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Types of Crime
• Part I Offenses– Violent– Property (e.g. car theft)
• Part II Crimes– Everything else– E.g. public drunkeness
What the UCR does not Measure
• Unreported Crimes
• Poor Reporting/discretion
• The Number rather than the rate
Crime and Law
Crime: behavior that violates the criminal law and is punishable by a fine, jail term, or other negative sanctions
2 categories of criminal law:Misdemeanors: minor crime, punishment is
fine or <1 year in jail (ex: public drunkenness)Felonies: serious crimes, punishment is >1
year in jail or even death. (ex: murder, rape)
The Crime Rate
• Between 1970 and 1980, the crime rate rose by 40%
• It has declined by 36% since 1991
• Despite this, crime is still higher than in previous decades
• Crime at St. Edward’s University
Juvenile Crime
• Difficult to Deter Children
• Young People commit 20% of all crimes
• We try to give them a clean slate
Who Commits Crimes (Individual Level Theories)
• Internal Factors cause people to Commit Crimes
• Biology
• Psychological Theories
Solution is to Lock up people with these traits
Sociological Theories of Crime
• Criminal Activity derives from social and economic conditions of society (functionalism)
• Otherwise normal people are changed by the conditions in which they live
Solution is macro-societal change
Crime And Deterrence
• For Deterrence to work, threats must be made credible– The Godfather– Certain– Swift– Severe
• If Benefits from Crime outweigh the costs, we have crime
Guns and Gun Laws
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
30,000 gun deaths per year
Federal Gun Laws
• Bans on interstate commerce involving guns
• The Brady Law
• The Impact of Gun Laws
Who are our criminals
• Men- the biggest predictor of whether someone commits a crime
• Age
• Economics
Hate Crimes
• Must show that crime is bias motivated.
• There has to be an actual crime committed
• Hurt Feelings are not protected under Hate Crime legislation
The Bill of Rights Provides Basic Criminal Protections
• ½ of all felonies are dismissed
• Unreasonable search and seizures
• Self Incrimination
• Exclusionary Rule
Plea bargaining
• 90% of cases are plea bargained
• Cuts down on costs and system overload
• Critics argue that it disadvantages the poor
Sentencing
• Duty of the judge to decide who gets what
• States differ in maximum and minimums
• This has lead to an increase in incarceration
Where you go
• Jails- run by county or city
• Prisons- usually run by state for sentences of 1 year or more
• Federal Prisons
Incarceration Rates
• 750 Americans per 100,000
• 1 in 30 between 20 and 34
• 1 in 5 black males
• 1 in 36 Hispanic Males
• 1 in 99 adults were in prison or jails
Costs of Corrections
• How much do we spend– 6.8% of state budgets– $49 Billion nationwide– 3.3. Billion in Texas
• Why so Costly?
The Problem of Recidivism
• The Repeat of an Offense
• 2/3-3/4 are Recidivists
– Parole, Probation and Rehabilitation do not seem to work.
Legalizing/Decriminalizing
• Victimless Crimes
• Minor Drug offenses
It sends a message that society tolerates and supports such activities
Alternatives to prisons
• Current system is very expensive
• More unconditional releases
• More House arrests
Make people less of a target
• Better home/personal security
• More cameras
• Decrease environmental opportunities.