CriminologyLesson 2Crime and Its Consequences

Stankiewicz

Essential Questions - 1

What are the elements of crime? What are legal defenses/legal

excuses for criminal responsibility? Explains some types and definitions

of selected crimes? Explain how crime is measured and

why crime statistics are unreliable.

Essential Questions - 2

Identify the costs of crime

Fear of Crime

Characteristics of victims of crime

Definition of Crime

Crime From the Latin meaning “accusation” or “fault”

Legal Definition An intentional violation of the criminal

law or penal code, committed without defense or excuse and penalized by the state

Problems with the Definition of Crime

Over-criminalization Non-enforcement Under-criminalization

Over-criminalization - 1

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Victimless” crimes

Over-criminalization - 2

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kissing may last for no longer than five minutes in Indiana

In Michigan a woman isn’t allowed to cut her own hair without her husband’s permission

Non-Enforcement

The failure to routinely enforce prohibitions against certain behavior Authorities – “__________________________” Common for some “white collar” crimes and

“blue laws” Causes disrespect for law

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Under-Criminalization

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Elements of Crime

Technically a crime has not been committed unless all of the following elements are present:

___________________ Legality ___________________ Mens Rea ___________________ Concurrence Punishment

Elements of Crime - Harm

The external consequence – an action

______________________________________

Physical Harm

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Verbal Harm

A threat to do something violent to someone ____________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Verbal Harm

Writing something false about another person that injures him/her is called “_____________”

Spoken equivalent is called “__________________”

Harm

A mental or emotional state is not sufficient ____________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ to commit a crime is not sufficient

Elements of Crime - Legality

Legality has two elements

_________________________________________________________

Law must not be retroactive or “______________________________________”

Legality - Ex Post Facto

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Increases the punishment for an act after it was committed

Changes the rules of evidence

___________________________________ prohibits ex post facto laws

Elements of Crime – Actus Reus

Criminal conduct – _______________________________________________________________________________________________

Elements of Crime – Mens Rea

Latin for “Criminal Intent”

___________________________________ Intentional or inaction

Not _________________________________

Mens Rea - Negligence

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Elements of Crime - Causation

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________– or Actus reus

Criminal act must directly lead to harm without a long delay

Elements of Crime - Concurrence

For any behavior to considered a crime there must be a __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Elements of Crime - Punishment

For something to be a crime there must be some statutory provision for punishment or at least the threat of punishment

Without this fact the law is ___________________________________ and therefore not a criminal law

Legal defenses/Legal excuses for Criminal Responsibility

In US, offender is not considered responsible (or less responsible) for an offense if he/she has: _____________________________ _____________________________ Was insane Acted in self defense or to save another _________________________________ Acted out of necessity

Acting Under Duress

_____________________________________

Under Age

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 18 and older an adult Special circumstances

In Us under ____________ it is assumed person does not have capacity to form criminal intent

Juvenile Delinquency

Category of offense for young offenders between the ages __________________

Insanity

Mental or psychological __________________ that or _____________ as a defense against a criminal charge

Sanity or insanity determined by ____________________________________________________________________________

Insanity - 2

Insane: if at time of offense the perpetrator: Did not know the nature and quality of the act Did not know that the act was wrong

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Not nearly as common as portrayed in the movies/tv or in myth

Self Defense

____________________________________________________________________________

Use only _________________________ necessary to defend

In case of property Deadly force not authorized; non-

deadly sometimes authorized _____________________________________

Entrapment

A legal defense against criminal responsibility when a person, who was not readily predisposed to it

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Common defense used Usually ___________________________

Necessary Defense

A legal defense against criminal responsibility used when __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Types and Definitions of Selected Crimes

Violent Crimes Crimes that involve

_______________________

Violent Crimes

Murder The crime of

______________________person especially with _______________aforethought

Violent Crimes

Manslaughter _________________________________________

__________________________________________, either express or implied; distinguished from murder, which requires __________________________________________

Violent Crimes

Aggravated Assault The crime of physically attacking

another person which results in ______________________ and/or is made with a deadly or _________________ weapon such as a gun, knife, sword, ax or blunt instrument

Violent Crimes

Robbery The taking of money or goods in the

possession of another, from his or her person or immediate presence, _________________________________

Violent Crimes

Kidnapping ______________________________________

with intent to hold him for ransom or reward; or use him as a ____________________ ; or accomplish or aid the commission of any felony or flight therefrom; or inflict physical injury upon him, or to violate or abuse him sexually; or terrorize him or a third person

Property Crimes

Larceny _________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________ with the intent to deprive him or her of its possession permanently

Property Crimes

Burglary The

__________________ breaking and entering of the dwelling of another at night with an intent to commit a felony therein.

Property Crimes

Embezzlement The act of ____________________________

for the purpose of ______________ of such assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted, to be held and/or used for other purposes

Property Crimes

Arson The crime of maliciously, voluntarily, and

willfully ____________________________ , buildings, or other property of another or of burning one's own property for an improper purpose, as to collect __________

Property Crimes

Extortion (also called shakedown, outwrestling, and exaction) A criminal offence

___________________________________________________________________________________, through coercion

Property Crimes

Blackmail Extortion of money

or something else of value from a person by the ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Property Crimes

Fraud In criminal law,

__________________________ made for personal gain or to damage another individual

Property Crimes

Counterfeiting The process of fraudulently

____________________________________ , altering, or distributing a product that is of lesser value than the _______________________ .

Offenses Against The Government

Treason A

____________________________________________________________________, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]." In many nations, it is also often considered

treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, even if no foreign country is aiding or involved by such an endeavor.

Offenses Against The Government

Sedition Is overt conduct, such as speech and

organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Organized Crimes

Widespread group of professional criminals who rely on illegal activities as a way of life and whose activities ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hate Crimes

Hate Crimes occur when a perpetrator ____________________________________________________________________________

Examples of such groups include but are not limited to: racial group, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender identity

White Collar Crimes

Financially motivated nonviolent crime committed for illegal monetary gain

“Victimless” Crimes

Actions that have been ruled illegal but do __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Often involves consensual acts in which two or more persons agree to commit a criminal offence in which no other person is involved

Examples include prostitution, gambling, and ____________________ .

Measurement of Crime

It is difficult to accurately measure the amount of crime statistics “Behavior” is viewed as some as

criminal and others as noncriminal If behavior is not labeled as a crime it is

not counted Large percentage of crimes are

_______________ Large percentage of crimes go

_______________ Some crimes are not documented by

police

Measure of Crime

Really only an index of crime known to the police

A crime index Estimate of crimes committed

Reasons For Not Reporting Crimes

Victims consider crime _________________

Victims avoid ___________________ an offender Offender may be a family member

Victim may ___________________________ Gambling; prostitution

Reasons For Not Reporting Crimes

Victim may wish to avoid the inconvenience of calling the police

Victim may be __________________________

Victim may ____________________________

Victim may feel police are inept and can’t catch the ____________________________

Crime Rates

A measure of the _____________________ expressed as the number of crimes per unit of population

Homicide Rate – Selected Countries

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)

Official data on crime in the United States, published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

UCR is a "a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort of nearly 18,000 city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crimes brought to their attention

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) - 2 Crime statistics are compiled from UCR data

and published annually by the FBI

The FBI does not collect the data itself Law enforcement agencies across the United

States provide the data to the FBI, which then compiles UCR

UCR program began in 1930, and since then has become an important source of crime information for law enforcement, policymakers, scholars, and the media

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)-3

The UCR Program consists of four parts: Traditional Summary Reporting System

(SRS) and the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) – Offense and arrest data

Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) Program

Hate Crime Statistics Program – hate crimes

Cargo Theft Reporting Program – cargo theft

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) -4 Eight Index Crimes

________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

1. Murder and manslaughter

2. Forcible Rape

3. Robbery4. Aggravated

assault5. Burglary6. Larceny/theft7. Motor vehicle

theft8. Arson

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

An incident-based reporting system used by law enforcement agencies in the United States for collecting and reporting data on crimes

Local, state and federal agencies generate NIBRS data from their records management systems

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) - 2

Data is collected on every incident and arrest in the Group A offense category These Group A offenses are 46 specific

crimes grouped in 22 offense categories Specific facts about these offenses are

gathered and reported in the NIBRS system

In addition to the Group A offenses, eleven Group B offenses are reported with only the arrest information

National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS)

Administered by the _____________________________________

A national survey of US households twice a year in the United States

The survey focuses on gathering information on the following crimes: assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, rape, and robbery

The survey results are used for the purposes of building a crime index

Costs of Crime

According to National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS) in 2005 cost to victims was _____________________________________

Does not count the cost of the criminal justice system

Other economists/criminologists (private) have estimated the costs at _____________ US dollars (University of Chicago's Journal of Law and Economics)

Fear of Crime

A byproduct of crime is the fear of crime

Fear almost same if one experiences crime or knows someone who experienced crime

Who Fears Crime?

Gender: ____________ fear crime more than males by over 2 to 1

Race: ___________________fear crime more than whites (41%-30%)

Age: _________________fear crime more than any other age group

Region: _________________ fear crime more than any other region

Who Fears Crime - 2

Education: High School graduates slightly more fearful of crime than people with some college

Politics: ____________________________________________________________________________

Income: Fear declines with _______________

Summary

The elements of crime Legal defenses/legal excuses for

criminal conduct Some types and definitions of

selected crimes How crime is measured Crime statistics are unreliable

Summary Continued

The costs of crime

The Effects of the Fear of Crime

Characteristics of Likelihood of victims of crime

Selected References

Bohn, Robert M. and Haley, Keith N. Introduction to Criminal Justice, (Columbus Ohio: The McGraw-Hill Companies) 2011, Chapter 2