Chapter 6

Crime and Criminal Justice

“It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant.”

Howard Becker, 1966

What is Deviance?

The Problem in Sociological Perspective• Norms: rules and expectations by which a society

guides the behavior of its members• Laws: the norms created through a society’s political

system

• Crime: The violation of laws enacted by federal, state, or local governmentsCrime is culturally relative

Crime: The Extent of the Problem Most people in the US think crime is a serious problem Fear of crime is a social problem, because it limits the

things people do and the places they go

The Problem in Sociological Perspective

Making acts criminal is a political process Determining which behavior is criminal is a

political process Power: The capacity to achieve goals in the

face of opposition

The universal nature of crime: No society exists without crime

Violent Crime: Patterns and Trends Property offenses account for 88% of all serious

offences, while violent crimes against persons account for 12%

Violent crime rose quickly from 1960 until the early 1990s

After that, the trend turned downward Stronger economy (may change due to recession

that began in 2008) Drop in use of crack cocaine More police Tougher sentences

Aggravated Assault Aggravated assault accounts for nearly 2/3

of all reported violent crime

Aggravated assault is very much a male crime, with the majority of both victims and offenders being men

Robbery Robbery involves both stealing and

threatening another person, which makes this both a property and a violent crime

This is the least likely of all violent crimes to result in an arrest victims usually don’t know a robber so

that identification is difficult

National Map The Risk of Violent Crime across the United States

Property Crimes: Patterns and Trends

Burglary only 11% of cases are cleared Majority of those arrested are male (86%)

and under 25 (59%) Larceny-theft

includes shoplifting, pick pocketing, purse-snatching

the most common of all the serious crimes tracked by the FBI (account for 67% of total)

Property Crimes Motor-vehicle theft

only 11% of cases are cleared 50% of those arrested are under 25 and 82%

are male Arson

the arson rate is holding steady Only 27% are cleared 67% those arrested are under 25 and 84% are

male

“Street” Crime: Who Are the Criminals?

Age for all offenses, there is a strong link between

crime and youth Gender

In 2007, males accounted for 67% of arrests for property crime

For violent crime, men are arrested in 82% of the cases

Women are more often arrested for larceny-theft, fraud, runaway youth and prostitution

For all serious crimes, the number of women arrested is increasing

“Street” Crime: Who Are the Criminals?

Social class Research shows that people of lower

social position are involved in most arrests for street crime

The link between class and criminality depends on the kind of crime one is talking about

“Street” Crime: Who Are the Criminals? Race plays a large part in the crime picture

several ways the deprivation faced by black youths

may lead to hostility towards the police and various facets of the “system”

prejudice based on race may prompt people to suspect blacks on the basis of skin color

research suggests that such biases may lead police to arrest African Americans more than whites

Symbolic Interactionism Labeling theory views an act as deviant only if other

people respond to it as if it were deviant; the view that the labels people are given affect their own and others’ perceptions of them, thus channeling their behavior either into deviance or conformity. Most people resist being labeled deviant, but some revel in

a deviant identity. Practice that can set people on different paths in life

Self-fulfilling Prophecy Refers to something that becomes true because

one said it might come true

Criminal Justice System: Agencies that respond to crime

Data comes from the Uniform Crime Report and National Crime Victimization Survey.

Police Discretion Deciding whether to arrest someone or to ignore

a particular offense Social class influences the authorities' reactions

affecting who shows up in official statistics

Crime and Class

Race, Ethnicity, and Crime Statistics show that African Americans and Latinos

are dealt with more harshly than Whites – from arrest through indictment, conviction, sentencing, and parole.

Even when criminal offense is the same, African Americans and Latinos are more likely than Whites to be convicted and serve more time in prison than Whites.

Functionalism Functionalists consider crime a natural part of healthy society.

helps clarify norms & and affirms values increases social unity & brings about needed social change

Strain theory states that illegitimate opportunity structures encourage some people to commit crime and provide that others will not have the need to.

Robert Merton’s analysis: Conformists Innovators Ritualists Retreatists Rebels Innovation is most often the cause of criminal behavior Innovators turn to illegitimate means

Cloward & Ohlin (1998) – refined strain theory to emphasize that deviant behavior is not an automatic response but must be learned. Illegitimate Opportunity Theory – Explains why social

classes have distinct styles of crimes.

Social class and illegitimate opportunities Illegitimate Opportunity Structures

Opportunities woven into the texture of life in urban slums Middle and upper classes are not free of crime Ponzi Scheme

Occurs when high investment returns are paid to clients using other clients’ money—not real investment profit

Conflict Theory: Crime and Inequality Conflict theorists stress that every society is

marked by power and inequality. The Ruling Class The Working Class: three major groups

Upper-level managers and professionals White-collar and blue-collar workers Marginal working class

Law is controlled by the ruling class Law is an instrument of oppression.

Conflict Theory: Crime and Inequality Karl Marx: Class and Crime

Understood social problems in terms of class conflict

Crime was seen as a product of social inequality

Solution to the crime problem is to eliminate capitalism in favor of a more egalitarian system

White-Collar and Corporate CrimeWhite-Collar Crime:

Any crime committed by respectable and high-status people in the course of their occupation

When white-collar offenders are caught, their cases are usually heard in a civil court, and they rarely go to jail

Corporate crime – crime committed on behalf oforganizations (e.g., environmental pollution and gross negligence) Two major types:

Those committed by employees on behalf of a corporation Those committed against a corporation

Most of these offenses are tried in civil courts so that no individual is charged with criminal behavior

Professional and Organized Crime Professional Criminals

People who consider crime to be their occupation Criminal Enterprise

Crime committed within a highly organized gang Mafia

Famous organized crime group; made up only of Italians is a myth

Organized crime involves three main elements: In-group loyalty Scorn for the values of the straight world Pride in specialized skills

Political Crime Political Crime: crime motivated by a

particular ideology U.S. Constitution - First Amendment

Some view political actions of individuals as major social problems, while viewing similar acts by government as acceptable. Crimes designed to maintain the social order

The Criminal Justice System

Due Process The criminal justice system must operate

within the bounds of law. No person can be “deprived of life liberty

or property without due process of the law”

The U.S. Constitution

Courts

In principle, the U.S. court system is an adversarial process by which the prosecutor presents the state’s case against the suspect and the suspect’s attorney presents a defense

Courts The reality of justice, however, is something much

different. 90% of criminal cases are settled through plea-

bargaining, a negotiation in which the state reduces a defendant’s charge in exchange for a guilty plea even if innocent, for lesser charge―encouraged by defense attorneys

While plea-bargaining saves the time and expense of a trial, efficiency doesn’t always produce justice Poor spend months (even years) behind bars awaiting trial Threats of mandatory minimum sentences to get guilty pleas Judges impose harsher sentences on those who insist on

unnecessary trials Age, employment, and the number of previous arrests affect

sentencing Number of arrests, not the seriousness of those charges,

influences a sentence

The Sting of Justice Respectability, wealth, and power insulate

many lawbreakers. Assembly-line justice

Plea bargaining has become standard in U.S. criminal justice system. Vast majority of cases, people accused of a crime do not

receive a trial Criminal justice system is also slow and inefficient. Plea bargaining and the inefficiencies of the court

system subvert the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution.

Bias in the Criminal Justice System African Americans are 12% of the U.S.

population: 45% of prison inmates Criminal conviction rates in U.S. vary greatly

among different racial groups Unclear why African Americans are most apt to be

arrested and charged Cannot conclude that the courts are biased for

or against minorities or for or against Whites The evidence is inconclusive.

Social Policy - Crime Control in the US

A criminal justice system may draw on four approaches to punishment: Deterrence – emphasizes intimidation, using threat of

punishment to discourage crime. Retribution – criminals pay compensation equal to their

offenses against society. Incarceration – removes criminals from society. Rehabilitation – attempts to resocialize criminals.

Does Punishment Work? Some believe that it further brutalizes

the society Criminal recidivism

Subsequent offenses by people previously convicted of crimes.

Juvenile Crime

Juvenile crime refers to violations of the law committed by those less than eighteen years of age.

Juvenile offenders are the third largest category of criminals in the U.S.

Juvenile crime reached its lowest in a decade in 2001. Several factors account for this. A decline in the demand for crack cocaine. Gangs have reached truces. Police have clamped down on illegal guns. Repeat juvenile offenders have been given stiffer sentences.

Global Crime The United States has more violent crime than other

industrialized countries – highest murder, rape, and robbery rates.

According to the United Nations Survey of Crime (1996-2006): rape and robbery increased, assault increased, burglary

decreased homicide declined

General trend in crime suggests that the world is becoming slightly safer.

Politics and Crime: Constructing Problems and Defining Solutions

Conservatives believe that people raised in strong, law-abiding families are unlikely to commit crime Most conservatives favor tougher laws,

more aggressive policing, and harsher penalties as ways to combat the crime problem.

They believe the key to controlling crime is parents teaching children to make the right choices in a world of pressures

Politics and Crime: Constructing Problems and Defining Solutions Liberals believe that many people live in

situations that pressure them to break the law Crime is caused by a harmful

environment, particularly living in poverty

To liberals, jobs are the key to a drop in the crime rate

Politics and Crime: Constructing Problems and Defining Solutions

The radicals believes the real crime of society is tremendous economic inequality The radical solution begins with a

restructuring of the economic and political system toward a more egalitarian social order that can make a real claim to justice

According to U.S. Justice Department (2008): 12,000 terrorist attacks against noncombatants

occurred around the world in 2008. 40% in the Near East 35% in South Asia

Terrorism occurs under certain social conditions: in politically weak states or in nations that have

undergone years of political violence in countries with a foreign occupier in countries with widespread racial or ethnic

discrimination in the presence of extreme secular or religious

ideologies