Comprehensive Crime & Violence Study Notes

Learning Objectives

7.1 Identify serious crimes, plus trends & patterns in crime rates
7.2 Define specific types of crime
7.3 Discuss causes & consequences of violence in U.S. society
7.4 Analyze operation of the U.S. criminal-justice system
7.5 Apply biological & psychological theories to crime
7.6 Apply sociological theory to crime
7.7 Analyze crime & violence across the political spectrum

Norms, Law & Crime

Norms = rules/expectations guiding behavior.
Law = norm formally created by the political system.
- Civil law → defines rights/relationships among individuals & businesses.
- Criminal law → defines everyone’s responsibility to uphold public order.
Crime = violation of criminal law enacted by federal/state/local gov’t.
- Misdemeanor → punishable by < 1 year in prison.
- Felony → punishable by ≥ 1 year in prison.
Public concern: $58\%$ of U.S. adults rank crime control a “top priority.”
- Fear itself becomes a social problem, restricting daily life.

Basic Crime Categories & FBI Index Offenses

Crime Against Property (larceny-theft, burglary, motor-vehicle theft, arson).
Crime Against Persons (murder & non-negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, forcible rape, robbery).

Violent Crime – Patterns & Trends

Represents $14\%$ of all serious offenses.
Rose sharply $1960\text{–}1993$ , then declined. Possible reasons:
- Strong macro-economy.
- Decline of crack-cocaine market.
- More police hiring & community policing.
- Harsher sentencing policies (e.g., “three-strikes,” mandatory minimums).

Murder

U.S. murder rate falling since $1993$ .
Victim profile: $77\%$ male; $51\%$ African-American; $45\%$ white.
Clearance rate (arrest made): $65\%$ .
$79\%$ victims knew offender; $26\%$ related.

Forcible Rape

Only $31\%$ of victims make police report.
Arrests in $25\%$ of reported cases.
Stats include attempted rape & male victims; excludes statutory rape.

Aggravated Assault

Accounts for $64\%$ of all reported violent crime.
Majority of victims & offenders are men.
Clearance rate $48\%$ .

Robbery

Hybrid (violent + property).
Lowest clearance among violent crimes: $29\%$ (2016).
Offender profile: $86\%$ male; $56\%$ < 25; $54\%$ African-American; $43\%$ white.

Concealed-Carry Laws (National Map 7-1)

12 “constitutional-carry” states (permitless).
30 “shall-issue” states (permits routinely granted).
8 “may-issue” states (special need required).
Regional pattern: Northeast & West Coast tighter; South & Interior West looser.

Property Crime – Patterns & Trends

Occurs every $4$ seconds; about $7$ × violent-crime volume.
Annual dollar loss: $\$15.6\,\text{billion}$ (FBI).
Overall clearance: $17\%$ .

Burglary

Clearance $13\%$ .
Offender: $81\%$ male; $43\%$ < 25.

Larceny-Theft

Clearance $20\%$ .
Comprises $62\%$ of all FBI-tracked crime.
Arrests: $43\%$ women.
Includes shoplifting, purse-snatching.

Motor-Vehicle Theft

Clearance $13\%$ .
Loss $2016$ : $\$5.9\,\text{billion}$ .
Offenders: $46\%$ < 25; $79\%$ male.

Arson

Clearance $21\%$ .
Avg. loss ≈ $\$14{,}182$ .
Offender: $43\%$ < 25; $80\%$ male.

“Street Crime” – Offender Demographics

Age: arrests peak late teens.
Gender: males $62\%$ of property-crime arrests, $80\%$ violent.
- Females over-represented for larceny-theft ( $43\%$ ), fraud ( $39\%$ ), embezzlement ( $50\%$ ), prostitution ( $64\%$ ).
Social class: high rates in low-income areas; typically small group of repeat offenders.
Race/ethnicity: majority of arrests involve whites, but African-Americans disproportionately arrested relative to $12.5\%$ population share.
- Black males $6$ × more likely than white males to be jailed; $1/3$ of black men in their 20s are under correctional supervision (jail, probation, parole).
Explanations for racial pattern:
- Economic deprivation → hostility toward police.
- Racial prejudice leads to differential suspicion & policing.
Asian Americans under-represented: higher median incomes & cultural emphasis on family/honor.

Specialized Crime Categories

Juvenile Delinquency

Definition: law violation by minors.
Juvenile justice aims: community protection & youth rehabilitation.
Can be tried as adults for serious crimes; since $2005$ , death penalty banned for juveniles.

Hate Crime

Definition: offense motivated by bias re: race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin.
Odds of victimization rise with multiple disadvantages (e.g., gay person of color).
$45$ states + federal gov’t mandate enhanced penalties.
Under-reported.
$>50\%$ involve racial bias (Fig. 7-2, 2016).

White-Collar Crime

Illegal acts by high-status persons during occupation/business.
More common than public assumes; cases typically civil (fines) not prison.

Corporate Crime

Unlawful acts by corporation or its agents.
Includes “gross negligence” in product safety.
Total cost exceeds annual property-crime losses.

Organized Crime

Business supplying illegal goods/services (drugs, gambling, sex).
Now multinational.

Victimless Crime

Offenses with no immediate victim except perpetrator (e.g., gambling, prostitution).
Nonetheless may cause harm (addiction, exploitation).

Violence – Concepts & Evaluation

Violence = behavior causing injury to persons/property.
Four analytic questions (Johnstone, adapted):
1. Actor’s intent?
2. Conformity to norms?
3. Effect on social order?
4. Relationship to the state (by/against gov’t)?

Institutional vs. Anti-institutional Violence

Institutional violence: lawful force by state (e.g., war on terrorism) → widely legitimated.
Anti-institutional violence: illegal force against state → widely condemned.

Mass & Serial Murder

Mass murder → $\ge4$ victims, one incident/location.
- Targets “safe” spaces (schools, workplaces, homes).
- Offenders overwhelmingly male.
Serial murder → multiple killings by same offender over time.

Media Influence

Majority of TV shows contain violence; few anti-violence themes.
Research consensus: viewing violence can (1) promote imitation; (2) desensitize viewers.

Poverty & Violence

Poverty yields stress; most poor are non-violent, but low-income people disproportionately victimized & arrested.

Youth Gangs

Defined by territory & identity. Typology: non-violent → turf-clash → full criminal enterprise.
Typical violent‐gang member: male, from poor single-parent household in high-crime, low-job-opportunity areas.

Drugs & Violence

Psychoactive effects distort judgment & lower inhibitions; addiction drives violent acquisitive crime.

Guns & Violence

$1/3$ of U.S. households own ≥ 1 gun.
Firearms used in > $2/3$ murders; handguns ≈ long guns (Fig. 7-3).
Gun homicide #1 cause of death for Black/Latino males aged $15\text{–}34$ .
Policy divide:
- Liberals → restrict handguns, trigger locks, ban assault rifles.
- Conservatives → affirm 2nd Amendment; argue armed citizenry deters crime.
NRA vs. gun-control advocates (e.g., post-Parkland 2018 debate).

U.S. Criminal-Justice System

Due Process Principle

System (police, courts, corrections) must obey law & protect defendant rights.

Police Discretion Factors

Severity of offense
Victim preference
Suspect cooperation
Prior record
Presence of bystanders
Suspect’s race

Policy Shifts

Community policing → visible presence (car, bike, foot) to build trust.
Zero-tolerance → respond to every infraction; debated as deterrent vs. harassment.
Controversies: use of deadly force (e.g., Eric Garner 2014 choke-hold death).

Courts & Plea Bargaining

$95\%$ of cases resolved by plea bargain (charge reduction ↔ guilty plea).
Public defenders over-loaded; plea deals may erode right to jury trial.

Punishment & Incarceration

2016 prisoners: $2.2\,\text{million}$ → almost $5\times$ 1980.
U.S. incarceration rate $693$ per $100{,}000$ (highest globally, Fig. 7-4).

Four Justifications

Retribution (moral vengeance).
Deterrence (punishment discourages).
Rehabilitation (reform offender).
Societal protection (incapacitation or execution).

Mass-Incarceration Debate

Conservatives: fiscal cost $\$30{,}000$ per inmate/year.
Liberals: prison violence, family disruption, racial targeting.

Restorative Justice & Community Corrections

Restorative Justice: repair harm to victim, offender, community; focus on healing not blame.
Community-based corrections: probation, shock probation, parole.
- Effectiveness evidence mixed.

Death Penalty (Capital Punishment)

19 states abolished; 31 retain.
$1977\text{–}2018$ : > $8,200$ death sentences; $1,469$ executions.
Downward trend: $2017$ had $39$ new death sentences, $23$ executions.
Regional disparity: Nearly $48\%$ of death-row inmates in 3 states (National Map 7-2).
Global perspective: Most high-income nations abolished; U.S. & Japan exceptions (Global Map 7-1).

Theories Explaining Crime

Biological & Psychological

Lombroso, Sheldon, Gluecks: early biological typologies (atavism, body types). Limited explanatory power; modern neurocriminology explores brain differences.
Psychological: personality traits, mental illness linked to some offending, but many offenders are “normal”; ignores social definition of crime.

Structural–Functional (Durkheim)

Crime serves four positive functions:
1. Affirms norms & values.
2. Clarifies moral boundaries.
3. Unites people in response.
4. Encourages social change.
Crime viewed as “normal & necessary.”

Merton’s Strain Theory

Crime arises from gap between cultural goals & legitimate means.
Five adaptations:
- Conformity (goals ✓, means ✓).
- Innovation (goals ✓, means ✗) → common criminality.
- Ritualism (goals ✗, means ✓).
- Retreatism (goals ✗, means ✗).
- Rebellion (new goals & new means).

Cloward & Ohlin: Illegitimate Opportunity Structures

Crime depends on availability of criminal opportunities (e.g., gangs, drug markets).

Hirschi: Control Theory

Strong social bonds (attachment, opportunity, involvement, belief) inhibit crime.

Symbolic-Interaction

Crime is socially constructed via interaction & labeling.
Sutherland’s Differential Association: deviance learned from groups.
Becker’s Labeling Theory: deviance not inherent; depends on societal reaction.
Lemert: primary vs. secondary deviance; deviant identity formation.
Goffman: stigma powerfully reshapes self-concept; criminal trials as stigmatizing ritual.

Social-Conflict (Marxist)

Crime rooted in class inequality; capitalist system breeds both crime & criminalization of the poor.
Remedy: move toward egalitarian economic order.

Feminist Perspective

Gender inequality channels some women into crime (economic survival, coping).
Double standard: female sex workers policed more than male clients.
Women subject to high risk of sexual violence.

Political Spectrum & Crime Policy

Far Right

Crime/violence blamed on “outsiders” threatening national identity.

Conservatives

Moral breakdown in families → crime.
Solutions: stronger families, stricter discipline, tougher laws, harsher penalties, aggressive policing.

Liberals

Crime results from social environment (poverty, lack of jobs).
Solutions: expand economic opportunity, invest in education, community programs, rehabilitation.

Radical Left

Real violence = daily economic insecurity & exploitation.
Crime symptom of inequality; solution = restructure economic & political systems toward egalitarianism.

Key Statistics & Figures Summary

Mass-shooting deaths $1976\text{–}2012$ : U.S. $\approx 323$ vs. Norway $77$ , Germany $67$ , etc. (initial chart).
“Crime clock” concept visualizes frequency (e.g., one property crime every $4$ seconds).
U.S. incarceration: $2.2\,\text{million}$ behind bars; rate $693/100,000$ → highest worldwide.
Firearms > $2/3$ of murders; handguns ≈ rifles + shotguns combined.
Death penalty: > $8,200$ sentences since $1977$ ; executions $1,469$ ; trend downward.

Ethical & Practical Implications

Balance between public safety & civil liberties (due process, police discretion, surveillance).
Racial disparities raise questions of systemic bias vs. individual culpability.
Mass-incarceration: cost–benefit, human rights issues, intergenerational effects on families/communities.
Gun rights vs. gun control: constitutional freedoms vs. collective security.
Restorative justice suggests shift from punitive to reparative models.

Connections & Real-World Relevance

Link to previous lectures on social stratification: inequality shapes both criminal behavior & criminalization.
Biological/psychological insights complement, but do not replace, sociological explanations focusing on structure & power.
Policy debates mirror ideological divides: punitive vs. preventive approaches.
International comparisons (incarceration, death penalty) highlight U.S. exceptionalism.