Political, Crime, And Three Types Of Political Crime

What is Crime? Definition of crime The SAGE dictionary of criminology- “Crime is not a self-evident and unitary concept. Its constitution is diverse, historically relative and continually contested. As a result an answer to the question ‘what is crime?’ depends upon which of its multiple constitutive elements is emphasized. This in turn depends upon the theoretical position taken by those defining crime”.

This essay argues that the traditional definition of crime has many shortcomings, and attempts to show, why some criminologist would prefer to use the social harms perspective over that of crime. One of the most commonly accepted definitions of crime is ‘an act that is capable of being followed by criminal proceedings’ (Williams, 1955, p.107). Therefore, criminal behaviour “is (a) intentional act in violation of the criminal law” (Tappan 1947 pg100). However, there are issues with the concept of crime. Firstly, the legal and state definition of harmful behaviours and practices focuses too much on individualistic forms of criminality. it also ignores the wrongdoings of governments and large businesses. There is also the problem of power dynamics,

Crime A Look into Crime from a Sociological Perspective Introduction Crime is considered to be some breech or violation of behaviors which stand in opposition of rules or norms instituted by some governing body. Some actions are considered to be crimes throughout most societies in history; murder or physical abuse can serve as an example as an example. However, the majorities of things that are considered crimes are more of a subjective nature and vary widely in different societies. In many societies it is a crime to be an atheist or to be homosexual for example, while in other societies these items are tolerated and in some cases are considered social norms. Furthermore, when an individual is considered to have committed a crime, the punishments for these crimes also can vary widely depending on the culture, the social norms, the position of the authority figure, as well as a plethora of other factors. This paper will analyze some of the different forms of crime and they develop and how they are treated in different societies.

Corruption has always been a danger to law enforcement, just as it has been a danger to all of mankind since the beginning of time. Since the very first police agency was formed in the 1800s, corruption has been widespread. The 19th century was an era in which politics played a very large role in police forces. Various political parties essentially had some police departments in their pockets, and as long as officers served to further those political parties’ agendas, the officers’ continued employment was guaranteed. Since politicians have not always been known for being straight-laced, one can easily see how corruption within police departments became prevalent. Since officers were not serving the people, but rather the political elite, their motives were constantly in question. It was not long before politicians began employing police officers to overlook and even protect their illicit activities. Through this practice, officers began to see the potential monetary and political benefits of allowing and participating in certain illegal actions. Even after the establishment of countermeasures such as police commissions, civil service exams, and legislative changes, corruption remained rampant. This corruption was perhaps best exemplified by none other than the actions of many officers within the Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The asymmetrical theory by Naim says that the differences between the government and that of transnational crime creates asymmetry (Naim,2005). Different government agencies are organized in a hierarchical relationship that functions consistently from the top to the bottom (Naim,2005). Governments must often follow legal processes that take up time and cost money. These governments are forced to follow budget constraints, as well as legal and political reservation (Naim,2005). These governments must operate within the control of their constitution. In comparison, these transnational crime groups operate in less harsh structures, and are able to have more flexibility in their decision-making, as well as have unlimited funds available to them. The government’s

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.

Robert D. Crutchfield when speaking of the social class differences to explain criminal involvement in the United States in his published work “From Slavery to Social Class to Disadvantage: An Intellectual History of the Use of Class to Explain Racial Differences in Criminal Involvement” asks an important question, why do we always connect crimes with race? Crutchfield states “When race is not the focus, differences in ethnicity, religion, immigration status, or some other marker of being “the other” are part of how we think about and talk about crime” (2). Crutchfield proposes that we continually seek “out” groups to ostracize and blame crime on. Out groups when blamed for crime, it is attributed to interiority or social class. We often attribute crimes (those of property and violence) to those of different races. But if the question was reworded and was understood to include collar crimes, white people would have a huge crime rate. Crutchfield stumbles on several correlations while in this inquiry: that African Americans are more involved in kinds of crime that lead to prison sentences (compared to whites), and that people in lower social classes serve time for these offenses. As African Americans, are very abundant and overrepresented in the areas of low socioeconomic class, the fallacy usually arises that the correlation between the poor African Americans and crime is prevalent. These two sets of data however, do not create a connection. Crutchfield analyzes the effects

Crime Discussion #3 Throughout the social development of individuals, there are several things that we learn through inclusion and the way in which parents raise us. We learn how to make appropriate social interactions depending on who is in our presence, we learn social expectation, what is considered good behavior, and finally what is considered bad behavior. Yet, awareness of what can constitute as criminal conduct has become increasingly prominent in our culture, especially with the strong presence in social media that it now has. However, what we are often exposed to are adult criminal assailants, and we rarely hear about juvenile, unless they have committed an extreme offense. But it is that last population, the one that we need to focus on, considering that it is them that can move to the extremes; to get blossom under help or to commit an increasing amount of crime.

This essay will offer different definitions of crime, suggesting that it is a social construction as it varies across culture, time and belief. It will examine the role of social construction, through interpretation and meaning, in the identification, reporting and legal consequences of criminal acts. After illustrating how

affluent middle and upper classes of American society are insulated from the stressors and sorrows that plague the lives of the poor. She calls for an open dialogue to raise awareness and public understanding that the “War on Drugs,” is really an intricate, one-sided network comprised of many linked and interconnected factors that have been designed to work in favor of law enforcement. (Alexander, M., p. 60-65) She illustrates her point by describing how this “crime war” is fought in “ghettoized” neighborhoods that are almost completely devoid of whites and successful middle- class to upper-class blacks like Michelle. (Alexander, M., p.7-8) She contends that because they have virtually no contact with racial or ethnic minorities, whites

Radical criminology is the theory that believes that crime is caused by the social and economic disparities within our society and somewhat takes on Marxist’s approach to crime and crime control (Bernard, 1981). Radical criminology theorists also believes that within society, there are three classes; the ruling class,

Conclusion A crime is an act that violates any law of the state and federal government. “Criminal law involves prosecution by the government of a person for an act that has been classified as a crime”. (Cornell University, 2010, p. 1). Although conspiracy, solicitation, and attempted criminal activity are inchoate offenses, these offenses can and often lead to completed crimes. The burden of proof rest on the prosecution and it is his or her job to prove beyond a reasonable

State Crimes are defined as “acts that are largely committed, instigated or condoned by governments and their officials” (International State Crime initiative). These crimes are considered to be very serious crimes in society today, due to the fact that they are either committed or condoned by governmental personnel with the aim of achieving certain goals. Having said that, scholars today do not have the knowledge of how important these crimes are since it violate international and criminal law within that state. Eugene McLaughlin identified four categories of state crime; Political crimes, crimes by security, economic crimes and social and cultural crimes. However, I will focus on the two that are more widely acknowledged Political crime is corruption and censorship, a state has the right to label a behaviour as political crime if it’s seen as a threat to the state. Crime by security has to do with genocide and torture, a great example of crime by security is the Rwanda Genocide that occurred in 1994 which ended up killing 800,000 citizens in just a few weeks. According to Grabosky and Stohl (2010), state crimes can be divided into six main types; State terror against another state, state terror against private interests, State facilitation of another state’s terrorism, state terror against its own citizens, state facilitation of private actors and political terror scale. In this essay, I will be mainly concentrating on the Rwanda Genocide, Libyan civil war of 2011 and

Political violence is the leading cause of wars today. Personal agendas have led to many of the political objectives that cause violence today this has caused many problems throughout the world and will continue to do so until a solution to this issue is found. Political objectives have been advanced involuntarily dependent upon the kind of government a nation exercises. For instance, in a democratic nation political groups must worry about convincing the majority in order to advance ethically. Those who try to influence the majority through acts of violence are considered today as “terror” organizations. Though perhaps if it were not because of the recent 9/11 terror attacks that maybe such warrants would not be seen as terror attacks,

[Finally, the proof that financial gain and corruption are at the center of organized crime, is the amount of resources and money that has been leveled at this problem without being able to impede the growth of the organizations. Hence, there have been many politicians proven to have relationships with