Defining, Classifying and Measuring Crime

What is crime?:

• Legalistic: Violation of criminal law

• Moral/Definition or Social Harms: Act of immorality, any act that causes pain and suffering, racism/sexism, etc.

• Sociological: Crime serves a function for society

What is deviance?:

• Violation of a social norm

• Deviant & Criminal vs. Deviant, but not criminal vs. Criminal/Illegal, but not deviant

What is delinquency?:

• Crimes committed by “young people”

What Crimes?:

• Crimes against the Person: Assault, Homicide, Battery, etc. 

• Crimes against Property: Burglary, Embezzlement, Motor Vehicle Theft, Arson, etc.

• Crimes against Public Order: Disturbing the Peace, Disorderly Conduct, Public Intoxication, etc. 

• Crimes against The State: Treason, Espionage, etc.

• Crimes by The State: Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, Political Assassinations, Politiocal Repression, etc. 

• Corporate Crimes: Toxic waste dumping, Price-fixing, Corporate Negligence

Criminal Justice vs. Criminology:

• Criminology: The scientific study and understanding of crime and criminal behavior

• Criminal Justice: The study of the 3 major parts of the system (Policing, Courts, Corrections)

• Criminalistics: The “who done it” people of crime

Mala Prohibita:

• Acts that are bad because they have been prohibited

Mala in Se:

• Acts that are inherently bad

• Wide-scale consensus in their prohibition

Crime over Time:

• Gemeinschaft: Simple, communal, relatively homogenous societies (characterized by normative consensus)

• Gesellschaft: Complex, associational, individualistic, heterogeneous (crime is the product of anomie)

Consensus vs. Conflict Views: 

• Consensus View: Crime is functional, Agreement between members of society and what is “wrong”, Equal application of the law

• Conflict View: The law is a tool of the ruling class, Used to protect the status quo

Top 10 Crimes of the past 100+ Years:

• Significant based on: Precedence, Historical context, Media attention 

1. St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (Feb. 14, 1929)

2. The Holocaust (1941 - 1945)

3. The Assassination of JFK (Nov. 1963)

4. Murder of 3 Civil Rights workers in Mississippi (Jun. 1964)

5. The Manson Family Killings (Aug. 1969)

6. Watergate (Jun. 1972)

7. Columbine H.S. Shooting (1999)

8. O.J. (Jan. 1995)

9. OKC Bombing (Apr. 1995) & 9/11

10. Attica Prison Riot (Sep. 1971)

• Murder of George Floyd (2020)

Overall Crime Statistics:

• Official Crime Statistics: The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), published by the F.B.I., voluntarily sent by police departments, Index Crimes (Part 1: Homicide, Forcible Rpae, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Larceny-Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, Arson) (Part 2: All other crimes), only part of the crime rate, does not mean solved crimes, all reported crimes, all offenses (hierarchy rule), all crime committed

• The Dark Figure: All crimes not reported to the police (i.e. sexual assault, domestic violence, etc.)

• NIBRS: National Incident Based Reporting System, more detailed information than UCR, more crimes, attempted vs. completed crime

• Victimization Surveys: National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), avoid using “crime” terms 

• Self-Report Surveys: Allows the public to state opinions/report crime on their own