1. Crime and Its Consequences
Chapter 2
Crime and Its Consequences
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2. Chapter Objectives, 1
After completing this chapter, you should be able to do the following:
Distinguish between a social definition and a legal definition of crime, and summarize the problems with each
List the technical and ideal elements of a crime
Identify some of the legal defenses or legal excuses for criminal responsibility

3. Chapter Objectives, 2
Explain why crime and delinquency statistics are unreliable
Identify the two major sources of crime statistics in the United States
Describe the principal finding of the national crime victimization surveys
Summarize the general finding of self-report crime surveys

4. Chapter Objectives, 3 Identify the costs of crime
Describe the characteristics of people most likely to fear crime
List the characteristics of people who are the most likely and the least likely to be victims of crime

5. Definitions of Crime
An appropriate definition of crime remains a critical unresolved issue in criminal justice today
Many dangerous and harmful behaviors are not defined as crimes
Many less dangerous and harmful behaviors are identified as crimes

6. Social Definitions, 1
A typical social definition of crime is behavior that violates the norms or social mores of society
A norm or social more is any standard or rule regarding what human beings should or should not think, say, or do under given circumstances

7. Social Definitions, 2 Unfortunately:
Norms or social mores vary from group to group
Norms or social mores are subject to interpretation
Norms or social mores change from time to time and place to place

8. A Legal Definition
According to a typical legal definition, crime is an intentional violation of the criminal law or penal code, committed without defense or excuse and penalized by the state
The major advantage of a legal definition of crime, at least on the surface, is that it is narrower and less ambiguous than a social definition of crime

9. Problems with a Legal Definition, 1
Overcriminalization arises in the so-called area of victimless crimes, and they include:
Gambling
Prostitution involving consenting adults
Homosexual acts between consenting adults
Use of some illegal drugs, such as marijuana

10. Problems with a Legal Definition, 2
Nonenforcement is common for white-collar crimes and government crimes
Nonenforcement causes disrespect for the law

11. Problems with a Legal Definition, 3
Undercriminalization
Some argue that some very harmful and destructive actions or inactions that are not criminal should be
Example - A corporation’s intentional production of a potentially hazardous product to maximize profits

12. Elements of Crime Harm Legality Actus reus Mens rea Causation
A legal definition of crime is the basis of criminal justice in the United States
Technically and ideally, a crime has not been committed unless the following elements are present:
Harm
Legality
Actus reus
Mens rea
Causation
Concurrence
Punishment
The elements of a crime

13. Elements of Crime: Harm
Harm is the external consequence required to make an action a crime
For crime to occur, there must be harm, either physical or verbal
Thinking about committing a crime is not a crime
A verbal threat to strike another person is a crime

14. Elements of Crime: Legality, 1
Legality has two aspects:
The harm must be legally forbidden
A criminal law must not be ex post facto
Legality: A harm must be legally forbidden for the behavior to be a crime, and the law must not be retroactive

15. Elements of Crime: Legality, 2
Ex post facto law
A law that (1) declares criminal an act that was not illegal when it was committed, (2) increases the punishment for a crime after it is committed, or (3) alters the rules of evidence in a particular case after the crime is committed

16. Elements of Crime: Actus Reus
Actus reus refers to intentional criminal conduct or criminal negligence
Crime involves not only what people do but also things they do not do

17. Elements of Crime: Mens Rea, 1
Mens rea refers to the mental aspect of crime
Criminal intent or a guilty state of mind
Criminal conduct is ideally limited to intentional or purposeful action or inaction and not to accidents

18. Elements of Crime: Mens Rea, 2
Sometimes, negligence or reckless action can be criminal
Negligence is the failure to take reasonable precautions to prevent harm

19. Legal Defenses for Criminal Responsibility, 1
Acted in self-defense or defense of a third party
Was entrapped
Acted out of necessity

20. Legal Defenses for Criminal Responsibility, 2
Acted in self-defense or defense of a third party
Was entrapped
Acted out of necessity

21. Legal Defenses for Criminal Responsibility: Duress
If a person did not want to commit a crime but was forced to do so against his or her will, he or she committed the crime under duress

22. Legal Defenses for Criminal Responsibility: Age
Generally, a child under age 7 is not responsible for criminal acts
In most countries, children under age 18 are not considered entirely responsible for their criminal acts
They have committed juvenile delinquency

23. Legal Defenses for Criminal Responsibility: Insanity
Insanity refers to mental or psychological impairment or retardation
Insanity is a legal term that rests on the assumption that someone who is insane at the time of a crime lacks the capacity to form mens rea

24. Legal Defenses for Criminal Responsibility: Self-Defense
Generally, people are relieved of criminal responsibility if they use only the amount of force reasonably necessary in self-defense or defense of a third party

25. Legal Defenses for Criminal Responsibility: Entrapment
People are generally considered either not responsible or less responsible for their crimes if they committed the crime through entrapment
Entrapment occurs when a person, who was not already predisposed to it, is induced into committing a crime by a law enforcement officer or by his/her agent

26. Legal Defenses for Criminal Responsibility: Necessity
A necessity defense can be used when an act was committed with mens rea but under specific extenuating circumstances—for example, when a crime has been committed to prevent a more serious crime

27. Elements of Crime: Causation
For behavior to be a crime, there must be a causal relationship between the legally forbidden harm and the actus reus
The criminal act must lead directly to the harm without a long delay

28. Elements of Crime: Concurrence
There must be concurrence between the actus reus and the mens rea
The criminal conduct and the criminal intent must occur together

29. Elements of Crime: Punishment
For a behavior to be considered a crime, there must be a statutory provision for punishment or at least the threat of punishment

30. Degrees or Categories of Crime, 1
Crimes can be distinguished by degree or severity of the offense by being divided into:
Felonies - Severe crimes
Misdemeanors - Less severe crimes

31. Degrees or Categories of Crime, 2
Another way of categorizing crime is to distinguish between:
Mala in se: “Wrong in themselves”
A description applied to crimes that are characterized by universality and timelessness
Examples: Rape and murder
Mala prohibita: Offenses that are illegal because laws define them as such
They lack universality and timelessness
Examples: Trespassing and gambling

32. Crime Statistics, 1
Statistics about crime and delinquency are probably the most unreliable and most difficult of all social statistics
Behavior may be wrongly labeled
Crimes go undetected
Crimes are sometimes not reported to the police
Crimes may be inaccurately recorded by the police or not recorded at all
Statistics do not include the dark figure of crime

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Dark Figure of Crime
The dark figure of crime is the number of crimes not officially recorded by the police
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34. Crime Statistics, 2
Any record of crimes can be considered at most a crime index
Probably the best index of crime is offenses known to the police

35. Figure 2.3: Indexes of Crime
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36. Crime Rates
When crime indexes are compared, it is usually by crime rate
Crime rates are used because they are more comparable
Crime rates can change because of demographic changes or other factors

37. Figure 2.: Calculating Crime Rates
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38. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), 1
One of the primary sources of crime statistics in the United States is the uniform crime reports (UCR)
In 2015, more than 18,000 city, county, and state law enforcement agencies were active in the program
They represent about 98% of the U.S. population

39. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), 2
The UCR are a collection of crime statistics and other law enforcement information gathered under a voluntary national program administered by the FBI
The UCR include two major indexes:
Offenses known to the police
Statistics about persons arrested

40. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), 3
Offenses known to the police include eight index crimes or Part I offenses
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
Forcible rape
Robbery
Aggravated assault
Burglary
Larceny-theft
Motor vehicle theft
Arson

41. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), 4
The other major crime index in the UCR is based on arrest statistics
Arrest data are provided for the 8 index crimes, as well as 21 other crimes and status offenses
Status offense: An act that is illegal for a juvenile but would not be a crime if committed by an adult

42. Table 2.2: Former Part I and Part II Offenses of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, 1
Part I Offenses—Index Crimes - Violent Crime
1. Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
2. Forcible rape
3. Robbery
4. Aggravated assault
Part I Offenses—Index Crimes - Property Crime
5. Burglary—breaking or entering
6. Larceny-theft
7. Motor vehicle theft
8. Arson

43. Table 2.2: Former Part I and Part II Offenses of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, 2
1. Other assaults (simple)
2. Forgery and counterfeiting
3. Fraud
4. Embezzlement
5. Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing
6. Vandalism
7. Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc.
8. Prostitution and commercialized vice
9. Sex offenses
10. Drug abuse violations
11. Gambling

44. Table 2.2: Former Part I and Part II Offenses of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, 3
Part II Offenses (continued)
12. Offenses against the family and children
13. Driving under the influence
14. Liquor laws
15. Drunkenness
16. Disorderly conduct
17. Vagrancy
18. All other offenses
19. Suspicion
20. Curfew and loitering laws
21. Runaway

45. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), 5
The UCR also include statistics on crime index offenses cleared by the police, which is a rough index of police performance in solving crimes

46. National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
The NIBRS is the result of a joint task force of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the FBI and was aimed at improving the quality of information contained in the UCR
The NIBRS contains more data on each crime than the UCR, making it possible to examine crimes in much more detail

47. National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS), 1
The other major source of crime statistics in the U.S. is the national crime victimization surveys (NCVS)
The NCVS are a source of crime statistics based on interviews in which respondents are asked whether they have been victims of any of the FBI’s index offenses (except murder, nonnegligent manslaughter, and arson) or other crimes during the past six months
If they have, they are asked to provide information about the experience

48. National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS), 2
Generally, the NCVS produce different results from the FBI’s UCR
For nearly all offenses, the NCVS show more crimes being committed than the UCR do
This underestimation by the UCR may result from victims’ failure to report crimes to the police or from failure by the police to report to the FBI all the crimes they know about

49. Figure 2.5: Four Measures of Serious Violent Crime
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50. Self-Report Crime Surveys, 1
Self-report crime surveys ask selected subjects (often high school students) whether they have committed crimes
Examples:
The National Youth Survey
The National Institute on Drug Abuse surveys

51. Self-Report Crime Surveys, 2
Early self-report crime surveys of adults found an enormous amount of hidden crime in the United States
They found that more than 90% of all Americans had committed crimes for which they could have been imprisoned
The most commonly reported offenses in self-report crime surveys are larceny, indecency, and tax evasion

52. Costs of Crime, 1
The 2014, total economic loss to victims of crime in the U.S. was $12.3 billion
Include:
Do not include:
Limited number of personal and property crimes
Relatively short-term and tangible costs
The cost of the criminal justice process
Increased insurance premiums
Security devices
Losses to business
Corporate crime

53. Costs of Crime, 2
When medical costs, lost earnings, and public program costs are added, the cost increased by $105 billion (more than $400 per U.S. resident)
When intangible costs of pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life are added, the annual cost increased to $450 billion ($1,800 per U.S. resident)

54. Figure 2.6: Annual Cost of Crime in the United States
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55. Fear of Crime
Fear of crime can be the most burdensome and lasting consequence of victimization
Fear of crime is contagious
People who have heard about other people’s victimizations are nearly as fearful as the people who have been victimized themselves

56. Victims of Crime
In 2014, the NCVS revealed that a total of 20.7 million crimes were attempted or completed against U.S. residents aged 12 or older
This includes:
5.4 million violent crimes
15.3 million property crimes

57. Who the Victims Are, 1
Victimization, like the fear of crime, is not spread evenly through the U.S. population
The most likely victims of violent crime are:
Separated persons
Other race persons

58. Who the Victims Are, 2 Younger persons Urban residents
Persons living in the Midwest
Men

59. Appendix

60. Dark Figure of Crime - Appendix
The entire circle represents the true amount of crime. Majority of the circle has been labeled as the dark figure of crime. The remaining area, which constitutes the minority, has been labeled crime index.
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61. Figure 2.3: Indexes of Crime - Appendix, 1
The term most accurate has been positioned on the left end of the image, and the term least accurate has been positioned on the right end of the image. The index is contained in a rectangle and contains nine points that have been horizontally placed. Starting from the most accurate and moving to the least accurate, the first point reads crimes committed, which is the true amount of crime. A rightward arrowhead has been positioned between the first point and the second point that reads crimes discovered. A rightward arrowhead has been positioned between the second point and the third point that reads crimes reported to the police.
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62. Figure 2.3: Indexes of Crime - Appendix, 2
A rightward arrowhead has been positioned between the third point and the fourth point that reads crimes recorded by the police. A rightward arrowhead has been positioned between the fourth point and the fifth point that reads arrests. A rightward arrowhead has been positioned between the fifth point and the sixth point that reads criminal charges. A rightward arrowhead has been positioned between the sixth point and the seventh point that reads trials. A rightward arrowhead has been positioned between the seventh point and the eighth point that reads convictions. A rightward arrowhead has been positioned between the eighth point and the ninth point that reads imprisonments.
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63. Figure 2.3: Indexes of Crime - Appendix, 3
There is a note below the figure that reads the farther away from the initial commission of a crime, the more inaccurate crime indexes are as measures of the true amount of crime.
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64. Figure 2.4: Calculating Crime Rates - Appendix
In the year 2000, the crime rate was calculated by dividing 15,517 murders and nonnegligent manslaughters by 281,421,006, which was the U.S. population for the year The answer is then multiplied by 100,000 to give the crime rate of 5.5 per 100,000 people. In the year 2010, the crime rate was calculated by dividing 14,748 murders and nonnegligent manslaughters by 308,745,538, which was the U.S. population for the year The answer is then multiplied by 100,000 to give the crime rate of 4.8 per 100,000 people.
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65. Figure 2.5: Four Measures of Serious Violent Crime - Appendix
The four measures are total violent crime, victimizations reported to the police, crimes recorded by the police, and arrests for violent crime.
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66. Figure 2.6: Annual Cost of Crime in the United States - Appendix
The total of the pie chart represents 450 billion dollars. In a clockwise manner of appearance, the quadrants in pie chart are labeled as follows: Tangible costs, which include medical and mental health care spending, are worth 18 billion dollars. Intangible costs, which include pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life, are worth 345 billion dollars. Other tangible costs, which include property damage and loss, and lost productivity, are worth 87 billion dollars.
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