Crime and Criminal Justice

 



1. Chapter Summary

https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_social-problems-continuity-and-change/s11-01-the-problem-of-crime.html 

The focus of this chapter revolved around the topic of crime. Crime is defined as: "Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by criminal law." Some crimes arouse more negative reactions than others. The examples provided were: white collar crime versus prostitution. While white collar is technically more harmful than street crime both economically and physically, some would consider prostitution (less harmful) to be worse because it's immoral.

Even though the public would believe that crime is rising, it is decreasing in reality. What could contribute to this is how news media portray certain news. News can be over-dramatized and there can coverage given to violent crimes. There are three different types of sources of data: Uniform Crime Report (UCR), National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), and the Self Report Surveys. The Uniform Crime Report is the government's main source of crime data. It is annually published by the FBI. The data on UCR can be low because some aren't reported to police, and thus not included in the data. The National Crime Victimization Survey data is more accurate and carried out by the U.S Census Bureau. The questions are given to people in households. Self-report surveys are responded majorly by young people. Typically asks demographic questions. Similarly to NVCS, the data of crime is not accurate and may be lower than it actually is.

The different types of crimes are: violent crime, property crime, white-collar, organized crime, and consensual crime. Violent crimes include: murder, aggravated assault, sexual assault/rape, and robbery. Property crime includes: burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. White-collar crimes are physically and financially damaging. An example of organized crime would be the mob. Their crimes include illegal drugs, prostitution, pornography, loan sharking, and gambling. Lastly, consensual crime are like drugs, gambling, and pornography. People willingly partake in these illegal activities.

2. Sociological Perspectives

Download Crime and Justice.pdf

Functionalism: Says social disorganization in urban areas can contribute to the high crime rate. Some examples are poverty, dilapidation, population density, and population turnover. Conflict Theory: The different conflict theories include race/social class factors, the wealthy keeping the poor at the bottom, and women's experiences in the criminal justice system. Lastly, Symbolic Interactionism: includes social bonding and official labels of the arrested and those previously imprisoned.

3. Domestic Violence in the U.S. in 2022

https://bjs.ojp.gov/document/ncvs_domesticviolence_infographic_2022.pdf

Separated into two categories, intimate partner violence was at 48% while domestic violence was at 46%. In 2022, there were 951,930 of intimate partner violence victimization and 1,370,440 of domestic violence victimization. For both, nearly half were not reported to the police.

4. Non-profit Organization: Women's Center of Brevard County

https://www.womenscenter.net/

Melbourne Center: 1425 Aurora Rd, Melbourne, FL 32935

Phone for Melbourne:  (321) 242-3110

Titusville Center: 400 Julia St, Titusville, FL 32796 

Phone for Titusville: (321) 607-6811

Women's Center of Brevard County aims to provide a safe space for women, men, and children who are dealing with trauma and violence. Their websites states: "To assist in creating safe, healthy, self-sufficient lives by providing support, education, counseling, information and services to survivors of domestic, dating and sexual violence and to those suffering the ill effects of poverty, homelessness and mental health challenges."


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