CRIMINOLOGY AC1.1
White Collar Crime Case Study
Bernie Madoff - biggest Ponzi scheme of all time, lured people into "investing their money with him when in actuality he did not invest it but put it all into a bank account, falsified records to make it seem like investors were earning money back, eventually lost all of the money due to stock market taking a hit, got prosecuted and investors/victims lost their investment money
Individual Crime: Domestic Abuse Case Study
Casey Brittle Oct 2010 - partner (Williams) accused her of seeing someone else whilst they were separated and this fuelled him to beat her with his hands & feet for approximately 40 mins; during this time their 2 year old daughter walked in on the assault 4 times clearly upset/scared for her mother. Casey stopped breathing on the way to hospital and it was discovered she had 27 separate points of injury to her face & head including parts of her ear being missing, eyes swollen shut and jaw being fractured. Williams pleaded guilty and received a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years before parole
Technological Crime Analysis
Criminal Offences: financial crimes, cyber-trespass, identity theft, hate crimes, illegal downloads, publishing or viewing child pornography Types of Victim: anyone with internet access - particularly the old and less educated, those without internet access can still be victim of malicious postings Types of Offenders: anyone with internet access e.g. hate crimes such as cyber-bullying & stalking, more advanced crimes require specialist knowledge e.g. hacking & phishing fraud Level of Public Awareness: varies from crime to crime, victims of hate crime such as cyber bullying are likely to be aware of this however victims of phishing or identify theft may not discover this for some time Criminal/Deviant: both, majority of these crimes are criminal & illegal such as financial crimes & identity theft however some such as trolling and viewing adult porn are just deviant and not criminally wrong, majority of these crimes are deviant as they are considered morally wrong however some of these actions are widely practiced such as illegal downloading
State Crime Analysis
Criminal Offences: human rights abuses; genocide, torture, police brutality, imprisonments without trial, war crimes, political crimes Types of Victim: citizens of the state, religious/ethnic groups (minority groups), people with opposing views to the government Types of Offender: militias acting on behalf and with the support of the government/state or state officials e.g. politicians, civil servants, police, security forces Level of Public Awareness: depends; state crimes are often on a huge scale & likely to be centre of public eye especially with media attention however the state have the power to hide their crimes or make laws to justify their actions Criminal/Deviant: both; mostly criminal however states can pass laws to decriminalise their actions, deviant as most of these actions are clear breaches of human rights
Individual: Domestic Abuse Analysis
Criminal Offences: physical abuse, financial abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, controlling behaviour, coercive behaviour Types of Victim: females more likely to suffer multiple types of abuse & more violence/control and more likely to be victim overall, men also can be victim however are less likely to report Types of Offender: predominantly male, usually partner or ex-partner also can be family member; women also can offend, this tends to be more psychological abuse Level of Public Awareness: low - domestic abuse is hidden, happens in own home & victims are often too fearful or too ashamed to report, in the past police considered this issue as a matter between the involved rather than a police matter however this attitude has now changed & more attention has been brought to the issue including criminal justice attention Criminal/Deviant: both, it is against criminal law & as more attention is raised is being taken more seriously, it is widely accepted as deviant and goes against moral values, however a 2017 study shows a small minority of people believe it is acceptable to hit or slap a partner under certain circumstances e.g. partner having an affair
Moral Crime Analysis
Criminal Offences: prostitution, assisted suicide, selling/possessing illegal drugs, under age smoking/drinking Types of Victim: victimless, underage people, adult women Types of Offender: varies from crime to crime e.g. forced due to personal circumstance or choice for extra income Level of Public Awareness: low - crimes are hidden, often unreported, crimes being normalised Criminal/Deviant: both, against criminal law however certain crimes being normalised can result in lesser charges, deviant depending on individuals own opinion as some crimes are seen as deviant but also some are normalised e.g marijuana smoking
White Collar Crime Analysis
Criminal Offences: tax evasion, defrauding customers, breaking h&s laws, polluting environment, illegally discriminating against employees Types of Victim: consumers, tax payers and the government, employees, the public at large, also "victimless" Types of Offender: companies/businesses (corporate crimes), professionals (professional crime) Level of Public Awareness: low - lack of media coverage, under-reported, complex, offenders too powerful to prosecute Criminal/Deviant: both, breaks criminal law (although often seen as breach of regulation rather than real crime), considered deviant as causes harm & often involves betrayal of trust
Individual: Honour Crime Analysis
Criminal Offences: threatening behaviour, assault, wounding, burning, acid attacks, disfiguration, abduction, rape, murder, also female genital mutilation and forced marriage are related Types of Victim: can be anyone part of a family/community however majority young females from minority ethnic groups Types of Offender: victims families/members of their community, perpetrators most commonly male relatives Level of Public Awareness: low - crimes are justified within communities & not reported, although awareness is increasing due to criminalisation or forced marriage however, only 5% of cases get put through to CPS Criminal/Deviant: both, against criminal law, mostly seen as deviant as it takes away a victims ability to choose their life however within communities who practice this is will not be seen as deviant
Individual: Hate Crime Analysis
Criminal Offences: verbal abuse, harassment, intimidation, threats, assault, bullying. damage to property Types of Victim: can be anybody who has a protected characteristic Types of Offender: can be anybody who holds a prejudiced attitude/hatred toward a group of people/protected characteristic Level of Public Awareness: greater public awareness in recent years due social media interest increasing and gaining attention causing an increase in reporting, investigating and prosecuting these crimes Criminal/Deviant: both, hate crimes are clearly against criminal law, it is widely recognised that is it wrong to victimise someone because of their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender indemnity and therefore is deviant
Individual Crime: Honour Crime Case Study
Kristy Bamu December 2010 - Bamu and four of his siblings were visiting their sister (Magalie Bamu) and her partner (Eric Bikubi) where they were accused of being witches by Magalie and Eric. In an attempt to rid Kristy of his witchcraft they mentally and physically tortured using knives, sticks, metal bars, bottles, a hammer and a chisel before attempting to perform an exorcism on him in the bath, where he eventually drowned. Bikubi pleaded guilty but insisted he had mental impairment, he received a minimum of 30 years. Bamu pleaded guilty but insisted she was forced to attack Kristy, the judge denied this and she was sentenced to 25 years
State Crime Case Study
The Nazi Regime - mass genocide, attempted to persecute and kill all jews, Roma's (gypsies), gays and disabled by holding them in concentration camps and malnourishing them by lack of food and suitable living conditions, and gassed them to death, research shows 6 million jews were killed
