Crime

A crime in a nontechnical sense is an act that violates a political or moral rule. But in many nations, the governments have discovered that informal sanctions are ineffective to control some types of antisocial behaviour, so the system of social control has to be formalised. Laws are designed to regulate human behaviour and the state provides remedies and sanctions to protect its citizens if the laws are broken. But not all breaches of the law are considered crimes, e.g. breaches of contract. In some cases, the government itself is a perpetrator of crime. The label of "crime" and the accompanying social stigma are usually reserved for those activities causing more serious loss and damage to the citizens of the state. Its use is intended to reflect a consensus of condemnation for the identified behaviour and, in the event that an accused is convicted following a trial applying principles of due process, to justify the state imposing punishment. The term is also applied to minor regulatory offences or infractions, e.g. where the criminal law is used to keep order on the roads.

Definition of Crime

The systematic study of the causes (aetiology), prevention, control, and penal responses to crime is called criminology. For these purposes, the definition of crime depends on the theoretical stance taken. The nature of crime could be viewed from either a legal or normative perspective. A legalistic definition takes as its starting point the common law or the statutory/codified definitions contained in the laws enacted by the sovereign government. Thus, a crime is any culpable action or omission prohibited by law and punished by the state. This is an uncomplicated view: a crime is a crime because the law defines it as such.

A normative definition views crime as deviant behaviour that violates prevailing norms, i.e. cultural standards specifying how humans ought to behave. This approach considers the complex realities surrounding the concept of crime and seeks to understand how changing social, political, psychological, and economic conditions may affect the current definitions of crime and the form of the legal, law enforcement, and penal responses made by the state. These structural realities are fluid and often contentious. For example, as cultures change and the political environment shifts, behaviour may be criminalised or decriminalised which will directly affect the statistical crime rates, determine the allocation of resources for the enforcement of such laws, and influence public opinion. Similarly, changes in the way that crime data are collected and/or calculated may affect the public perceptions of the extent of any given "crime problem". All such adjustments to crime statistics, allied with the experience of people in their everyday lives, shape attitudes on the extent to which law should be used to enforce any particular social norm. There are many ways in which behaviour can be controlled without having to resort to using the criminal law. Indeed, in those cases where there is no clear consensus on the given norm, the use of the criminal law by the group in power to prohibit the behaviour of another group may be considered an improper limitation of the second group's freedom, and the ordinary members of society may lose some of their respect for the law in general whether the disputed law is actively enforced or not.

Crime and Deviance

Deviance and crime are related but not the same. Actions can be criminal and deviant, criminal but not deviant, or deviant but not criminal. Crime is the equivalent of legal rule breaking, but deviance is the equivalent of social rule breaking. For instance, a crime that is not deviant may be speeding or jay walking. While legally criminal, speeding and jay walking is not considered socially unacceptable. A person can speed and will not be considered a criminal by his or her peers. A deviant but not criminal act may include homosexuality. Homosexuality is deviant from mainstream values, but a person is not labeled a criminal just for being homosexual. Crimes that are deviant include murder, rape, assault, and other violent crimes. These actions break the legal rule, as well as violate social norms held by society

History

The first civilisations had codes of law, containing both civil and penal rules mixed together, though these codes were not always recorded. According to Oppenheim (1964), the first known written codes were produced by the Sumerians, and it was probably their king Ur-Nammu (who ruled over Ur in the 21st century B.C.E.) who acted as the first legislator, creating a formal system in thirty-two articles. The Sumerians later issued other codes including the "code of Lipit-Istar" (last king of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, Isin - 20th century B.C.E.). This code contains some fifty articles and has been reconstructed by the comparison among several sources. Kramer (1971: 4) adds a further element: "The Sumarian was deeply conscious of his personal rights and resented any encroachment on them, whether by his King, his superior, or his equal. No wonder that the Sumerians were the first to compile laws and law codes."

In Babylon, Driver and Mills (1952-55) and Skaist (1994) describe the successive legal codes, including the code of Hammurabi (one of the richest of ancient times), which reflected society's belief that law was derived from the will of the gods (see Babylonian law. Many of the states at this time were theocratic, and their codes of conduct were religious in origin or reference.

Maine (1861) studied the ancient codes and failed to find any criminal law in the modern sense of the word. While modern systems distinguish between offences against the "State" or "Community", and offences against the "Individual", what was termed the penal law of ancient communities was not the law of "Crimes" (crimina); it was the law of "Wrongs" (delicta). Thus, the Hellenic laws (see Gagarin: 1986; and Garner: 1987) treated all forms of theft, assault, rape, and murder as private wrongs, and action for enforcement was up to the victim or their survivors (which was a challenge in that although there was law, there were no formalised courts in the earliest system). It was the Romans who systematised law and exported it to their Empire. Again, the initial rules of Roman Law were that assaults were a matter of private compensation. The significant Roman Law concept was of dominion (see Daube: 1969). The pater familias was in possession of all the family and its property (including slaves). Hence, interference with any property was enforced by the pater. The Commentaries of Gaius on the Twelve Tables treated furtum (modern theft) as if it was a tort. Similarly, assault and violent robbery were allied with trespass as to the pater's property (so, for example, the rape of a female slave, would be the subject of compensation to the pater as having trespassed on his "property") and breach of such laws created a vinculum juris (an obligation of law) that could only be discharged by the payment of monetary compensation (modern damages). Similarly, in the consolidated Teutonic Laws of the Germanic tribes (see Guterman: 1990), there was a complex system of money compensations for what would now be considered the complete range of criminal offences against the person from murder down.

Even though Rome abandoned England sometime around 400 C.E., the Germanic mercenaries who had largely been enforcing the Roman occupation, stayed on and continued to use a mixture of Roman and Teutonic Law, with much written down by the early Anglo-Saxon Kings (see Attenborough: 1963). But, it was not until a more unified Kingdom emerged following the Norman invasion and the King was attempting to assert power over the land and its peoples, that the modern concept emerged, namely that a crime is not only an offence against the "individual", it is also a wrong against the "state" (see Kern: 1948; Blythe: 1992; and Pennington: 1993.). This is a common law idea and the earliest conception of a criminal act involved events of such major significance that the "state" had to usurp the usual functions of the civil tribunals and direct a special law or privilegium against the perpetrator. All the earliest criminal trials were wholly extraordinary and arbitrary without any settled law to apply, whereas the civil delictual law was highly developed and consistent in its operation (except where the King wanted to raise money by selling a new form of Writ). The development of the idea that it is the "state" dispensing justice in a court only emerges in parallel with or after the emergence of the concept of sovereignty.

In continental Europe, Vinogradoff (1909) reports the persistence of Roman Law, but with a stronger influence from the Church (see Tierney: 1964, 1979). Coupled with the more diffuse political structure based on smaller state units, rather different legal traditions emerged, remaining more strongly rooted in Roman jurisprudence modified to meet the prevailing political climate. In Scandinavia, the effect of Roman law was not felt until the 17th century, and the courts grew out of the things, which were the assemblies of the people. The cases were decided by the people (usually largest freeholders dominating) which later gradually transformed into a system of a royal judge nominating a number of most esteemed men of the parish as his board, fulfilling the function of "the people" of yore.

From the Hellenic system onwards, the policy rationale for requiring the payment of monetary compensation for wrongs committed has been to avoid feuding between clans and families (note the concept of pater familias as a unifying factor in extended kin groups, and the later practice of wergild in this context). If families' feelings could be mollified by compensation, this would help to keep the peace. On the other hand, the threat of feudal warfare was played down also by the institution of oaths. Both in archaic Greece and in medieval Scandinavia, the accused was released if he could get a sufficient number of male relatives to swear him unguilty. This may be compared with the United Nations Security Council where the veto power of the permanent members ensures that the organization is not drawn into crises where it could not enforce its decisions. These means of restraining private feuds did not always work or prevented the fulfilment of justice but, in the earliest times, the "states" were not prepared to provide an independent police force. Thus, criminal law grew out of what is now tort and, in real terms, many acts and omissions that are classified as crimes overlap civil law concepts.

Why criminalise?

Criminalisation is intended as a pre-emptive, harm-reduction device, using the threat of punishment as a deterrent to those proposing to engage in the behaviour causing harm. The state becomes involved because the costs of not criminalising (i.e. allowing the harms to continue unabated) outweigh the costs of criminalising it (i.e. restricting individual liberty and so minimising harm to others). The process of criminalisation should be controlled by the state because:

• Victims or witnesses of crimes might be deterred from taking any action if they fear retaliation. Even in policed societies, fear may inhibit reporting or co-operation in a trial.
• The victims may only want compensation for the injuries suffered, while being indifferent to the more general need for deterrence: see Polinsky & Shavell (1997) on the fundamental divergence between the private and the social motivation for using the legal system.
• Even if the victims recognise that they are victims, they may not have the resources to investigate and seek legal redress for the injuries suffered: the enforcers formally appointed by the state have the expertise and the resources.
• Victims do not have economies of scale to administer a penal system, let alone collect any fines levied by a court (see Polinsky (1980) on the enforcement of fines). Garoupa & Klerman (2002) warn that a rent-seeking government's primary motivation is to maximise revenue and so, if offenders have sufficient wealth, a rent-seeking government is more aggressive than a social-welfare-maximising government in enforcing laws against minor crimes (usually with a fixed penalty such as parking and routine traffic violations), but more lax in enforcing laws against major crimes.

Natural law theory

The consistent theoretical problem has been to justify the state's use of force to coerce compliance with its laws. One of the earliest justifications was the theory of natural law. This posits that the standards of morality are derived from or constructed by the nature of the world or of human beings. Thomas Aquinas said: "the rule and measure of human acts is the reason, which is the first principle of human acts" (Aquinas, ST I-II, Q.90, A.I), i.e. since people are by nature rational beings, it is morally appropriate that they should behave in a way that conforms to their rational nature. Thus, to be valid, any law must conform to natural law and coercing people to conform to that law is morally acceptable. William Blackstone (1979: 41) describes the thesis:

"This law of nature, being co-eval with mankind and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this; and such of them as are valid derive all their force, and all their authority, mediately or immediately, from this original."

But John Austin, an early positivist, applied utilitarianism in accepting the calculating nature of human beings and the existence of an objective morality, but denied that the legal validity of a norm depends on whether its content conforms to morality, i.e. a moral code can objectively determine what people ought to do, the law can embody whatever norms the legislature decrees to achieve social utility, but every individual is free to choose what he or she will do. Similarly, Hart (1961) saw the law as an aspect of sovereignty with lawmakers able to adopt any law as a means to a moral end. Thus, the necessary and sufficient conditions for the truth of a proposition of law were simply that the law was internally logical and consistent, and that state power was being used with responsibility. Dworkin (2005) rejects Hart's theory and argues that fundamental among political rights is the right of each individual to the equal respect and concern of those who govern him. He offers a theory of compliance overlaid by a theory of deference (the citizen's duty to obey the law) and a theory of enforcement, which identifies the legitimate goals of enforcement and punishment. Legislation must conform to a theory of legitimacy, which describes the circumstances under which a particular person or group is entitled to make law, and a theory of legislative justice, which describes the law they are entitled or obliged to make.

Indeed, the majority of natural law theorists accept that a primary function of the law is to enforce the prevailing morality. The problem with this view is that it makes any moral criticism of the law impossible in that, if conformity with natural law is a necessary condition for legal validity, all valid law must, by definition, be morally just. Thus, on this line of reasoning, the legal validity of a norm necessarily entails its moral justice. The solution to this problem is to admit some degree of moral relativism and to accept that norms may evolve over time and, therefore, the continued enforcement of old laws may be criticised in the light of the current norms. The law may be acceptable but the use of state power to coerce citizens to comply with that law is not morally justified. In more modern conceptions of the theory, crime is characterised as the violation of individual rights. Since rights are considered as natural, rather than man-made, what constitutes a crime is also natural, in contrast to laws, which are man-made. Adam Smith illustrates this view, saying that a smuggler would be an excellent citizen, "...had not the laws of his country made that a crime which nature never meant to be so."

Natural law theory therefore distinguishes between "criminality" which is derived from human nature, and "illegality" which is derived from the interests of those in power. The two concepts are sometimes expressed with the phrases malum in se and malum prohibitum. A crime malum in se is argued to be inherently criminal; whereas a crime malum prohibitum is argued to be criminal only because the law has decreed it so. This view leads to a seeming paradox, that an act can be illegal that is no crime, while a criminal act could be perfectly legal. Many Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith and the American Founding Fathers subscribed to this view to some extent, and it remains influential among so-called classical liberals and libertarians.

Trial

The form of the trial

There are two primary systems for conducting a trial:

• Adversarial: In the common law systems, an adversarial or accusatory approach is used to adjudicate guilt or innocence. The assumption is that the truth is more likely to emerge from the open contest between the prosecution and the defence in presenting the evidence and opposing legal arguments with a judge acting as a neutral referee and as the arbiter of the law. In more serious cases, there is a jury to determine the facts. This polarises the issues, with each competitor acting in its own self-interest, and so presenting the facts and interpretations of the law in a deliberately biased way. The intention is that through a process of argument and counter-argument, examination-in-chief and cross-examination, each side will test the truthfulness, relevancy, and sufficiency of the opponent's evidence and arguments. To maintain fairness, there is a presumption of innocence, and the burden of proof lies on the prosecution. Critics of the system argue that the desire to win is more important than the search for truth. Further, the results are likely to be affected by structural inequalities. Those defendants with resources can afford to hire a the best lawyers, whereas those who are poor are more easily victimised because, even when the state operates a system of financial support for defendants, the quality of legal representation is often inferior to the lawyers acting for the state.
• Inquisitorial: In the civil law systems, the responsibility for supervising the investigation by the police into whether a crime has been committed falls on an examining magistrate or judge who then conducts the trial. The assumption is that the truth is more likely to emerge from an impartial and exhaustive investigation both before and during the trial itself. The examining magistrate or judge acts as an inquisitor who directs the fact-gathering process by questioning witnesses, interrogating the suspect, and collecting other evidence. The lawyers who represent the interests of the state and the accused have a limited role to offer legal arguments and alternative interpretations to the facts that emerge during the process. All the interested parties are expected to co-operate in the investigation by answering the magistrate or judge's questions and, when asked, supplying all relevant evidence. The trial only takes place after all the evidence has been collected and the investigation is completed. Thus, most of the factual uncertainties will already be resolved, and the examining magistrate or judge will already have resolved that there is prima facie of guilt. The trial is no more than the public resolution of the ongoing investigation where the accused has the burden of rebutting the presumption of guilt. Critics argue that the examining magistrate or judge has too much power in that he or she will both investigate and adjudicate on the merits of the case. Although lay assessors do sit as a form of jury to offer advice to the magistrate or judge at the conclusion of the trial, their role is subordinate. Further, because a professional has been in charge of all aspects of the case to the conclusion of the trial, there are fewer opportunities to appeal the conviction alleging some procedural error.

The function of the trial

There are two forms of deterrence:

• Specific: The intention underlying the penal system is to deter future wrongdoing by the defendant if convicted. The punishment is supposed to demonstrate the unfortunate consequences that will follow any decision to break the law. If the convicted person considers the possibility of breaking the law again in the future, the assumption is that the individual will choose not to break the law and so avoid further punishment.
• General: The punishment imposed on the particular accused is also a warning to other potential wrongdoers. Thus the function of the trial is to gain the maximum publicity for the crime and its punishment so that others will be deterred from following in the particular accused's footsteps.

Crime and Society

Crime and Families

It has long been suggested that a core family is a valuable preventitive measure to crime. While this could be considered true, there is much more to this idea than simply a core family. For one, especially today, a core family can be a single father, a single mother, two parents, two fathers, two mothers, and any other numerous combinations. The type of family is irregardless. The relationship between criminal activity and a strong family has a number of different dimensions.

Collective Efficacy in neighborhoods is often thought of as the foundations for preventing violent crime in neighborhoods. Collective efficacy holds that there is social cohesion among neighbors, common values of neighborhood residents, an informal social control, and a willingness to regulate crime or deviance amongst neighbors. This collective efficacy requires the presence of strong families, each member commited to each other and their neighbors.

The studies of Mary Pattillo-McCoy examine collective efficacy, but bring a startling new revelation to light. Pattillo, in her study on Groveland (a middle class typically African American neighborhood in Chicago), concluded that collective efficacy can lead to a unique pattern of violent crime. Groveland had a strong collective efficacy, however, gang violence was also tied up in this neighborhood. The neighborhood gang members participated in violent activity, but since they were involved in the collective efficacy, they kept violent crime out of their home neighborhood. They did not want their families or friends put in harm because of their gang activity. This unique take of collective efficacy show how strong family and neighborhood bonds can foster as well as prevent violent crime.

Travis Hirschi suggested an idea called social bond theory. The underlying idea of this theory says that the less attachment a person has to society, the more likely they are to participate in activities that harm society or go against mainstream social values. Hirschi contends that attachment to friends and family, commitment to family and career, involvement in education and family, and belief in the law and morality will ensure that a person will not undertake criminal activities. If even one of these variables is weakened, the chances one will participate in crime increases. This is an element of social control theory, which states that peoples bonds and relationships are what determines their involvement in crime.

Elijah Anderson identifies families as perhaps the most important factor in criminality. Anderson is responsible for the idea of the code of the street, which are informal rules governing interpersonal behavior, particularly violence. His studies identify two types of families in socially disorganized neighborhoods: decent families and street families. Decent families, he says, accept mainstream social values and socialize their children to these values, sometimes using the knowledge of the code of the street to survive. Street families have very destructive behaviors and a lack of respect for those around them. They apparently have superficial ties to the community and other family members, only vying for respect of those around them. Anderson argues that street families breed criminals, suggesting that the family one is raised one could possibly identify if a person will become a criminal.

Age, Race, and Gender

The idea of crime being specific to a particular age, race, or gender is examined thoroughly in criminology. Crime is committed by all different people, men and women, of any age. There is evidence, however, that these different variables have important effects on crime rates, which criminal theories attempt to explain.

Age

In 2002, 58.6% of violent crime offenders were under the age of 25, with 14.9% being under the age of 18.

Modern criminology details what is popularly known as the age-crime curve, named for the curve of the graph in comparing age as an independent variable to crime as a dependent variable. The graph shows an increase in crime in teenage years, tapering off and decreasing in the early to mid twenties, and continuing to decrease as age increases. The age-crime curve is such a phenomenon because it is something criminologists have discovered at an international level. The curve is applicable to nearly every society, modern and historical. Because the age-crime curve is universally demonstrated, it is universally accepted as a part of criminology and the nature of crime. Research is currently being conducted on potential reasons behind the age-crime curve. Organizations such as Sheffield Pathways Out of Crime Study conduct longitudinal studies concerning the age-crime curve and why this phenomenon might exist.

Race

In 2002, according to the Uniform Crime Report, whites made up 59.7% of all violent crime arrestees, blacks comprising of 38.0%, and other minorities making up 2.3%.

Race is very difficult to measure in terms of crime. Is one race more prone to crime than other races? Historically, through phrenology and biology, scientists have attempted to prove that certain people are destined to commit crime. These theories have been proven unfounded. No race or culture is biologically predisposed towards committing crimes or deviance.

Social Disorganization Theory of Crime explains instances of urban crime. It divides the city into different regions, explaining that the transitional zone, which surrounds the business zone, is the most notorious for crime. For example, the transitional zone is known for deteriorated housing, factories, and abandoned buildings. In urban areas, minorities are usually inhabitants of the transitional zone, surrounding them in urban decay. This urban decay results in strain (as described in Agnew's strain theory) and leads to criminal activity, having been disenfranchised from mainstream goals. In other words, societies failure to maintain urban transitional zones is a major factor in minorities committing crimes.

Ellijah Anderson, an African American professor, has written much on the subject of race and crime. He says that often times, institutions of social control engage in color coding. In other words, in this instance, an African American is assumed guilty until proven innocent. Many social institutions are victims of institutional racism. For instance, in Jeffrey Reiman's "The Rich Get Richer, and the Poor Get Prison," Reiman examines the differences between white middle to upper class teenagers and black lower class teenagers and how police might treat them. The difference in treatment for even first time offenders of both white and black teenagers is unsettling. White teenagers typically get treated with respect, their parents are informed immediatly, and often jurisdiction and punishment is given to the parents to decide. However, black teenagers are often held over night, their parents are informed later or not at all, and first time offenders are treated like multiple offenders.

Overall, there are many different aspects of society responsible for minority crime. The most unsettling aspect of it, however, is that failures in the law and society are responsible for such a large ratio of minority crime.

Gender

Gender distribution in criminal behavior is very disproportionate. In 2002, according to Uniform Crime Report, men made up 82.6% of violent crime arrestees. This is a very significant gap between genders in terms of violent crime.

There are different gender theories and criticisms that attempt to explain gender discrepancies. Most of the gender criticisms are aimed at modern criminology theories that neglect to explain why women do not engage in violent crime at the rates that men do. This gender gap is usually referred to as the gender-ratio problem of crime. It is still uncertain why females do not engage in the violent crime at nearly the rate that men do, but there are many sociological theories that attempt to account for the gender gap in violent crime.

The Marxist-Feminist approach suggests that gender oppression is a result of social class oppression. It states that feminine deviance and crime occurs because of womens marginalized economic position within the legitimate world and the world of crime. For instance, prostitution represents those at the top of the hierarchy abusing those at the bottom of the hierarchy through corruption of wage labor.

The Liberal-Feminist approach assumes that the gender of female represents one of many competing categories in a society. For example, another competing category could be elderly citizens, or the impoverished, or minority cultures. Those who agree with this approach support initiatives designed to improve womens standing in the existing social structure, but do not wish to challange the system as a whole. A liberal-feminist would argue that prostitution is acceptable because it represents a business contract between two people: one person pays for a rendered service.

Radical-Feminist approaches are opposite to the Liberal Feminist approach. Radical-Feminist's argue that gender is the most important form of social oppression. Through this approach, women need to start a social movement to create a new government or system with equality written into the social structure. To a radical-feminist, prostitution is a form of gender oppression that needs to end.

Criminal Theories

Many theories discuss why people commit crimes and acts of deviance. While no theory has been proven as the main criminal theory, these theories do their best to explain the nature of crime. Criminal theories center around biological theories versus classical theories. Biological theories focus on pathology, sickness, and determinism, basically assuming that a person is born a criminal. Classical theories focus on free will and the idea of a social contract by which people conform to. These theories assume that no one is born a criminal, and that they are made to do criminal activities through their experiences.

Psychoanalytical Theories of Crime falls in the realm of positivism, the idea that crime is genetic or inherent. The theory gives the assumptions that criminals are different from non-criminals and that criminal offenders have different personalities from that of non-offenders. Freudian theory suggested that crime is a result of the Frustration-Aggression Theory, which says that deviant behavior is a result of stunted growth in one of the four stages of maturation: oral, anal, genital, and phallic. Aggression is a result of frustration that develops from lack of goal attainment.

Cognitive Theories of Crime involve how people develop their ability of judgement. Different psychologists and criminologists detail their own theories on cognitive development and its relationship to crime. Jean Piaget suggested that there are two stages in cognitive development of judgement. The first stage involves the acceptance of rules as absolute. For instance, in order for a child to develop judgement, he or she must realize from a young age that the rules his or her parents make are unchanging in nature and apply directly to themselves. The second step describes the spirit of law. This is basically a realization that the law has consequences, that if one acts counter to the law, it will effect them. Lawrence Kohlberg also described cognitive criminal motivations. He detailed six steps, which were then divided into three stages: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. These stages represent Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development. In the pre-conventional stage, the first two steps, the goals in life are to maximize pleasure and minimize pain, and the desire to gain reward without punishments or consequences. Kohlberg suggests that most criminals are stuck in this stage. The next stage, the conventional stage, involves people following the rules absolutely in order to gain social approval and respect. People feel empathy and guilt in this stage, and Kohlberg relates that most people are in this stage. The final stage, the post-conventional stage, involves people judging rules according to their own values along with a sense of there being a universal justice. Most people do not reach this stage.

Functionalist Theory of Crime involves a macro level theory of crime. Functionalism assumes that: society is a living organism, full of social institutions that overlap, and that social institutions work to keep society in order. Emile Durkheim suggests that is crime is functional because it has always existed in society, making crime a normal part of society. Crime serves as a guide for acceptable social behavior, and it creates consensus among people in a society on what is deviant. Durkheim also suggests that deviance brings social change, which is a positive and needed aspect in all societies. Too much crime, however, results in weakened social consensus and social order. It also leads to anomie, a state of normlessness, and no society can last under anomie.

Social Disorganization Theory of Crime is an ecological perspective on crime; the theory deals with places, not people, as the reason crime happens. Where one lives is causal to criminality, the physical and social conditions a person is surrounded by is what creates crime. The assumption of this theory states that people are inherently good, but are changed by their environment. According to this theory, five types of change are most responsible for criminality. They are: urbanization, migration, immigration, industrialization, and technological change. If any one of these aspects occur rapidly, it breaks down social control and social bonds, creating disorganization.

Strain Theory of Crime says that crime occurs when a person is unable to attain their goals through legitimate means. Robert K. Merton described strain by showing different ways an individual can meet their goals. Conformity is the method by which most people achieve what they want: a person conforms to the ideals and values of mainstream society. Merton says that criminals use innovation to achieve their goals, which means that they agree with the goals that mainstream society offers, but seek or require different means than mainstream society to achieve these goals. He also identifies other ways individuals achieve their own goals which include retreatism, rebellion, and ritualism. Strain Theory was modified by Robert Agnew in the early 1990's. Agnew said that strain theory was too tied to social class and cultural variables and needed to take into account a more universal perspective of crime. Three components of Agnew's modification of strain theory are: failure to achieve positive goals, loss of some positively valued stimuli, and presentation of negative stimuli. This causes strain between a person and the society they live in, resulting in a negative affective state.

Reasons

Antisocial behaviour is criminalised and treated as offences against society which justifies punishment by the government. A series of distinctions are made depending on the passive subject of the crime (the victim), or on the offended interest(s), in crimes against:

• Personality of the state.
• Rights of the citizen.
• Public administration.
• Administration of justice.
• Religious sentiment and faith.
• Public order.
• Public economy, industry, and commerce.
• Public morality.
• Person and honour.
• Patrimony.

Or they can be distinguished depending on the related punishment with sentencing tariffs prescribed in line with the perceived seriousness of the offence with fines and noncustodial sentences for the least serious, and in some states, capital punishment for the most serious.

Classification

In the United States since 1930, Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) have been tabulated annually by the FBI from crime data submitted by law enforcement agencies across the United States. This data is compiled at the city, county, and state levels into the Uniform crime reports (UCR). Violations of laws, which are derived from common law, are classified as Part I (index) crimes in UCR data, and further categorised as violent and property crimes. Part I violent crimes include murder and criminal homicide (voluntary manslaughter), forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery, while Part I property crimes include burglary, arson, larceny/theft, and motor vehicle theft. All other crimes are classified as Part II crimes.

Crimes are also grouped by severity, some common categorical terms being: felonies, indictable offences, misdemeanors, and summary offences. For convenience, infractions are also usually included in such lists although, in the U.S., they may not be the subject of the criminal law, but rather of the civil law.

The following are crimes in many criminal jurisdictions:

Arson (not in English law) Assaults Battery Blackmail Burglary Child sexual abuse Counterfeiting

Drug possession Embezzlement Espionage Extortion Forgery Fraud/Deception offences Homicide

Identity theft Illegal gambling Inchoate offenses Kidnapping Larceny Looting

Motor vehicle theft/TWOC Perjury Rape Robbery Sexual assaults Smuggling

Stalking Tax evasion Theft Treason Trespass (not in English law) Vandalism (see Criminal Damage Act 1971 for the codified offence in English law) Weapon possession

External link

• Crime incidence by country
• (de) Theory, practice and evaluation: www.crime-prevention.de

Bibliography

• Aquinas, Thomas. (1988). On Law, Morality and Politics. 2nd edition. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co. ISBN 0872206637
• Attenborough, F. L. (ed. and trans.) (1922). The Laws of the Earliest English Kings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Reprint March 2006. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 9781584775836
• Blackstone, William. (1765-1769). Commentaries on the Law of England: A Facsimile of the First Edition of 1765-1769, Vol. 1. (1979). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226055388
• Blythe, James M. (1992). Ideal Government and the Mixed Constitution in the Middle Ages. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691031673
• Daube, David. (1969). Roman Law: Linguistic, Social and Philosophical Aspects. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0852240511
• Driver, G. R. & Mills, John C. (1952-55). The Babylonian Laws. 2 Vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198251106
• Dworkin, Ronald. (2005). Taking Rights Seriously. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674867114
• Gagarin, Michael. (1986). Early Greek Law. Reprint edition (1989). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520066022
• Garner, Richard. (1987). Law and Society in Classical Athens. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0312008562
• Garoupa, Nuno & Klerman, Daniel. (2002). "Optimal Law Enforcement with a Rent-Seeking Government". American Law and Economics Review Vol. 4, No. 1. pp116-140.
• Guterman, Simeon L. (1990). The Principle of the Personality of Law in the Germanic Kingdoms of Western Europe from the Fifth to the Eleventh Century. New York: P. Lang. ISBN 0820407313
• Hart, H.L.A. (1961). The Concept of Law. 2nd revised edition (1997). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198761236
• Hart, H.L.A. (1972). Law, Liberty and Morality. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804701547
• Kern, Fritz. (1948). Kingship and Law in the Middle Ages. Reprint edition (1985), Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
• Kramer, Samuel Noah. (1971). The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character. Chicago: University of Chicago. ISBN 0226452387
• Maine, Henry Sumner. (1861). Ancient Law: Its Connection with the Early History of Society, and Its Relation to Modern Ideas. Reprint edition (1986). Tucson: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0816510067
• Oppenheim, A. Leo (and Reiner, Erica as editor). (1964). Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization. Revised edition (September 15, 1977). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226631877
• Pennington, Kenneth. (1993). The Prince and the Law, 1200–1600: Sovereignty and Rights in the Western Legal Tradition. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Polinsky, A. Mitchell. (1980). "Private versus Public Enforcement of Fines". The Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. IX, No. 1, (January), pp105-127.
• Polinsky, A. Mitchell & Shavell, Steven. (1997). "On the Disutility and Discounting of Imprisonment and the Theory of Deterrence," NBER Working Papers 6259, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [1]
• Skaist, Aaron Jacob. (1994). The Old Babylonian Loan Contract: Its History and Geography. Ramat Gan, Israel: Bar-Ilan University Press. ISBN 9652261610
• Tierney, Brian. (1979). Church Law and Constitutional Thought in the Middle Ages. London: Variorum Reprints. ISBN 0860780368
• Tierney, Brian. (1964). The Crisis of Church and State, 1050–1300. Reprint edition (1988). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802067018
• Vinogradoff, Paul. (1909). Roman Law in Medieval Europe. Reprint edition (2004). Kessinger Publishing Co. ISBN 1417949090

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Crime  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Crime"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.