1. Types of Crime By Felix Romero

2. Introduction There are six main types of crime: – Crimes Against Persons – Crimes Against Habitation – Crimes Against Property – Crimes Against Morality – Modern Crimes – Consensual Crimes

3. Crimes Against Persons Also known as “violent crimes” There are five major types that the FBI measures (Territo 2004): – Battery: Unlawful application of force by a person on another. – Homicide: The killing of one human being by another. – Hate Crimes: Can be defined as an offense motivated by hatred against a victim because of his or her race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, handicap, or national origin. – Rape: Unlawful sexual intercourse without her consent with the intent to rape.

4. Crimes Against Persons Con.’t The fifth type of crime against persons is assault. Two different types (Territo 2004): – Attempted Battery: Engagement in conduct that comes reasonable close to committing a battery, having the present ability to succeed in committing the battery, and intending to commit the battery. – Intentionally Placing Another in Fear: The placing of another person in fear that he or she will receive an immediate battery; the victim must be in fact apprehensive; the conduct must be sufficient so as to create apprehension in a reasonable person; and the defendant had the intent to create that apprehension.

5. Crimes Against Habitation These crimes are against the place where a citizen sleeps regularly. Two major types (Territo 2004): – Burglary: which is the breaking and entering of the dwelling house of another in the nighttime with the intent to commit a felony therein. – Arson: The malicious burning of a dwelling house of another.

6. Crimes Against Property These crimes include (Territo 2004): – Larceny: Taking and carrying away the personal property of another with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property. – Robbery: Same elements as Larceny but adds that the taking of property must be in the presence of the victim by the means of either violence or intimidation, or both. – Embezzlement: Fraudulent conversion of the property of another by one who is already in lawful possession thereof with the intent to defraud the victim.

7. Crimes Against Morality These crimes were not originally tried in the common-law courts; instead they were ecclesiastical crimes, tried and punished by the Church of England. (Territo 2004) Includes: – Bigamy: Marrying another person while one’s spouse is still living. – Incest: Two people either marry or have sexual relations when they are so closely related.

8. Modern Crimes The most frequent modern crimes include: – Computer Crime – Identity Theft – Stalking

9. Consensual Crimes Also known as victimless crimes, because it is an act that all involved parties choose to be involved. These crimes include gambling, drug use, and prostitution. However, some people argue that these crimes are not victimless crimes, because social norms are violated. (Territo 2004)

10. Consensual Crimes Con.’t Two main arguments are made for decriminalizing activities such as marijuana use, pornography, and prostitution (Territo 2004): – Criminal sanctions against these activities constitute an unwarranted intrusion into individual privacy and an indefensible extension of the government’s authority. – Some argue that enforcing laws against these activities overburdens the police, the courts, and the prisons and increases congestion problems in the criminal justice system.

11. References Territo, L., Halsted, J.B., & Bromley, M.L. (2004). Crime and justice in america: A human perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.