in Japan

Extremely low at ~0.6 per 100 people, correlating with low crime rates.

Gun Ownership in Switzerland

High at ~45.7 per 100 people, yet still far below U.S. levels; does not allow 'any gun to be bought'.

Cultural Factors in the U.S.

Americans value gun ownership; cultural factors shape behavior in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Nisbett and Cohen (1996) Study

Tested 'culture of honor'; found Southerners showed stronger reactions to insults, suggesting cultural norms can promote violence.

Economic Inequality

Refers to how unevenly resources are distributed, not just low income; higher inequality correlates with more homicide.

Mass Murder

Multiple victims at one time/place (e.g., schools, workplaces).

Spree Killing

Two or more victims in a short period across multiple locations (e.g., Beltway snipers, 2002).

Serial Killer

Kills three or more over more than a month; no single profile.

Rape

Forced sexual intercourse against one's will.

Sexual Assault

Sexual contact without consent.

Underreporting of Sexual Assault

Due to stigma, trauma, fear of disbelief, and the criminal justice process feeling like 'being victimized a second time.'

Sexual Assault on College Campuses

Surveys show high victimization (≈20-25%); influenced by campus social settings, alcohol, and peer norms.

Acquaintance Rape

About 90% of rapes are committed by someone the victim knows.

Psychological Consequences of Sexual Assault

Includes rape trauma syndrome, depression, anxiety, OCD-type symptoms, eating disorders, and suicidality.

Victimization by Criminal Justice System

Victims may feel victimized again due to mandatory reporting, intensive questioning, and defense attacks on character.

Reluctant Partner

Doctors/hospitals who may be forced to report or testify against their preference, feeling unsupportive to victims.

Robbery

Taking or attempting to take something from a person by force or threat; often occurs in the street.

Aggravated Assault

An unlawful attack intended to injure another person, more severe than simple assault.

Diversification of Crimes

Violent offenders often engage in various types of offenses rather than specializing in one.

Reasons for Decreasing Crime

Criminologists do not know for sure.

What is Property Crime?

Burglary, larceny‑theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson (non‑violent offenses against property).

Trends in Property Crime

Property crime has been decreasing over time.

Victimization Trends

Non‑violent crime is most common; males are more likely to commit it; about 40% is reported. Lower‑income groups are more likely to be victimized, usually within the offender's neighborhood.

Burglary

Unlawful entering of a building/dwelling to commit a crime.

Reasons for Not Reporting Burglary

Fear/distrust of police, low value of items, or belief that recovery is unlikely.

Burglars' Selection Criteria

Exposure (lighting, hedges/trees, distance from street), Occupancy (are people home?), Accessibility (ease of entry).

Underground Economy

Black market for selling stolen items.

Professional Fence

A specialist who sells stolen goods.

Arson

Willful or malicious burning or attempting to burn.

Trends in Arson

About half target homes; average loss ≈ $16,015; most arson is by juveniles; ≈18% are cleared by police.

Fireplay/Firesetting

Curiosity‑driven experimenting with fire (usually minimal damage).

Hired Torch

Paid professional arsonist.

Pyromania

Mental disorder involving obsession with fire.

Larceny

Unlawful taking of property.

Grand Larceny

Theft above a set value.

Petty Larceny

Theft below a set value (≈$300 noted in class).

Commonality of Larceny

It's the broadest property offense and occurs in many everyday contexts; notes say ~67% of known crimes are larceny.

Impulse Shoplifters

Uncontrollable urge to steal (kleptomania).

Occasional Shoplifters

Peer‑influenced.

Episodic Shoplifters

Steal to meet needs; only ~10% are known to police.

Motor Vehicle Theft

Theft or attempted theft of an automobile.

Trends in Motor Vehicle Theft

Declined over time; most likely crime to be reported; average loss ≈ $6,751; most common in poorer urban areas; many victims recover the car; offenders are good at defeating anti‑theft; ≈12% are cleared.

Public Order Crimes

Crimes affecting public health, safety, economy, and quality of life; grouped by Morality (imposing moral standards) and Law & Order (keeping peace).

Morality Crimes

Using law to enforce moral norms.

Law and Order Crimes

Using law to maintain public peace.

Victimless Crime

'Victimless crime' refers to acts that primarily affect the participants (e.g., prostitution as often labeled).

Overreach of Criminal Law

Using criminal law to regulate consensual behaviors can backfire—creating profitable illegal markets and criminal subcultures.

What is White-Collar Crime?

Deliberately harmful, illegal acts by persons of respectability/high status during their occupation.

Examples of White-Collar Crime

Negligence causing harm (business/doctor), workplace violations, fraud, embezzlement; corporate decisions that harm the public (e.g., product defects ignored).

White-Collar Crime vs. Street Crime

It causes more aggregate harm/death annually than murder (e.g., industrial disease/accidents, environmental harms).

Challenges in Studying White-Collar Crime

Overlapping jurisdictions (IRS, FDA, etc.), reliance on regulatory bodies for investigation, and organizational secrecy.

Prosecution of White-Collar Crime

Powerful actors face less severe punishment/prosecution; judges report seeing white‑collar offenders as having 'suffered enough' and prosecutors may avoid charging major local employers.

Public Perception of White-Collar Crime

Surveys: the public sees physically harmful white‑collar crimes and price‑fixing as serious and favors incarceration.

Occupational Crime

Illegal acts for personal gain using one's job (e.g., embezzlement).

Corporate Crime

Illegal acts by officials to benefit the corporation.

Ford Pinto Case

Known fuel‑tank rupture risk at >25 mph; $11 fix per car weighed against projected deaths; acquitted in court but shows cost‑benefit framing.

GM Ignition Switch Case

Known defect for ≈10 years; 2014 recall of 2.6M cars after deaths/accidents.

Sick Role

A social role allowing the ill to withdraw from normal duties but also expecting them not to want to be sick and to seek help.

Stigmatization of Illness

We stigmatize illnesses seen as 'their fault' (e.g., HIV/STDs, diabetes) versus illnesses we fear but don't blame (e.g., flu).

Ryan White

An Indiana teen (diagnosed 1984 via blood transfusion) who faced severe stigma and exclusion from school because of HIV; shows how fear and misinformation drive discrimination.

Ebola Scare of 2014

Outbreaks can spread quickly across borders; transmission through bodily fluids; burial practices and animal‑to‑human transmission matter; international response (including U.S. troops) and vaccines can end outbreaks.

Anti-Vaccination Movement

• there has always been an ”anti vaccination movement”

• in the 1790s there was an anti smallpox vaccination movement in the US

• the anit vaxxers argued

1. the vaccine did not work

2. the vaccine would make you sick and contain poisinous chemicals

• 3. mandatory vaccinations were akin to medical despotism (the government should not tell us what to do.)

MERS

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (a coronavirus) outbreak in 2012: bat → camel → humans; 27 countries had cases; ≈35% fatality rate among cases; U.S. had cases.

SARS

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (coronavirus) outbreak in 2002-2003: bats → civets → humans; ≈8,098 cases, ≈774 deaths (~10%); limited U.S. cases, all survived.

Covid-19 development

Developed in late 2019 in Wuhan; first U.S. case Jan 2020; national shutdown mid‑March 2020; origins debated (wet market noted).

Covid-19 vaccine development

mRNA research began decades earlier; 'Operation Warp Speed' funded production/trials/delivery (~$12.4B by Dec 2020). Unvaccinated adults were 7× more likely to be hospitalized and 41× more likely to die.

Jacob Zuma

South African president (2009-2018) who wrongly claimed showering after sex could wash off AIDS—harmful misinformation in a high‑HIV context.

HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa

Very high burden: e.g., Swaziland (Eswatini) ~27.4% HIV prevalence; South Africa has the largest absolute number of people living with HIV.

Attitudes toward HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan countries

UNAIDS surveys show high discriminatory attitudes toward people with HIV (e.g., Nigeria ~51.5%, Ethiopia ~59.9%, etc.), which fuels stigma and undermines prevention and treatment.

Sexual practices in the United States

Sex before marriage is common; monogamy is the norm; married people report more sex than singles; 10-20% report affairs; teen sex and teen pregnancy have been decreasing; sex without consent is common.

Teen pregnancy trend

Decreasing; 2022 reached a record low (13.5 per 1,000).

Use of protection during sex

Use has leveled off (not continuing to rise).

Sex education

Education about puberty, STIs, contraception, relationships, and orientation. It's contentious due to disagreements over what to teach and when.

Abortion

The expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus.

Trends in abortion

Post‑Dobbs (June 2022) legality varies by state with complex enforcement issues. Before 2022: ≈25% of U.S. women had an abortion by 45; 59% were already mothers; 61% were ages 20-29.

Abortion clinic availability

Clinics have decreased; 90% of counties lack a clinic; 80% of clinics reported harassment.

Public support for legal abortion

About 67% of people support legal abortion.

Safety of abortion procedures

Most abortions use pills; the procedure is very safe (<1% complications) and not linked to depression or breast cancer.