Myths And Reality Of Crime 2

Crime is the product of the social structure; it is embedded in the very fibres of society. In this essay, I aim to explore different theories as to why crime exists within society and how we as a society therefore construct it. Crime is a social construct; it is always in society and is on the increase. It is inevitable. Where does it come from? It comes from legislation, from the making of laws.

Assess the view that the process of globalization has led to changes in both the amount of crime and the types of crime committed.

In 1979, children and teens seemed to simple vanish. Each child met certain criteria: young, black, and from Atlanta. The first two victims, Edward Smith and Alfred Evans, who were both 14 years old, disappeared four days apart in June. Both of their bodies were found close together in a remote, wooded area of South Atlanta one month later. Nine-year-old Yusuf Bell went missing on October 21st, 1979 and his body was recovered November 8th of the same year. Police did not connect the dots with Bell’s murder because he was fully clothed, found in a remote area, but was strangled to death, unlike Smith and Evans, who were shot with a .22 caliber. Williams’ next alleged victim, 12-year-old Angel Lenair, was also strangled. She was found in an abandoned lot, fully clothed, with child underwear stuffed in her mouth.

Recent surveys have indicated that crime rate in the United States is on the rise. Crime in the U.S. is classified into property crime and violent crime. These criminal activities have a considerable impact on a state’s social and economic growth and development. Different states in the U.S. have developed different strategies to combat crime, which continues to transform in form and frequency. A number of policies, options, and approaches to crime control exist. This report explores some of the policies, options, and approaches that could be used by Florida to enhance crime control.

Crime is a socially constructed phenomenon. It is not static but dynamic and is defined into existence. It changes over time and place. For example, early definitions of crime such as classicism defined individuals as rational, free and responsible for their own actions. The emergence of positivism was an attempt to bring scientific methodology to criminology. Positivists believe in objectively quantifying cause and effect. In the early twentieth century a sociological lens was applied. Functionalist sociologists such as Durkheim argued that crime had a positive function for society by reinforcing societal norms and values (Ziyanak and Williams 2014). Anomie and strain theory proposed later by Robert Merton examined how poorer classes experienced frustration through lack of opportunities leading to strain. There are many others including labelling, control and cultural deviance, however; this shows that our understanding of criminology is not static and like crime itself it changes over time and place.

Their last victim was Kristen French she was 15 years old and walking through St Catherines when she was abducted at knifepoint. This was the couple’s biggest mistake that lead to them getting caught as there were several eye-witnesses that vaguely described Paul, Karla and their car. Like the other two victims her rape and torture was recorded and then she was either strangled or beaten with a rubber mallet depending on whose story you believe. Her naked body was dumped in a street. She died on the 16th April, 1992.

The first stranglings took place on took place on January 15th, 1974. Joseph Otero and his wife, Julie Otero were strangled in there living room. There daughter Josephine and housekeeper were found strangled in a bedroom and there son Joseph Otero was found strangled in the basement . The BTK strangler took the blame for it. He sent pictures and things he stole from the Otero family. Police knew it was him because know pictures were taken at the crime scene and the only person who would of had pictures was the murdered. On April 4th, 1974 Kathryn Bright who was 21 years old was stabbed to death in her home, police later concluded that it was a BTK victim. On March 17th, 1977, Shirley Vian was found strangled, and tied up in the basement of her home. On December 8th, 1977 Nancy Fox ,25, was found tied up and strangled in her home. The killer's voice is captured on tape when he calls the police to report the crime. On April 28th, 1979, Rader waits in the basement of a 63 year old ladies home. She decided to stay the night with a friend and Rader leaves. The next day he wrote her a letter telling her about how he was waiting for her. On September 16th, 1986 the final victim Vickie Wegerle was strangled in her home.

1. The theories and perspectives in this unit focus on the environmental and social influence of crime. Do you think that environmental and social conditions influence crime? Why or why not? Between biological, psychological, and social factors, which one do you think plays the biggest role in crime? Why?

1. Which theory discussed in the lesson do you think best explains why crime happens? Why do you think that this theory is best?

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.

Crime is a social construct because it is an idea that is established by a society to control the behaviors of the people within the society (“Radical Concept of Crime”). What is considered to be criminal varies within different area and cultures and even time. Things that were legal two hundred years ago are illegal now. For example, in the 18th and 19th century when slavery was allowed in America, there were a lot of people who saw nothing wrong with it because they had been socialized to accept and justify it. If you ask most Americans now about slavery, they would say that it was a tragedy or that they just cannot understand how it happened. This is because we are now being socialized to think of slavery as wrong. Even though many citizens

Crime and criminal activity in general are viewed in many different ways. The opinion and outlook of crime differs in the view of the public, the victim, and for law enforcement. Overall, the public opposes

Crime as a social construction is the idea that reality is created in our minds. What we perceive something to be ends up to be what it is. Crime, often described as deviance is a labelled behaviour. If one does not view an action as deviant at the time then it is not deviant, this shows us how deviance is a relative concept. In terms of how different people perceive crime, depending on what religious or ethnic backgrounds one may come from, there is heavy variation between individuals. What is illegal or legal in one culture can be very different in another culture. It can

This question focuses on crime and its measurement which is one of the most controversial topics in modern times. There has been a lot of debates by politicians, the media and the general public whether crime is falling or rising. We shall attempt a definition of what is crime, what are crime statistics, what is known and not known about crime in England and Wales, the techniques used in measuring crime, and the evaluation of the strength and weaknesses of the different ways of measuring crime. Our final discussion will be on the reliability of the statistical data and the criminologists view or perspective of the various data sources.

First off, there have been ample amounts of disapproval in relation to the general theory of crime, because many scholars feel that Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) failed to include the