criminology final

Bribery, corruption, political

Bribery and other forms of corruption are ingrained in the political machinery of local and state governments. Examples abound: mayors of large cities attempt to obtain favors through bribes; manufacturers pay off political figures for favors; municipal officials demand kickbacks from contractors. In response to the seriousness of political corruption and bribery, Congress established two crimes: It is now a felony to accept a bribe or to provide a bribe. Corruption can also be found in private industry. One firm pays another to induce it to use a product or service; a firm pays its own board of directors or officers to dispense special favors; two or more firms, presumably competitors, secretly agree to charge the same prices for their products or services.

Environmental Criminology

Examines the location of a specific crime and the context in which it occurred in order to understand and explain crime patterns. It asks: Where and when did the crime occur? What are the physical and social characteristics of the crime site? What movements bring offender and target together at the crime site? Environmental criminologists want to know how physical "location in time and space" interacts with the offender, the target/victim, and the law that makes the crime an illegal act. It begins with the assumption that some people are criminally motivated.

Credit card fraud

New risks accompany our cashless society, including credit card fraud. As of 2007, the FBI estimates the losses associated with credit card fraud to be near $60 billion annually. In 1971, Congress enacted legislation that limited the financial liability of owners of stolen credit cards to $50.

Medicare fraud

$140 billion is lost to Medicare fraud each year

Monopolies

-Beginning in the nineteenth century, corporations were suspected of wielding monopolistic power to the detriment of consumers. The theory behind monopoly is simple: If you buy out all your competitors or drive them out of business, then you are the only one from whom people can buy the product you sell. So you can set the price very high, for your profit and to the detriment of the consumers. 1. The Sugar Trust was one such monopoly. A few powerful businessmen eliminated all competitors and then drove up the price of sugar, to the detriment of the public. Theodore Roosevelt fought and broke up the Sugar Trust. -The Sherman Antitrust Act was followed by the Clayton Antitrust Act (1914), which further curbed the ability of corporations to enrich their shareholders at the expense of the public, by prohibiting acts such as price fixing.

Larceny

-(Theft, stealing) Is the prototype of all property offenses. It is also the most prevalent crime in our society. It includes purse snatching, pickpocketing, shoplifting, art theft, and vehicle theft. -Larceny was a capital offense in medieval England. Courts interpreted all its elements quite strictly-- that is, in favor of the defendants-- so as to limit the use of capital punishment. For the other forms of deceptive acquisition of property, such as embezzling funds and obtaining property by false pretenses, Parliament had to enact separate legislation. -In the U.S. larceny rates are extraordinarily high. The UCR reported 6.2 million thefts in 2010, or a rate of 2,003.8 for each 100,000 population. The NCVS figure, 11.2 million, is nearly two times the UCR number, and neither figure includes automobile thefts. In 2007, the estimated dollar value of stolen goods to victims nationally was 5.1 billion. The vast majority of thefts are, and always have been, committed without personal contact with the victims.

Burglary

-A "burg," in Anglo-Saxon terminology was a secure place for the protection of oneself, one's family, and one's property. The original burglary law made it a crime to break and enter the dwelling of another person at night with the intention of committing a crime therein. (It had to be at night, for during the day the inhabitants could defend themselves, or so it was thought) -By breaking, the law meant any trespass, and the entering was complete as soon as the perpetrator extended any part of his or her body into the house. Today burglary is no longer limited to night attacks, although by statute the crime may be considered more serious if committed at night. The UCR defines burglary simply as the unlawful entry into a structure to commit a felony or theft. -The use of force to gain entry is not a required element of burglary under the UCR. Burglary rates have consistently declined over the past decade.

Structural issues in homicide

-A comparison of homicide rates with historical and socioeconomic data from 110 nations over a 5-year period led researchers to the following conclusions: 1. Combatant nations experience an increase in homicides following cessation of hostilities (violence has come to be seen as a legitimate means of settling disputes). 2. The largest cities have the highest homicide rates; the smallest have the lowest homicide rates; but, paradoxically, as a city grows, its homicide rate per capita does not. 3. The availability of capital punishment does not result in fewer homicides and in fact often results in more; abolition of capital punishment decreases the homicide rate. 4. We have seen that murder rates are not distributed equally among countries or within a single country, or even within neighborhoods. -As noted earlier, in the U.S., homicide rates tend to be higher in the West and the South. A greater proportion of males, young people, and blacks are perpetrators and victims of homicide, which tends to be committed against someone the killer knows, at or near the home of at least one of the persons involved, in the evening or on a weekend. Gang murders are increasing dramatically. A number of experts have found that homicides are related to the everyday patterns of interactions in socially disorganized slum areas.

Elder Abuse

-Amendments to the Older Americans Act appeared in 1987, along with a definition of elder abuse. The definition is used only as a guideline and not for enforcement purposes. State laws provide their own definitions of elder abuse, and these definitions vary across state jurisdictions. Nevertheless, three categories of elder abuse emerged: 1. Domestic elder abuse-- results when an older person is maltreated by someone who has a special relationship with the elder, such as a spouse, sibling, child, or friend 2. Institutional elder abuse-- occurs in the context of a residential facility, such as a nursing home, in which paid caregivers or other staff are the perpetrators 3. Self neglect or self abuse-- occurs when elderly persons threaten their own health or safety by, for example, failing to provide themselves with proper amounts of food, clothing, shelter, or medication -Estimated that between 500,000 and 2.5 million elderly people are abused annually. Among the causes of such abuse are caregivers who themselves grew up in homes where violence was a way of life, the stress of caregiving in a private home rather than an institution, generational conflicts, and frustration with gerontological (old age) problems of the care receiver, such as illness and senility.

Bankruptcy fraud

-Any scam designed to take advantage of loopholes in the bankruptcy laws. The FBI estimates that 10% of all bankruptcy filings involve fraud. The most common are: 1. Similar name scam: involves the creation of a corporation that has a name similar to that of an established firm. The objective is to create the impression that this new company is actually the older one. If the trick is successful, the swindlers place large orders with established suppliers and quickly resell any merchandise they receive, often to fences. At the same time the swindlers remove all the money and assets of the corporation and either file for bankruptcy or wait until creditors sue. Then they leave the jurisdiction or adeptly erase their tracks. 2. Old company scam: involves employees of an already established firm who, motivated by a desire for quick profits, bilk the company of its money and assets and file for bankruptcy. Typically used when the company is losing money or has lost its hold on a market. 3. New company scam: much like similar name-- a new corporation is formed, credit is obtained, and orders are placed. Once merchandise is received, it is converted into cash with the assistance of a fence. By the time the company is forced into bankruptcy, the architects of the scheme have liquidated the corporation's assets 4. Successful business scam: involves a profitable corporation that is well positioned in a market but experiences a change in ownership. After the new owners have bilked the corporation of all its money and assets, the firm is forced into bankruptcy

Sexual Assault

-Common law defined rape as an act of forced intercourse by a man of a woman without her consent. Intercouse includes any sexual penetration, however slight. Rape is inherently a crime of violence, an exercise of power. -As Susan Brownmiller agrees, it really started out as a property crime. Men as archetypal aggressors subjugated women to a persistent threat of rape. That threat forced each woman to submit to a man for protection and thus to become a wife, the property of a man. Rape was then made a crime to protect one man's property--his wife-- from the aggressions of other men. -Most rapes are committed in the summer, particularly in July and in marriages involving alcoholic husbands. 48% of rapes are committed by victims who know their husbands. -There is an arrest made for all types of forcible rape in about 40% of the cases. It is estimated that 60% of rapes are not reported.

Internet Crime Report

-Compile information and forward to LE -Public service announcements, tips -262,813 complaints

Fraud (types)

-Consumer fraud: the act of causing a consumer to surrender money through deceit or a misrepresentation of a material fact. These offenses range from health care fraud to Internet action fraud-- 1. Home-improvement fraud 2. Deceptive advertising 3. Telemarketing fraud 4. Land fraud 5. Business opportunity fraud -Insider related fraud involves the use and misuse of one's position for pecuniary gain or privilege. This category of offenses includes embezzlement, employee related theft, and sale of confidential information. -Embezzlement is the conversion (misappropriation) of property or money with which one is entrusted or for which one has a fiduciary responsibility. Yearly losses attributable to embezzlement are estimated to be over $1 billion. Employee-related thefts of company property are responsible for a significant share of industry losses. Estimates place such losses between $4 billion and $13 billion each year. Criminologists John Clark and Richard Hollinger have estimated that the 35% of employee pilferage in some corporations results primarily from vocational dissatisfaction and a perception of exploitation. In a free marketplace where a premium is placed on competition, corporations must guard against the sale of confidential information and trade secrets. The best insurance policy is employee loyalty.

Government Control

-Corporate misconduct is covered by a broad range of federal and state statutes, including the federal conspiracy laws; the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act; federal securities laws; mail fraud statutes; the Federal Corrupt Practices Act; the Federal Election Campaign Act; legislation on lobbying, bribery, and corruption; the Internal Revenue Code (especially regarding major tax crimes, slush funds, and improper payments); the Bank Secrecy Act; and federal provisions on obstruction of justice, perjury, and false statements. -The underlying theory is that if the brain of the artificial person (usually the board of directors of the corporation) authorizes or condones the act in question, the body (the corporation) must suffer criminal penalty. The problem is that if the corporation gets punished, which is usually done with a substantial fine, the penalty falls on the shareholders, most of whom had no say in the corporate decision.

National Stolen Art File

-Created by the FBI. Consists of a computerized index of stolen art and other forms of cultural property. Once items are reported to either local law enforcement agencies within the U.S. or abroad, the FBI is notified and then incorporates images and physical descriptions of the objects, as well as information specific to the investigation of the particular art theft. Three specific criteria must be met: 1. Object must be of artistic or historic significance 2. Must be worth $2,000 or more. If worth less than $2,000, must be associated with a major crime 3. Request for inclusion must be made by a law enforcement agency

Corporate culpability

-Crimes by one or more employees of an organization that are attributed to the organization itself. On average, between 200 and 350 corporations are convicted each year in federal courts for offenses ranging from tax law violations to environmental crimes. The vast majority of these companies are small to medium size privately held corporations. One problem with corporate crime is defining it. -A corporation's willingness to accept responsibility, cooperate with authorities, and implement a compliance reveals corporate due diligence and mitigates a sanction. To help companies understand how to best position themselves relative to prosecutors and regulators, consultants for a new and emerging industry-- the corporate industry-- offered their skills. The compliance industry markets the story that evidence of organizational due diligence (cooperating with authorities, creating an ethics code, hiring ethics officers, etc.) likely forestalls a criminal investigation, minimizes the likelihood of a criminal indictment, and regularly leads to grant of governmental leniency.

History of drug abuse

-Drug problem-- refers to a wide variety of conditions that stretch beyond our borders, that involve all social classes, that in one way or another touch most people's lives. -Egyptian relics from 3500 B.C. depict the use of opium in religious rituals. By 1600 B.C., an Egyptian reference work listed opium as a painkiller -The Incas are said to have used cocaine at least 5,000 years ago. Cannabis, the hemp plant from which marijuana and hashish are derived, also has a 5,000-year history -The modern era of drug abuse in the U.S. began with the use for medicinal purposes.

Most shoplifted items

-Drugstores: condoms, birth control methods, intimate medications -Libraries: books about sex

Fraud against government

-Governments at all levels are victims of a vast amount of fraud, which includes collusion in bidding, payoffs and kickbacks to government officials, expenditures by a government official that exceed the budget, the filing of false claims, the hiring of friends or associates formerly employed by the government, and offers of inducements to government officials. -From 1986 to 1994, the Department of Defense reported that 138 defense contractors made 325 voluntary disclosures of potential procurement fraud. Recoveries from these disclosures amounted to $290 million. -An important step to curb government contract fraud was taken with the passage of the Major Fraud Act (1988), creating a separate offense contract fraud in excess of $1 million.

EPA

-In 1969, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Among other things, the act created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It requires environmental impact studies so that any new development that would significantly affect the environment can be prevented or controlled. -The agency monitors plant discharges all over the country and may take action against private industry or municipal governments. Yet during the first 5 years of its existence, the EPA referred only 130 cases to the U.S. Department of Justice for criminal prosecution, and only 6 of those involved major corporate offenders. The government actually charged only one of the corporations, Allied Chemical, which admitted responsibility for 940 misdemeanor counts of discharging toxic chemicals into the Charles River in Virginia, thereby charging 80 people to become ill. -A 1979 report of the General Accounting Office stated that the EPA inadequately monitored, inaccurately reported, and ineffectively enforced the nation's basic law on air pollution, although the agency's chief at that time contended that corrective action had been taken during the previous year. The situation improved during the 1990s, but the environment is far from safe.

Hotspots

-In 1989, Lawrence Sherman, Patrick Gartin, and Michael Buerger published the results of a study that immediately excited the profession. They had analyzed 911 calls for police assistance in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the period between December 15, 1985, and December 15, 1986. After plotting more than 320,000 on a map, they discovered that 3% of the addresses and intersections in the city were the subject of 50% of the calls received. -Found that certain types of crime were committed in specific places-- for example, all auto thefts at 2% of all places. The researchers concluded that attempts to prevent victimization should be focused not on victims, nut on the places themselves by making them less vulnerable to the crime. We should identify neighborhood hotspots, reduce social disorder and physical "incivilities," and promote housing-based neighborhood stabilization. Subsequent research provides support for this idea by showing the crime and disorder reduction effects of hot-spots policing.

Assault/battery

-The crimes of homicide and serious assault share many characteristics. Both typically are committed by young males, and a disproportionate number of arrestees are members of minority groups. Assault victims, too, often know their attackers. Assault rates, like those of homicide, are highest in urban areas, during the summer months, in the evening hours, and in the South. An assault is an attack on another person that is made with apparent ability to injury and that is intended to frighten or to cause physical harm. An attack that results in touching or striking the victim is called a battery. Modern statutes typically recognize two types of assault: a simple assault is one that inflicts little or no physical hurt; a felonious assault, or aggravated assault, is one in which the perpetrator inflicts serious harm on the victim or uses a deadly weapon. -The NCVS estimates that 2,423,060 simple assaults were committed in 2010. Assault is the most common of all violent crimes reported to the police. The number of aggravated assaults has declined in recent years, reaching 725,180 in 2010. These figures, however, grossly underestimate the real incidence.

Spousal Abuse

-In a national sample of 6,002 households, Murray A. Straus and Richard J. Gelles found that about one of every six couples experiences at least one physical assault during the year. While both husbands and wives perpetrate acts of violence, the consequences of their acts differ. Men, who more often use guns, knives, or fists, inflict more pain and injury. About 60% of spousal assaults consist of minor shoving, slapping, and pushing; the other 40% are considered severe: punching, kicking, stabbing, choking. Partner violence is strongly linked to a variety of mental illnesses, a background of family adversity, dropping out of school, juvenile aggression, drug abuse, long-term unemployment, and cohabitation and/or parenthood at a young age. Research also suggests that women who have children by the age of 21 are two times more likely to be victims of domestic violence than are women who are not mothers, and that men who father children by age 21 are three times more likely to be perpetrators of abuse than are men who are not fathers. -Moroccan researcher Mohammed Ayat reported that of 160 battered women, about 25% believed that a man who does not beat his wife must be under some magic spell; 8% believed that such a man has a weak personality and is afraid of his wife; and another 2% believed that he does not love her or has little interest in her. -Studies demonstrate that children who are raised by aggressive parents tend to grow up to be aggressive adults. -Spouse abuse has often been attributed to the imbalance of power between male and female partners.

High-tech crime/criminals

-Involves an attempt to pursue illegal activities through the use of advanced electronic media. The British Banking Association in London estimates the cost of computer fraud worldwide to be $8 billion a year. Few law enforcement agencies are equipped to detect the high-tech crimes occurring within their jurisdictions. Because the nature of high-tech crime allows perpetrators to carry out their illegal activities without any geographic limitations, tracing high-tech criminal activity to the responsible individual is very difficult. Traditional law enforcement techniques are not designed to deal with such novel and complex crimes. -Characteristics of the high-tech criminal: 1. 14-19 years old 2. White males from middle class backgrounds 3. Often possess superior IQ levels (over 120) 4. On a social level are withdrawn and associate mainly with peers who share their fascination for electronic gadgets and computer-related activities 5. Some youths believe they are part of a counterculture, fighting censorship, liberating information, and challenging big businesses and major corporations. In a way they perceive themselves as modern Robin Hoods -It is estimated by the U.S. Software-Publisher's Association that approximately $7.5 billion worth of American software is illegally copied and distributed annually worldwide. In 2007, for every two dollars spent on legitimate software purchases, one dollar's worth of software was obtained illegally. In the highest piracy countries-- those with 75% piracy or higher-- for every one dollar spent on PC hardware, less than 7 cents was spent on legitimate software. In developed markets, that ratio is 10 times higher.

Professional thieves

-Make a career of stealing. They take pride in their profession. They are imaginative and creative in their work and accept its risks. The most common crimes committed by professional thieves are pickpocketing, shoplifting, forgery, confidence swindling, and burglary. Also are involved in art theft, motor vehicle theft, and fraud or theft by use of stolen or forged credit cards, among other crimes. -The most influential study of professional thieves was conducted by Edwin Sutherland in 1937. Found that professional thieves share five characteristics: 1. They have well developed technical skills for their particular mode of operation 2. They enjoy status, accorded to them by their own subculture and by law enforcement 3. They are bound by consensus, a sharing of values with their own peers 4. Not only do they learn from each other, but they also protect each other 5. They are organized, however loosely

Definitions of white collar crime

-Much of what we define today as white collar crime, however, is the result of laws passed within the last century. In 1940, Edwin H. Sutherland provided criminologists with the first scholarly account of white-collar crime. He defined it as crime "committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation." -Generally, however, white collar crime is defined as a violation of the law committed by a person or group of persons in the course of an otherwise respected and legitimate occupation or business enterprise. -Because the relation of buyer to seller has become increasingly less personal in an age of medical group practice, HMOs, large law firms, and drugstore chains, opportunities for occupational crimes-- crimes committed in the course of rendering a service-- have correspondingly increased. Medicare fraud, misuse of clients' funds by lawyers and brokers, substitution of inferior goods-- all such offenses are occupational crimes.

Child Abuse

-One half to three quarters of men who batter women also beat their children, and many sexually abuse them as well. The majority of abused sons over 14 suffer injuries trying to protect their mothers. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 3.7 million reports of suspected child abuse or neglect were made to CPS in 2008. -Some researchers pointed out that abusive parents did not know how to discipline children, or for that matter, even how to provide for basic needs, such as nutrition and medical attention. The rate of child abuse in lower income families is high. Low income parents have few resources for dealing with the stresses to which they are subjected, such as poor housing and financial problems. Moreover, the risk of abuse is twice as great for children living with single parents as for children living with both parents. -One study suggests that, particularly in the case of child sexual abuse, those offenders who are charged with abusing multiple victims are much more likely to be prosecuted than are offenders related to the victim. Cases in which serious abuse was involved and medical evidence of abuse existed were also more likely to be prosecuted.

Arson

-Only two types of property crime are concerned with real property. Burglary is one, arson is the other. Arson is the malicious burning of or setting fire to the dwelling of another person. Modern statutes have distinguished degrees of severity of the offense and have increased its scope to include other structures and even personal property, such as automobiles. Arson has always been viewed as a more violent crime than burglary. In comparison with burglary, however, arson is a fairly infrequent offense. -A total of 64,332 arson offenses were reported in 2007. Buildings were the most frequent targets (43%), 27.9 percent were mobile property, and crops and timber constituted 29.2%. The annual estimated property loss is well over $2 billion. -Juvenile motive: 1. Psychological pain, anger, revenge, need for attention, malicious mischief, or excitement 2. Classified into three groups: the playing with matches fire starter, the crying for help fire starter, and the severely disturbed fire starter. -Adult motive: 1. Revenge, jealousy, hatred, financial gain (usually insurance fraud), intimidation and/or extortion (often involving organized crime), need for attention, arson to conceal other crimes

National Survey on Drug Use and Health

-Provides some of the best estimates of drug use and drug use trends for the U.S. According to 2010 survey, an estimated 22.6 million Americans (8.9%) age 12 and older, are current users. Estimates of marijuana use or dependence among youths 12 to 17 remained stable from 6.7% in 2007 to 6.9% in 2010. -22.6 million Americans (12+) were current (past month) drug users -Marijuana-- most common, 17.4 million past month users -Cocaine-- 1.5 million (0.6%) -Hallucinogens-- 1.2 million (0.5%) -Prescription drugs-- 7 million (2.7%) -51.8% drank alcohol

Relationship violence

-Some research indicates that as many as 25% percent of all female college students may have experienced rape. By college, 50% of women have experienced some form of emotional, physical, and/or sexual violence. -Christine M. Forke, and her colleagues, for example, found that: 1. Of Forke's college samples 44.7% experienced relationship violence either before or during college, including 42.1% who were victims of such violence and 17.1% of participants who reported perpetuating violence 2. Rates of both perpetuating and being a victim of relationship violence were higher before college than during college 53% of women and 27.2% of men reported victimization 3. More than half of the violence experienced during college was related to a partner rather than a friend or acquaintance 4. Emotional violence was most common before college, 21.1%, while sexual and emotional violence were equally common during college-- 12% and 11.8%, respectively 5. Men were more likely to perpetrate sexual violence, while women were more likely to perpetrate physical violence

Obscenity

-The Commission of Obscenity and Pornography (1970) avoided a definition and used instead the term "explicit sexual material." The Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (1986) gave no definition. The Commission also could not conclude that exposure to erotic materials is a factor in the causation of sex crimes or sex delinquency. However, they did conclude that exposure to porn: 1. Leads to a greater acceptance of rape myths and violence toward women 2. Results in pronounced effects when the victim is shown enjoying the use of force or violence 3. Is arousing for rapists and for some males in the general population 4. Has resulted in sexual aggression toward women in the laboratory

NCVS Statistics

-The NCVS estimates that 2,423,060 simple assaults were committed in 2010. Assault is the most common of all violent crimes reported to the police. -Researchers agree that assaultive behavior within the family is a highly underreported crime. Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey indicate: 1. One half of the incidents of domestic assault are not reported 2. The most common reason for failure to report a domestic assault to the police was that the victim considered the incident a private matter 3. Victims who reported such incidents to the police did so to prevent future assaults 4. Although the police classified two-thirds of the reported incidents of domestic violence as simple assaults, half of them inflicted bodily injury as serious as, or more serious than, the injuries inflicted during rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults

Fraud

-The acquisition of the property of another through cheating or deception. The essence of the crime of obtaining false pretenses is that the victim is made to part with property voluntarily, as a result of the perpetrator's untrue statements regarding a supposed fact. -About $60 billion is paid in auto insurance claims annually. It is estimated that 10% of those claims are fraudulent. The National Automobile Theft Bureau holds that 15% of all reported thefts are fraudulent. Staged claims, owner dumping, abandoned vehicles, staged accidents, intended accidents, caused accidents

Motor vehicle theft

-The largest property crime in the U.S. According to the UCR, approximately 737,142 motor vehicles were stolen in the United States in 2010. The value of motor vehicles stolen in 2010 was roughly $4.5 billion. In 2007, 73% of the vehicles stolen were passenger cars, 18.1% were trucks and buses and 8.6% were other types of vehicles. The clearance rate (by arrest), as distinguished from the recovery rate of vehicles, is low-- about 12.6%. -Of car thieves, 36.5% are youngsters under 18. Most of their acts amount to "joyriding," a type of larceny that lacks the element of "intent to deprive the owner of the property permanently." At the other end of the spectrum are older, professional auto thieves who steal designated cars on consignment for resale in an altered condition (with identifying numbers changed) or for disposition in "chop shops," which strip the cars for the resale value of their parts. Some estimate that a vehicle is worth three times its value when sold illegally for parts by professional car thieves. -Different strategies used to steal cars for financial gain: 1. Strip and run-- when a thief steals a car, strips it for parts, and abandons the vehicle 2. Scissors job-- scissors are jammed into ignition of American-made car 3. Valet theft-- thief poses as valet Insurance fraud-- owner reports car missing and hides it for approx 30 days; insurance claims are often paid without question -Carjacking is considered a combination of motor vehicle theft and robbery. A car is stolen by use of force or threat of force. Between 1993 and 2002, there were an average of 38,000 completed or attempted nonfatal carjackings.

Robbery

-The taking of property from a victim by force and violence or by the threat of violence. The average sentence upon conviction for one charge of robbery is 6 years. There were an estimated 367,832 robberies in 2010, as well as a $588 million loss as a result of robbery in 2007. There were 300,000 robberies in 2015. -According to the Uniform Crime Reports, nearly 90% of those arrested for robbery in 2010 were males. Approximately 60% of the arrestees were under 25 years of age. In terms of race, blacks accounted for more than 50% of all robbery arrests, white accounted for 45%, and all other races constituted the remaining 1% of all robbery arrests.

Environmental crime

-The world's legal systems include a few effective laws and mechanisms to curb destruction of the environment. -Developing effective laws to protect the environment is a complex problem. It is far easier to define murder and theft than it is to define pollution. Moreover, pollution is hard to quantify.

Hacking

-There are two types of computer network break ins. The first is commonly known as hacking. It is not practiced for criminal gain and therefore can be considered more mischievous than malicious. Nevertheless, network intrusions have been made illegal by the U.S. federal government. -The second type of break in is done for illegal purposes. A criminal might break into a large credit card company's database to steal card numbers or into a network to steal data or sensitive information. Other criminal acts include vandalism, whereby individuals break into a system, alter its operating structure, delete important files, change passwords, or plant viruses. -"Cyber spies" can be hired to break into a competitor's computer and gather secret information, often leaving no trace of the intrusion.

Issues with prosecuting rape

-Victims of rape have often been regarded with suspicion by the criminal justice system. The victim's testimony has not been sufficient to convict the defendant, no matter how impeachable that testimony may have been. There had to be "corroborating evidence," such as semen, torn clothes, bruises, or eyewitness testimony. -Another major issue has been that of consent. Did the victim encourage, entice, or maybe even agree to the act? Was the attack forced? Did the victim resist? "There is a widespread belief in our culture that women 'ask for it'" -Because defendants in rape cases so often claim that the victim was in some way responsible for the attack, rape victims in the courtroom tend to be the "accused," required to defend their good reputations, their propriety, and their mental soundness. The severity of the assault, the injuries the victim sustains, whether or not the assailant was a stranger, and the victim's social support network all play a role in terms of the rape reporting process.

Hate Crimes & Laws

A crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups increased from 474 in 1997 to 1,002 in 2010. One of the most recent tools used to attract these members is the Internet. Since 1995, over 160 online hate sites have been identified. Although hate crimes make up only a small percentage of overall criminality, the viciousness of the acts and their impact on broad population groups give them prominence in the media and pose extraordinary challenges to the criminal justice system. Presently, some police departments are forming bias-crime units to further the investigation of these crimes.

Fencing

A fence is a person who buys stolen property, on a regular basis, for resale

Stranger homicide

A killing in which killer and victim have had no known previous contact. This was estimated to be 14% in 2010. However, according to Marc Riedel, the true figures range from 14 to 29%.

Felony murder

A special form of murder, felony murder, requires no intention to kill. It requires, instead, the intention to commit some other felony, such as robbery or rape, and the death of a person during the commission of or flight from that felony. Even accomplices are guilty of felony murder when one of their associates has caused a death. For example, while A and B are holding up a gas station attendant, A fires a warning shot, and the bullet ricochets and kills a passerby. Both A and B are guilty of felony murder. This originated in England centuries ago. Most states today only apply the felony murder rule when the underlying felony is a life-endangering one, such as arson, rape, or robbery.

Kidnapping

Abduction and detention by force or fraud and transport beyond the place where the crime was committed. It was not until the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's infant son in 1932 that comprehensive kidnapping legislation was enacted in the U.S. In passing the federal kidnapping statute-- the so-called Lindbergh Act (now 18 U.S. Code Sec. 1201)-- Congress made it a felony to kidnap and transport a victim across a state or national border. The crime was subject to the death penalty unless the victim was released unharmed. In the U.S., kidnapping often involves the abduction of a child from one parent by the other.

Routine Activities

According to Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson, when a suitable target that is unguarded comes together in time and space with a likely offender who is not "handled," the potential for a crime is there. This approach began with an analysis of crime rate increases in the post-World War II era (1947-1974), when socioeconomic conditions had improved in America. The increase was puzzling, since the general public and some criminologists expected crime rates to decrease with an increase in prosperity. But the authors of the routine-activity approach demonstrated that certain technological changes and alterations in the workforce create new crime opportunities. They referred to increases in female participation in the labor force, out-of-town travel, automobile usage, and technological advances as factors that account for higher risks of predatory victimization. Further advances in technology create opportunities for the commission of crime. For example, as iPads, personal and laptop computers, and iPods have become more common and lighter to carry, they have become attractive targets for thieves and burglars. The chance that a piece of property will become the target of a theft is based on the value of the target and its weight.

Securities-related offenses

After the stock market crash on October 26, 1929, the federal government enacted a series of regulatory laws, including the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, aimed at prohibiting manipulation and deceptive practices. The 1934 act provided for the establishment of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an organization with broad regulatory and enforcement powers. The SEC is empowered to initiate civil suits and administrative actions and to refer criminal cases to the U.S. Department of Justice. Crime in the securities field remains common. Four kind of offenses are prevalent

Utilitarianism

Assumes that people make decisions with the goal of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.

Crime-related activities

Annual sales of illegal drugs are estimated to be between $300-500 billion. Profits are enormous because no taxes are paid on them. Because the profits are "dirty money," they must undergo money laundering. Typically the cash obtained from drug sales in the U.S. is physically smuggled out of the country because it cannot be legally exported without disclosure. Smuggling cash is not easy-- $1 million in $20 bills weighs 100 pounds. New methods of laundering drug profits that do not involve a physical transfer of cash-- fake real estate; purchase of gold, antiques, and art; and cyber currency (microchip-based electronic money).

Malice aforethought

At common law, murder was defined as the intentional killing of another person with malice aforethought. Courts have struggled with an exact definition of "malice." To describe it, they have used terms such as "evil mind" and "abandoned and malignant heart." Actually, malice is a very simple concept. It is the defendant's awareness that he or she had no right to kill but intended to kill anyway. Originally the malice had to be "aforethought": the person had to have killed after some contemplation, rather than on the spur of the moment. Eventually the concept became meaningless because some courts considered even a few seconds sufficient to establish a forethought. The dividing line between planned and spur-of-the-moment killings disappeared. But many legislators believed contemplation was an appropriate concept, because it allowed us to distinguish the various types of murder. They reintroduced it, calling it "premeditation and deliberation." A premeditated, deliberate, intentional killing became murder in the first degree; an intentional killing without premeditation became murder in the second degree.

Art theft

At the high end of the larceny scale, we find art theft. It is as old as art itself. As prices for antiques and modern art soar, the demand for stolen art soars.

Opioid epidemic

By 19th century, two components of opium were identified and given the names "morphine" and "codeine." Ignorant of the addictiveness of these drugs, physicians used them to treat wide variety of illnesses. Even were incorporated into soothing syrups for babies-- Mother Barley's Quieting Syrup and Mumm's Elixir. During Civil War, morphine was used so often for battle casualties that addiction became known as "soldiers disease." By the time it was realized how addictive morphine was, it had reached epidemic proportions

Prohibition

By the turn of the 20th century, social reformers linked alcohol to prostitution, poverty, the immigration society, and corrupt politics. Various lobbying groups such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the American Anti-Saloon League, bombarded politicians with demands for the prohibition of alcohol. On January 16, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect. The Volstead Act of 1919 had already defined as "intoxicating liquor" any beverage that contained more than ½-1% alcohol. No law has ever been more widely violated or more unpopular. The illegal business brought tremendous profits, and it could not be controlled by enforcement officers, who were too inefficient, too few, or too corrupt. The unlawful sale of alcohol was called bootlegging. The amendment was repealed 13 years later-- December 5, 1933.

Cocaine

Cocaine was isolated from the coca leaf in 1860 for medicinal purposes-- to unlock the sinuses. Coca cola was made with coca until 1903. As the consumption of opium products (narcotics) and cocaine spread, states passed a variety of laws to restrict the sale of these substances. It is estimated that there were 200,000 addicts in the early 1900s. Growing concern over the increase in addiction led in 1914 to the passage of the Harrison Act, designed to regulate the domestic use, sale, and transfer of opium and coca products. It was a double edged sword-- by restricting importation and distribution, paved the way for drug smuggling and black-market operations that are so deeply entrenched today.

Lifestyle theories

Developed by Michael Hindelang, Michael Gottfredson, and James Garofalo in 1978. It argues that because of changing roles (working mother versus homemaker) and schedules (a child's school calendar), people lead different lifestyles (work and leisure activities). Variation in lifestyle affect the number of situations with high victimization risks that a person experiences. The kinds of people someone associates with also affect victimization rates. Both the lifestyle theory of victimization and the routine activity approach present some basic guidelines for reducing one's chances of victimization. Messages intended to prevent criminal victimization, such as not walking alone late at night, should not be viewed as overly restrictive and intrusive or as blaming victims who did not heed the advice. The messages directed at preventing victimization are based on theory and research and merely promote living and acting responsibly to ensure a more crime-free existence.

Rational Choice

Developed by Ronald Clarke and Derek Cornish. Based on utilitarianism, which assumes that people make decisions with the goal of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain; and economic choice theory, which argues that people evaluate the options and choose what they believe will satisfy their needs/ the benefits outweigh the risks and the effort. Rational choice assumes that people make these decisions with a goal in mind and that they are made more or less intelligently and with free will. This contrasts with the theories of criminality whose underlying assumption is that people commit a crime when forces beyond their control drive them. It implies a limited sense of rationality. An offender does not know all the details of a situation; rather, he or she relies on cues in the environment or characteristics of targets. The offender may not be able to calculate the costs and benefits accurately, and may have an impaired ability to make wise choices. Argues that most crime is quite ordinary and committed by reasoning individuals who decide that the chances of getting caught are low and the possibilities for a relatively good payoff are high. Since the rational choice perspective considers each crime separately/treats each crime as a specific event and focuses on analyzing all its components, it looks at crime in terms of an offender's decision to commit a specific offense at a particular time and place. A variety of factors (or characteristics) come into play when an offender decides to commit a crime. These factors are called "choice structuring properties": -The number of targets and their accessibility -Familiarity with the chosen method (for example, fraud by credit card) -The monetary yield per crime -The expertise/time needed -The physical danger involved -The risk of apprehension

Deadly weapons

Generally defined as a firearm or anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purposes of inflicting death or serious physical injury. The term includes, but is not limited to, a pistol, rifle, or shotgun; or a switchblade knife, gravity knife, stiletto, sword, or dagger; or any billy, blackjack, bludgeon, or metal knuckles. Use and carrying of deadly weapons are governed by state and federal laws. Generally, use of a deadly weapon in commision of a crime enhances the nature and penalty of the crime. Carrying concealed deadly weapons is governed by state laws, which vary by state. Some states allow licensing of qualified persons to carry a concealed deadly weapon. Courts have found that various parts of a body can be weapons, including: hands, feet, teeth, the mouth, and even elbows or knees.

Morality laws

Have always been controversial, whether they seek to prevent alcohol abuse or prohibit certain forms of sexual behavior. Lewd cohabitation, seduction of a female by promise of marriage, and all forms of "unnatural" sexual relations were serious crimes-- some carrying capital sentences-- as late as the 19th century. In 1962, the Moral Penal Code dropped fornication and lewd cohabitation from the list of offenses, as was homsexual intercourse between consenting adults. The code retains strong prohibitions against sexual activities involving a minor-- statutory rape, deviate sexual intercourse with a child, corruption of a minor, sexual assault, and endangering the welfare of a child. "Deviate sexual intercourse" was defined by common law as sodomy, after the biblical city of Sodom, which was destroyed by God for its wickedness, presumably because citizens had engaged in such acts. Common law dealt harshly with sodomy, making it a capital offense and referring to it as crimen innominatum-- a crime not to be mentioned by name.

Heroin

In 1898, the Bayer Company in Germany introduced a new opiate, supposedly a non-addictive substitute for morphine and codeine. It came out under the trade name Heroin, and turned out to be even more addictive than morphine.

Confidence games

In an attempt to protect people from their own greed, a few fraud statutes have included a statutory offense called confidence game. The essence of the offense is that the offender gains the confidence of the victim, induces the victim the expectation of a future gain, and-- by abusing the trust thus created-- makes the victim part with some property. In a sense, confidence games are an aggravated form of obtaining property by false pretenses.

Date rape

Involves a legitimate dating situation turned bad, when force is eventually used to gain sex from a woman who is an unwilling participant. Rohypnol, or roofies, are commonly used. It is estimated that only 10% of date rapes are reported to the police

Predatory rape

Involves a man who, using deception or force, intends and plans to rape his victim by pretending to engage in legitimate dating behavior

Marijuana

Not until the 1930s that the abuse of marijuana began to arouse public concern. Associated with groups outside the social mainstream-- petty criminals, jazz musicians, mexicans. A public outcry for its regulation arose, and Congress responded with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 which placed a prohibitive tax of $100 an ounce on the drug. Passage of the Boggs Act in 1951 added penalties for possession of and trafficking of marijuana (and other controlled substances). Popularity continued

Amateur thieves

Occasional offenders who tend to be opportunists. They take advantage of a chance to steal when little risk is involved. Their acts are carried out with little skill, are unplanned, and result from some pressing situation. Amateurs resolve some immediate crisis by stealing. Many are juveniles who do not go on to commit crimes in adulthood. The lives of amateur thieves are quite conventional. They work, go to school, have conventional friends, and find little support or approval for their criminal behavior.

Stranger rape

Occurs when the victim has had little or no prior contact with the offender

Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

Prohibits traffic in food, drugs, and cosmetics. Declares products prepared/handled under unsanitary conditions or circumstances to be injurious to health.

Sociocultural factors of rape

Rape is culturally related to societal norms that approve of aggression as a demonstration of masculinity or that rape is the mechanism by which men maintain their power over women

Situational Crime Prevention

Rational choice theorists have reviewed their situational-crime-prevention techniques and have added aspects of the offender's perception of a crime opportunity to the catalog of relevant factors, along with the element of guilt or shame. The addition of the category of "perception" of opportunity was self-evident. After all, offenders act only in accordance with what they perceive. The addition of a category called "inducing guilt or shame," on the other hand, is a significant expansion of rational choice. Techniques that induce guilt or shame include the installation of signs saying "shoplifting is stealing" or other measures calculated to prevent common crimes by increasing the personal and social cost in terms of shaming-- especially after being caught in the act. One of the most successful crime-prevention studies was the Tallahassee Convenience Store Study. The researchers recommended that stores have two or more clerks on duty, post "limited cash" signs, increase exterior lighting, and restrict escape routes and potential hiding places for robbers.

Target hardening

Rational choice theory provides the foundation for designing situational-crime-prevention techniques and their classification. Situational crime prevention consists of the knowledge of how, where, and when to implement a specific measure that will alter a particular situation in order to prevent a crime from occurring. The routine activity approach also aims at situational crime prevention by reducing the opportunities for likely offenders to commit crimes. Techniques include protecting suitable targets (making them less suitable) and increasing the presence of capable guardians. Measures such as steering column locks, vandal resistant construction, enhanced street lighting, and improved library checkout systems demonstrably decrease opportunities for crime. These are target hardening techniques.

Pornography

Requires no contact at all; simply portrays sexually explicit material. Statutes in all states make it a criminal offense to produce, offer for sale, sell, distribute, or exhibit certain kinds of pornographic (often called obscene, lewd, or lascivious) material. Federal law prohibits the transportation of illegal material in commerce and outlaws the use of the mails, Internet, telephone, radio, and television for the dissemination of pornographic material. Moral Penal Code (1962) says a publication is pornographic (obscene or indecent) if "considered as a whole, its predominant appeal is to prurient interests."

Psychological factors of rape

Several experts view rapists as suffering from mental illness or personality disorders. Most rapists show hostile feelings toward women, have histories of violence, and tend to attack strangers. They commit the offense because of anger, a drive for power (expressed as sexual conquest), or the enjoyment of maltreating a victim (sadism)

Check fraud

Since checks were created, they have been abused. All jurisdictions make it a criminal offense to use a counterfeit or stolen check or to pass a check on a nonexisting fund, with intent to defraud. The intent may be demonstrated by the defendant's inability or unwillingness to reimburse the payee within a specified time period. Check forging consists of altering a check with intent to defraud. Criminologist Edwin Lemert found that most check forgers-- or "hot-check artists"-- are amateus who act in times of financial need or stress, do not consider themselves criminal, and often believe that nobody really gets hurt.

Shoplifting

The stealing of goods from retail merchants, constitutes about 15% of all larcenies. A survey in Spokane, Washington, revealed that every twelfth shopper is a shoplifter. Perhaps shoplifting is so frequent because it is a low risk offense, with a detection rate of less than 1%. Shoppers are extremely reluctant to report shoplifters to store management. Of those apprehended for shoplifting, approximately 45.5% are actually prosecuted. It is also estimated that men are slightly more likely than women to be shoplifters. More than half of shoplifting events occur between the hours of 12 pm and 6 pm. Shoplifting incidents cost U.S. retail businesses over $37 billion each year.

Sherman Antitrust Act

The Sherman Antitrust Act, passed by Congress in 1890, authorized the criminal prosecution of corporations engaged in monopolistic practices. Prohibits any contract, conspiracy, or combination of business interests in restraint of foreign or interstate trade. Federal laws regulating the issuance and sale of stocks and other securities were passed in 1933 and 1934.

Prostitution

The act of soliciting sex for money, is the misdemeanor of prostitution. The UCR recorded 62,668 arrests for prostitution and commercialized vice in 2010. In some jurisdictions, the police have little time to spend on vice control, given the extent of violent and property crimes.

Homicide (Types, Definitions)

The killing of one human being by another. Justifiable homicide includes homicides committed by law enforcement officers in the course of carrying out their duties, homicides committed by soldiers in combat, and homicides committed by a homeowner who has no recourse other than to kill an intruder who threatens the lives of family members. Criminal homicide is unlawful killings, without justification or excuse. These are subdivided into three categories: murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide.

Theories of Victimization

These theories were developed for the purpose of understanding crime from the victim's perspective or with the victim in mind. The history of victims in criminology can be traced to Hans von Hentig's first article on the subject of victims, in 1941, in which he postulated that crime was an "interaction of perpetrator and victim." It is important to understand that guilt is not shared by offender and victim. Criminal guilt belongs to the perpetrator of a crime-- and it must be proved at trial beyond a reasonable doubt. The victim is free of guilt. Victimology, however, can demonstrate how potential victims, by acting differently, can decrease the risk of being victimized.

Crime mapping

Through mapping crimes on global, country, state, county, city, or site-specific levels, such as a particular building or plot of land, environmental criminologists can see crime patterns. They then relate those crime patterns to the number of targets; to the offender population; to the location of routine activities, such as work, school, shopping, or recreation; to security; and to traffic flow. Mapping crimes and analyzing spatial crime is not new. In the 19th century, Guerry examined the spatial patterning of crime through his comparison of conviction rates in various regions in France. Quetelet tried to establish links between seasonal differences and the probability of committing crime. He found, for instance, that property crimes increase in the winter months in France, whereas "the violence of the passions predominating in summer, excites to more frequent personal collisions" and a rise in crimes against persons.

Cruise ship offenses

Typically oil spills, they get really small punishment/small fine

Video/software piracy

Various video piracy rings exist throughout the country. They produce and sell bootleg tapes of films currently in movie theaters. In 1999, a New York based piracy ring operating one of the largest video piracy operations along the East Coast was dismantled, resulting in 11 arrests and the confiscation of approximately 30,000 videotapes. This particular ring earned roughly $50,000 a week. The bootleg tapes sold for between $5 and $10 on the street. Those arrested were charged with trademark counterfeiting and failure to disclose the origin of a recording.

Hale Doctrine

Written in the seventeenth century and recognized judicially in 1857 by the U.S., stated specifically that "the husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and a contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband which she cannot retract." Marital rape is still minimized by the law.