Stereotypes Of Crime

Statistics such as this suggest that defendants who possess traits perceived to be stereotypical of a person of color such as a broad nose, thick lips or a substantially darker complexion, are more likely to receive the death penalty compared to white counterparts accused of committing the same

Quote 1: “Others deny the existence of racial profiling and suggest that in specific instances, targeting groups, neighborhoods, or organizations is simply good investigative technique, and that race is one of many possible criteria that police and security officers can use to narrow down a pool of suspects” (Quezzaire).

Mass murderers are categorized either as organized or unorganized, and inside of each type are three subtypes. Organized killers could be disciple, pseudo-commando, or set and run, while unorganized killers could be family annihilators, disgruntled employees, or spree killers. A disciple killer is someone who follows the dictates of a charismatic leader, such as Jim Jones. Jones led his cult of The People's Temple to mass suicide killing 900 of his followers. His followers drank a cyanide ¬laced punch to commit suicide.

This essay will outline how crime theories are able to assist in recognizing the causes of criminal activity, as well as demonstrating two criminological theories to two particular crimes. Overviews of trends, dimensions and victim/offenders characteristics of both crime groups will be specified. The two particular crimes that will be demonstrated throughout this essay are; Violent Crime (focusing on Assault) being linked with social learning theory and White Collar crime (focusing on terrorism) being linked to General Strain theory. In criminology, determining the motive of why people commit crimes is crucial. Over the years, many theories have been developed and they continue to be studied as criminologists pursue the best answers in eventually diminishing certain types of crime including assaults and terrorism, which will be focused on.

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.

Crime can transpire anywhere and everywhere. There is a direct connection between an individual’s background and criminals. When an individual is growing up, they have their own moral compass that is developing. It is typically influenced by things around them such as their parents, income, education, and peers. Sometimes the compass detours into a different direction and they end up conducting criminal activities. After reviewing statistics, it’s easy to understand that most criminals come from poor communities, in which, minorities hold much of the population. I believe this is the main contributing factor of why blacks are holding the high numbers of incarcerations. Hispanics, poor whites and other nationalities also predominate for being incarcerated, as well.

Sociological theories of crime contain a great deal of useful information in the understanding of criminal behavior. Sociological theories are very useful in the study of criminal behavior because unlike psychological and biological theories they are mostly macro level theories which attempt to explain rates of crime for a group or an area rather than explaining why an individual committed a crime. (Kubrin, 2012). There is however some micro level sociological theories of crime that attempts to explain the individual’s motivation for criminal behavior (Kubrin, 2012). Of the contemporary

"The Uniform Crime Report statistics state that blacks are more frequently arrested than whites. While this may mean that blacks actually commit more crime, what are some other factors that may be driving the statistics?"

a. Imagine asking 100 strangers to describe a criminal. Predict whether those descriptions would be likely to focus on street criminals, or the variety of topics covered in this video.

The aim of this essay is to compare, contrast and evaluate two sociological theories of crime causation and two psychological theories of crime causation.

There are at least two major ethical considerations in hot spot analysis. First, the analyst must make sure any data used is true and not skewed in any way. Bad data could cause analysts to project hot spots in the wrong locations, which in turn cause police to place officers and special units in the wrong areas. Second, the results must be put out, whether they are desired or not. Afflitto (2015) mentioned a city that was having a large number of assaults directed towards African-American Women at gas stations in a certain area. These analysis results were not put out and the high number of assaults continued. Whether the police department did not want to look bad, the women were African-American instead of White, or because the

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 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.

The Sociological Imagination helps expand one’s perspective from one that emphasizes the experiences of the individual to one that understands the broader social context in which that individual lives. Crime is a perfect example to elaborate on. Considering that I have worked in the LA County Jails for a little more than a year, I feel that I have a much different outlook on criminals and criminal behavior. To reduce crime, we must first understand why it occurs. One thing that I have continuously heard from inmates, is that many of them had a bad childhood. Whether there mother or father was not around as much or they just had too much freedom, it brought them to where they are now. I believe criminal activity is a direct outcome of how a

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.