CHAPTER 7 SECTION 3 CRIME

Crime and Criminals Crime: any act that is labeled as a crime and is prohibited by law ex. robbing a bank

Who Commits Crimes?

Violent Crimes murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault a violent crime occurs every 22 seconds in the U.S. violent crimes are on the decline most victims are African-Americans guns are used in 68% of murders

Property Crimes burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, vandalism, and arson involve stealing or intentionally damaging someone's property much more common than violent crimes a property crime is committed every 3 seconds in the U.S. people under 25 commit most property crimes

Victimless Crimes prostitution, illegal gambling, illegal drug use, and vagrancy supposedly, offenses harm no one but the person committing the act Is this true?

White-Collar Crime misrepresentation, fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement, price-fixing, toxic pollution, insider trading, and political corruption offenses committed by people of high social status in the course of their professional lives costs U.S. between $300-660 billion annually

Organized Crime a large-scale organization of professional criminals that controls some vice or legitimate business through violence or the threat of violence

Criminal Justice System The most important components are police, courts, and corrections. Most states have a juvenile-justice system that deals with young offenders.

Police police discretion: control over who is arrested for a criminal act consider seriousness of the offense consider wishes of victim consider suspect's attitude are bystanders present

Police racial profiling: the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense assumes that non- white Americans are more likely to commit crimes than white Americans

Courts a court holds a trial to determine if the accused is guilty if guilty, the court assigns some form of punishment

Courts plea bargaining: a legal negotiation that allows the accused to plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a lighter sentence more that 90% of all criminal cases are settled through plea bargaining before going to trial reduces the high volume and expense of court cases

Corrections sanctions used to punish criminals include imprisonment, parole, probation, fines, and community service basic functions retribution deterrence rehabilitation social protection

Corrections recidivism: repeated criminal behavior 68% of released criminals will be charged with new crimes 52% will return to prison within 3 years of release

Juvenile-Justice System created in the 1960s for people under 18 who are charged with crimes juveniles are not expected to be as responsible as adults juveniles need special, more considerate treatment