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Unpacking Crime in the U.S.: Causes, Control, and Impact

This comprehensive overview delves into the definition of crime, U.S. crime statistics, and factors contributing to crime-proneness, covering criminology as a multidisciplinary field and the historical evolution of criminal justice and criminological theories.

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Unpacking Crime in the U.S.: Causes, Control, and Impact

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  1. UI 309 Carol Veneziano

  2. Definition of crime • Crime is an act • or the omission of an act • In violation of the penal codes • without defense or justification • sanctioned by the state as a felony or misdemeanor

  3. Is the U.S. crime prone? • Murder • 4 times the rate of Italy • 9 times the rate in England • 11 times the rate in Japan

  4. Is the United States too lenient? Highest incarceration rate in the world • U.S. 426/100,000 people • South Africa 333/100,000 • Great Britain 97/100,000 • The U.S. incarcerates at similar rates for violent crimes • We incarcerate at significantly higher rates for nonviolent crimes

  5. Why is the U.S. crime-prone? • Large underclass • Urban areas in which poor and wealthy live in close proximity • Racism • Failure of the educational system • Troubled American family • Culture that defines success in terms of material wealth • Easy access to handguns

  6. Crime, morality and deviance • Some acts defined as crimes might be considered moral ( I.e., protesting) Some unethical acts might not be considered crimes (ignoring someone in danger) • Although there is considerable overlap, crime and morality are not always the same • Similarly, although many acts we call deviant are crimes, not all deviant acts are crimes

  7. Criminology • SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE NATURE, EXTENT, CAUSE AND CONTROL OF CRIMINAL AND DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR • Description: how many crimes, what types? • Prediction: when and where will crime occur? Who will commit it? • Control: How might crime be decreased? • Explanation: What causes crime?

  8. Interdisciplinary nature • Sociology • Political Science • Psychology • Criminal Justice • Economics • Anthropology • Biology - Genetics, Neuroscience

  9. Criminal Justice • Scientific study of the agencies of social control which deal with crime and delinquency • Agencies: Police, courts and corrections • Distinction between criminology and criminal justice

  10. Subareas of criminology • Criminal Statistics: amount and trends of criminal activity • Sociology of law: role social forces play in shaping criminal law, and the role of criminal law in shaping society • Theory construction: explanations of crime causation • Criminal behavior systems

  11. Subareas (continued) • Penology: correction and control of known criminal offenders • Victimology: study of the victims of crime

  12. History of criminology • Preliterate societies • Early criminal codes • Inconsistent justice • 1700s--the Enlightenment • Development of concept of democracy • Emphasis on rationality and scientific thinking

  13. History (continued) • Classical criminology • 1800s : Positivism • Biological explanations (Lombroso) • Development of Psychology and Sociology • 1900s: Sociology predominates • Social process and social structure theories • 1970s: re-emergence of classical

  14. History (continued) • Re-emergence of Psychology • Increase in crime rate and fear of crime • Disenchantment with rehabilitation • Increase in incarceration rates • 1980s: Increase in drug use and lethal gang violence • 1990s: search for alternatives

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