Types of Crime

1. Types of Crime By Felix Romero

2. Introduction • There are six main types of crime: • Crimes Against Persons • Crimes Against Habitation • Crimes Against Property • Crimes Against Morality • Modern Crimes • Consensual Crimes

3. Crimes Against Persons • Also known as “violent crimes” • There are five major types that the FBI measures (Territo 2004): • Battery: Unlawful application of force by a person on another. • Homicide: The killing of one human being by another. • Hate Crimes: Can be defined as an offense motivated by hatred against a victim because of his or her race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, handicap, or national origin. • Rape: Unlawful sexual intercourse without her consent with the intent to rape.

4. Crimes Against Persons Con.’t • The fifth type of crime against persons is assault. • Two different types (Territo 2004): • Attempted Battery: Engagement in conduct that comes reasonable close to committing a battery, having the present ability to succeed in committing the battery, and intending to commit the battery. • Intentionally Placing Another in Fear: The placing of another person in fear that he or she will receive an immediate battery; the victim must be in fact apprehensive; the conduct must be sufficient so as to create apprehension in a reasonable person; and the defendant had the intent to create that apprehension.

5. Crimes Against Habitation • These crimes are against the place where a citizen sleeps regularly. • Two major types (Territo 2004): • Burglary: which is the breaking and entering of the dwelling house of another in the nighttime with the intent to commit a felony therein. • Arson: The malicious burning of a dwelling house of another.

6. Crimes Against Property • These crimes include (Territo 2004): • Larceny: Taking and carrying away the personal property of another with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property. • Robbery: Same elements as Larceny but adds that the taking of property must be in the presence of the victim by the means of either violence or intimidation, or both. • Embezzlement: Fraudulent conversion of the property of another by one who is already in lawful possession thereof with the intent to defraud the victim.

7. Crimes Against Morality • These crimes were not originally tried in the common-law courts; instead they were ecclesiastical crimes, tried and punished by the Church of England. (Territo 2004) • Includes: • Bigamy: Marrying another person while one’s spouse is still living. • Incest: Two people either marry or have sexual relations when they are so closely related.

8. Modern Crimes • The most frequent modern crimes include: • Computer Crime • Identity Theft • Stalking

9. Consensual Crimes • Also known as victimless crimes, because it is an act that all involved parties choose to be involved. • These crimes include gambling, drug use, and prostitution. • However, some people argue that these crimes are not victimless crimes, because social norms are violated. (Territo 2004)

10. Consensual Crimes Con.’t • Two main arguments are made for decriminalizing activities such as marijuana use, pornography, and prostitution (Territo 2004): • Criminal sanctions against these activities constitute an unwarranted intrusion into individual privacy and an indefensible extension of the government’s authority. • Some argue that enforcing laws against these activities overburdens the police, the courts, and the prisons and increases congestion problems in the criminal justice system.

11. References • Territo, L., Halsted, J.B., & Bromley, M.L. (2004). Crime and justice in america: A human perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.