1. Crime and Social Control
Chapter 4
Crime and Social Control

2. Chapter Outline The Global Context: International Crime and Violence
Sources of Crime Statistics
Sociological Theories of Crime
Types of Crime
Demographic Patterns of Crime
The Costs of Crime and Social Control
Understanding Crime and Social Control

3. Crime Throughout the World
Similarities:
There is no country without crime.
Most countries have the same components in their criminal justice systems: police, courts, and prisons.
Worldwide, adult males make up the largest category of crime suspects.
In all countries theft is the most common crime committed and violent crime is a relatively rare event.

4. Transnational Crimes
Offenses whose inception, prevention, and/or direct or indirect effects involve more than one country.

5. Examples of Transnational Crimes
Russian ruble, precious metals, arms are smuggled out of the country.
Chinese Triads operate rings of prostitution, drugs, and other organized crime.
Children are trafficked through Canada and Mexico for child pornography.

6. Major Types of Crime Statistics
Official statistics
Victimization surveys
Self-report offender surveys

7. Four Measures of Serious Violent Crime

8. Problems With Official Statistics
Many crimes are not reported.
Some reported crimes are not recorded by police.
Some rates may be exaggerated.

9. Structural-Functionalist Theories
Strain theory
Control theory
Subcultural theories

10. Strain Theory
People adapt to inconsistency between means and goals in society.
Methods of adaptation: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion.

11. Merton’s Strain Theory
Mode of Adaptation
Seeks Culturally Defined Goals?
Uses Structurally Defined Means to Achieve Them?
Conformity
Yes
Innovation No

12. Merton’s Strain Theory
Mode of Adaptation
Seeks Culturally Defined Goals?
Uses Structurally Defined Means to Achieve Them?
Ritualism No
Yes
Retreatism
Rebellion
No-Seeks to replace
No-seeks to replace

13. Control Theory
Social bonds constrain some individuals from violating social norms:
Attachment to significant others.
Commitment to conventional goals.
Involvement in conventional activities.
Belief in the moral standards of society.

14. Subcultural Theories
Certain groups or subcultures in society have values and attitudes conducive to violence.
Members of these subcultures adopt the crime-promoting attitudes of the group.

15. Conflict Perspective
Social inequality leads to crimes as means of economic survival.
Those in power define what is criminal.
Law enforcement penalizes those without power and benefits those with power.

16. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Labeling Theory
Being labeled deviant leads to further deviant behavior:
The labeled person is denied opportunities to engage in nondeviant behavior.
The labeled person adopts a deviant self-concept and acts accordingly.

17. Question
Crime strengthens group cohesion, provides employment opportunities, and acts as a catalyst for social change. Which sociological perspective would focus on the benefits of crime?
symbolic interactionism
structural functionalism
exchange theory
conflict theory

18. Answer: B
Crime strengthens group cohesion, provides employment opportunities, and acts as a catalyst for social change. The structural functionalism perspective would focus on the benefits of crime.

19. Question
Carol steals a candy bar from a drugstore. She is apprehended and called a thief. When Carol returns to school, no one wants to talk to her or sit with her at lunch. Carol later finds acceptance among a group of girls who shoplift. While hanging out with them, Carol joins in the shoplifting. This is an example of which theory?
labeling theory
strain theory
association
control theory

20. Answer: A
This is an example of labeling theory.

21. Types Of Crime Index crimes Vice crime Organized crime
White-collar crime
Computer crime
Juvenile delinquency

22. Index Crimes Homicide Aggravated assault Rape Robbery Burglary Arson
Motor vehicle theft
Larceny 

23. Index Crime Rates Violent Crime Rate per 100,000 (2003)
% Change in Rate ( )
% Cleared (2003)
Murder
5.7
+.1
62.4
Forcible Rape
32.1
-2.8 44
Robbery
142.2
-2.7
26.3
Aggravated Assault
205
-3.9
46.5

24. Index Crime Rates Property Crime Rate per 100,000 (2003)
% Change in Rate ( )
% Cleared (2003)
Burglary
740.5
-.9
13.1
Larceny/theft
2414.5
-1.5 18
Motor Vehicle Theft
433.4
+.1
Arson
37.1
+2.2
16.7

25. Question Have you ever stolen little things worth between $2 and $50?
Yes No

26. Question
Have you ever stolen things worth more than $50?
Yes No

27. Vice Crimes
Illegal activities that have no complaining party and are often called victimless crimes.
Include using illegal drugs, engaging in or soliciting prostitution, illegal gambling, and pornography.

28. Organized Crime
Criminal activity conducted by members of a hierarchically arranged structure devoted primarily to making money through illegal means.

29. White Collar Crime
Crimes committed in course of employment or by corporations in the interest of maximizing profit.
Occupational - individuals commit crimes in the course of their employment.
Corporate - corporations violate law to maximize profit.

30. Types of White-Collar Crime
Crimes against consumers
Crimes against employees
Deceptive advertising
Health and safety violations
Antitrust violations
Wage and hour violations
Dangerous products
Discriminatory hiring practices
Manufacturer kickbacks
Illegal labor practices
Physician insurance fraud
Unlawful surveillance practices

31. Types of White-Collar Crime
Crimes against the public
Crimes against employers
Toxic waste disposal
Embezzlement
Pollution violations
Pilferage
Tax fraud
Misappropriation of government funds
Security violations
Counterfeit production of goods
Police brutality
Business credit fraud

32. Percentage of Arrests by Sex, Age, and Race, 2003

33. Computer Crime
Any law violation in which a computer is the target or means of criminal activity.
One of the fastest growing crimes in U.S.
Hacking - unauthorized computer intrusion.
Identity theft - stealing of someone else’s identification to obtain credit.

34. Question
Price-fixing, anti-trust violations and "churning" are examples of what type of crime?
corporate violence
corporate crime
victimless crime
organized crime

35. Answer: B
Price-fixing, anti-trust violations and "churning" are examples of corporate crime.

36. Demographics and Crime
Men are more likely to commit violent crimes than women.
Highest arrest rates involve individuals under age 25.
If current trends continue, by 2020, 2 in 3 black males ages 18 to 34 will be in prison.

37. Race and Crime: Causally Related
Statistics reflect the behaviors and policies of criminal justice actors, so the high rate of arrests, conviction, and incarceration of minorities may reflect bias against minorities.
Nonwhites are overrepresented in the lower classes.
Criminal justice system contact, higher for nonwhites, may lead to a lower position in the stratification system.

38. Regional Crime Rates

39. Costs of Crime
In 2003 there were more than 16,500 victims of a homicide.
A total of 113,025 people a year die from corporate and professional crime and misconduct annually:
56,425 workplace-related deaths from illness or injury
9,600 deaths from unsafe products
35,000 deaths from environmental pollution
12,000 deaths from unnecessary surgery.

40. Economic Costs of Crime
Direct losses from crime:
In 2003 the average loss of destroyed or damaged property as a result of arson was $11,942.
Costs associated with theft.
In 2003, $8.6 billion was lost as a result of motor vehicle theft.
Cost associated with criminal violence.
Medical cost of treating crime victims is approximately $5 billion annually.

41. Economic Costs of Crime
Costs associated with the production and sale of illegal goods and services.
Cost of prevention and protection
It is estimated that Americans spend $65 billion annually on self-protection items.
The cost of social control—the criminal justice system, law enforcement, litigative and judicial activities, corrections, and victims’ assistance.
The cost of the criminal justice system is estimated to be $90 billion annually and growing.

42. Principle of Deterrence
The use of harm or threat of harm to prevent unwanted behaviors.
In 2003 the United States had 663,796 full-time law enforcement officers and 285,146 civilian support staff, yielding 3.5 law enforcement employees per 1,000 inhabitants.

43. Question
Have you ever been arrested?
Yes No

44. Rehabilitation and Incapacitation
Rehabilitation - Helping offenders rehabilitate using education and job training, individual and group therapy, substance abuse counseling, and behavior modification.
 Incapacitation - Putting offender in prison.

45. Prison Population Rates Per 100,000 and Rank in World (May 10, 2005)

46. Capital Punishment
With capital punishment the state takes the life of a person as punishment for a crime.
38 states allow capital punishment.
In 2004:
59 executions took place in 11 states, with over 3,374 inmates on death row.
3,797 people were executed in 25 countries despite the global trend toward abolition of the death penalty.

47. Brady Bill
Passed in 1993, requires 5-day waiting period on handgun purchases so sellers can do a background check on the buyer.

48. Quick Quiz

49. 1. According to your text, which is the most common crime?
rape
theft
murder
arson

50. Answer: B
Theft is the most common crime.

51. 2. Which crimes are considered victimless crimes?
street crimes
vice crimes
white collar crimes
violent crimes

52. Answer: B
Vice crimes are considered victimless crimes.

53. 3. Advocates of incapacitation believe recidivism can be reduced by:
capital punishment.
changing the criminal.
utilizing half way houses.
placing the offender in prison.

54. Answer: D
Advocates of incapacitation believe recidivism can be reduced by placing the offender in prison.

55. 4. Which mode of adaptation is most associated with criminal behavior?
conformity
ritualism
retreatism
innovation

56. Answer: D
Innovation is the mode most associated with criminal behavior.