Homework Essay Question – Mrs Young 8th November 2013
ESSAY QUESTION: ‘Examine Sociological explanations for the lower rates of recorded crime in rural compared to urban areas’…
A group of sociologists based in Chicago became known as Chicago School, and they argued that the growth of cities produced distinctive neighbourhoods, each with its own characteristic lifestyle. Shaw and McKay applied this perspective to their study of delinquency. Statistics from their study shows that 9.8% of crimes committed are usually found in the Central Business District (CBD). However, British sociologists criticize these findings as when they repeated the same study in Britain, they found that British crime patterns are more scattered and
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Recorded offender rates for Gardenia were 300% higher than Stonewall. There was little or no difference between the two estates in terms of ethnicity, class, age, gender, income and employment. Baldwin and Bottom suggest that the reason why there could be more crime in one estate than the other (both found in the same are) is because of the ‘tipping’ process. Once Gardenia had ‘tipped’, it had appeared to influence the council’s housing policy. Those with severe housing needs were allocated to Gardenia and were also most at risk of crime. Over time, Gardenia developed a negative reputation which resulted in some residents leaving and others refusing to move onto the estate. Marshall and Johnson also point out that rural areas are more ‘close knit’, with higher levels of social interaction between people in the area, including kin relationships. People are likely to know other members of the community and are therefore more ‘intouch’ with their communities. Wilson and Kelling agree also and suggest that the ‘tipping’ process starts when informal social control is breaking down. They are more likely to break down when buildings are left in a state of disrepair. When these acts of deviance are left to go on, the noise levels increase, vandalism grows and more windows get broken. These neighbourhoods then tip into decline and property values plummet, law abiding members of the community are afraid to go out, many of them leave the neighbourhood, informal social
Crime measurement and statistics for police departments are very important when it comes to money allotment, staffing needs or termination and it is also used to determine the effectiveness of new laws and programs. There are three tools used to measure major crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports, National Crime Victimization Survey and the National Incident Based Reporting System- which is currently being tested to replace the Uniform Crime Reports. Although there different tools used to measure crime, crime rates can be deceiving. Each different tool reports a different type of rate, crime rates, arrest
According to Rachel Boba, “Crime analysis is a law enforcement function that involves systematic analysis for identifying and analyzing patterns and trends in crime and disorder” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime analysis).The information on these patterns can assist law enforcement agencies in the deployment of resources in a more effective manner; it can also help detectives to identify and catch suspects. Crime analysis also plays a role in improvising solutions to crime problems, and developing crime prevention strategies. There are various types of technology that is used in crime analysis. Crime analysis relies heavily on computer technology, and over the past fifteen years there has been a significant improvement in computer hardware and
This essay will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of sociological explanations of crimes with links to Durkheim’s anomie theory, Merton’s strain theory and the Labelling theory which will draw upon different academics that will highlight these specific areas of research. In sociological terms, crime is a social concept as it does not exist as an autonomous entity, but it is socially constructed by people. It can be analysed that sociological explanations of crime attribute deviance to various aspects of the social environment. For example, crime is strongly related to modern city life where this type of social environment creates cultural enclaves which results in producing criminal or deviant behaviour (Carrabine et al, 2014).
Environmental crime prevention is based on the phase of ‘broken windows’, Wilson and Kelling use this point to stand for all the various signs of disorder and lack of concern for others that are found in some neighbourhoods. They argue that leaving broken windows unrepaired sends out a signal that no one cares. In these neighbourhoods, there is an absence of both formal social control and informal control. The police are only concerned with serious crime and turn a blind eye to petty nuisance behaviour, while respectable members of the community feel intimidated and powerless. Without curative action, the problem deteriorates. As item A shows this causes families and respectable people to move out and the area becomes a magnet for deviants.
Crime is something that happens every day. Many people fear it, but it is a factor that people cannot escape. In places, like Detroit, people are surrounded by violent crime. Either they are the victims of it, or the committers, but it was not always like this. During the sixties, Detroit was one of the most lucrative cities in the country. Many people moved there to seek jobs in the automotive factories which increased the population to 1.85 million. (Padnani, 2013) However, this is not the case now. Many of the factories have moved, putting people and their families at a disadvantage. A numerous amount of workers relied on these jobs to feed their families. Since then, Detroit has faced a significant amount of hardships that has caused the city to deteriorate effecting education, employment, and the crime rate each factor acts as a chain reaction. The lack of diversity in the city can be a factor of the crime rate as well because Detroit is filled with a large population of minorities. Many politicians have looked for ways to solve the problem, but nothing has been proven to work.
When we get into how society and people look at crime, it happens in every city, every neighborhood, people are victims every day, businesses, and even property. Crime dates back since colonization and the rates have varied over time, believe it or not, crime has decreased over the years. As a matter of fact, the United States has been on a decline. The crime rate for the year 2000 was a total of 11,608,072 a declining year in 2015 with a total of 9,225,197. (U.S. Department of Justice)
The aim of this essay is to compare, contrast and evaluate two sociological theories of crime causation and two psychological theories of crime causation.
The relationship between Crime and less fortunate people cannot underestimated; it may just be the way the media has conditioned us to characterize what a criminal looks like and how they live their lives. There are many low income cities and crime rates widespread across America. One may say that people with low income have nothing to lose when they commit crime or depressed or desperate to the point that they will commit crimes for the profit of money. Even though crime is committed at all walks of life, one can still pose a question to know if crime is more likely to be committed by people with low income that those with high income.
Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) from 2013/2014 have been used. The CSEW is a face-to-face survey asking households about their perception and experience of crime in the 12 months preceding the interview. The information at my disposal are part of a special unrestricted access teaching dataset produced by the UK Data Archive. Out of a sample of 35,371 households chosen in England and Wales for the actual survey, I had access to a 25% sample of 8,843 households. Representative of households were chosen through the Postcode Address File which excludes aggregative accommodation such as residential halls and prisons.
In my essay I will first talk about crime and what it means, I will
Parole (early release from prison) is often referred to as the back door to the US corrections system. The concept of parole dates back to the establishment of the Elmira Reformatory. The goal of the Elmira Reformatory was to rehabilitate and reform the criminal instead of following the traditional method of silence, obedience, and labor. Parole was originally set up to encourage prisoners to do well, keep their noses clean, and become model prisoners. Once a prisoner had shown rehabilitation and reform they were released prior to the execution of their full sentence.
Crime in Urban America has been around for many years, it is atrocious and there are many reasons why people commit these crimes. Crime is a big issue all around the world and while there is more production of drugs and loss of jobs, the crime rate will continue to increase day by day. While there are many motives that contribute to crime the most obvious causes would be poverty which causes the poor to adapt into a violent and aggressive behavior to which later becomes ingrained into them. The environment where a person grows up in which could consist of gangs that participate in illegal activities. Abuse of drugs or alcohol attribute to crime because people commit abominable crimes while under the influence. The anger that an individual
The deviant place theory deals strictly with a specific area known as the “bad” areas. Living in a neighborhood with low income or conditions showing bad reputations exhibits big roles of said crimes and deviance. These types of neighborhoods have all kinds of individuals that move in and move out consistently. Because replacements of people occur in this location, then it “fits” the location itself as being deviant and portraying bad behaviors. These type of neighborhoods involve the poor, overcrowded, less supervised, higher conflicts, etc. – which forces individuals to manage relations with one another and to their physical surroundings of the location. (1990) This “bad” area exposes its own dangerous location and makes an individual more susceptible to becoming a victim of a crime. This victimization is not coming from the victim itself, but rather the result of being in such “bad” areas. Gangs are a great example of a deviant neighborhood that would therefore come with a greater crime rate. The only way not to become a victim of this deviant location would be to move from said
Many people have different theories as to why crime exists. Some believe crime happens because of the individual’s culture, education (or lack there of), or even their race. Others believe crime is associated with whom we surround ourselves with. There are three sociological theories that suggest why crime happens in society; they are social learning theory, social control theory, and social reaction (labeling) theory. These theories suggest it is our relationships and social interactions that influence our behavior.
First of all, the world in which we live in depends a lot on financial