Teenagers leaving school cannot find good jobs and can result in them turning to vandalism; drugs and many may not find or even look for a job. This then becomes the cycle for the area. Laws are constantly being changed in order to maintain relevance with the society of the
In order to comprehend why race, age and income have the potential to affect criminal victimization, the authors portray five main risk factors which are: exposure, guardianship, proximity to potential offenders, attractiveness of targets and definitional properties of specific crimes. Exposure is presented as the palpable accessibility of victims to plausible offenders, such as activities and lifestyles that may favour victimization. Further, frequent contact between victim and potential offender increases the opportunity for the offender to commit an aggression against property. Proximity to crime represents how close the victim residence is to potential offenders, particularly to high crime areas. Therefore, houses located in conflicting areas have an increased risk of being victimized.
As OCS is social construct, different actors involved in constructing the figures to distort the reality of crime. Although OCS is not reliable, we can still learn something from it. In the following, we will discuss the reliability of OCS and explain what problems are involved during the procedure of OCS and discover the merits of OCS. Definition of social construct Social construct refers to “persons and groups interacting together in a social system form, over time, concepts or mental representations of each other's actions, and that these concepts eventually become habituated into reciprocal roles played by the actors in relation to each other” (Berger, P. L. and Luckmann, T. 1966). Since OCS relies largely on criminal law while criminal law is socially constructed by social norms from different actors, OCS is regarded as social construct.
Then, I will state how the public services and third sector organisation support the victims and witnesses. Furthermore, I will then analyze the strategies/approaches that I have stated from above and will give examples to each different approach of different public services. Last but not least, I will evaluate local public service initiative. The impact of crime has a high cost on society. (Gray) When a crime has occurred its important to deal with it, to reduce the number of offences committed in society/ community.
Crime can only be a social problem if it breaks rules in the social system. The human societies often have different minds to what a social problem consists of. There are many known definitions of social problems throughout different societies and worldwide. Criminology in the narrow sense is concerned with the study of the phenomenon of crime, and of the factors or circumstances which may have influence on or be associated with the criminal behaviour and the state of crime in general. The understanding of criminology is to see social problems and cause of the crimes and how they have affect on people in society.
Blackmon 1 Leah Blackmon Sociology 201 Deborah Robinson 15 September 2010 Crime and Social Order There are many reasons why an individual may or may not become involved in crime. In his essay, Robert K. Merton writes on the causes of crime. Merton focuses on a pint that society's cultural goals may not be easily attained by everyone. Those who do not have the means to reach these goals, such as family support and a good education, may come up with their own means to reach society's material goals. That usually means reverting to street crimes.
People being labelled (negatively) will always be affected according to their label, and society plays an important role in the labelling process. In the next few paragraphs the contribution of Becker as an exponent of the labelling perspective will be discussed along with the process of labelling and the typology of deviants. Labelling as a cause of crime According to the Study Guide (The explanation of crime), Becker shortly discussed the way different sets of rules affect the theory of labelling as a cause of crime while developing his theory. This labelling theory, also known as the societal reaction theory does not only define deviants, it can also make them. When someone is labelled an offender they are forced by society to live according to this label which could minimise their chances of being law abiding citizens and limit their chances of finding decent jobs.
DISCUSS THE PROBLEMS IN MEASURING AND DEFINING CRIME AND DEVIANCE. INTRODUCTION This paper will discuss the problems faced whilst trying to define and measure crime and deviance whilst also explaining the differences and relationship between crime and deviance. Criminologists have created means of measuring crime which this paper will explore and identify problems which will occur during the recording of crime and will explore influences on crime and crime statistics. DEFINING CRIME AND DEVIANCE Defining crime or deviance is diverse amongst the many different cultures, history and from one social context to another (new texts pg 138) which causes a big problem whilst defining and measuring crime or deviance as what is believed to be criminal or deviant behaviour in one society may be seen as legal or normal behaviour by another society. There are many theories relating to deviance and crime with each theory illustrating a different aspect of the procedure by which people break rules and are classed as deviants or criminals.
Official statistics is the name given to the numbers of crimes reported to or unveiled by the police themselves, which lead to a conviction, caution or are dealt with in some formal way by the law. Only offences which are dealt with by one of the above are actually recorded in official statistics. These offences can vary from minor incidents such as a window being broken to, an offence of a more serious nature such as rape or murder. These are social problems that are constructed by society, something that goes against the 'normal' runnings of society. The statistics can give us an understanding as to the levels of these crimes and as to why or where they are most likely to occur.
The causes of criminal behavior in juveniles are failure in school, substance abuse, gang membership and gun possession, their environment, and family problems. Failure in school is one of the factors that relate to crimes committed at a young age. Failing school causes one to drop out, and this reduces the risk that one will commit a crime, because they lack the social skills learned in school, such as working with teachers and classmates, learning to turn things in on time and being able to follow instructions, and poor performance can lead to a low self-esteem. This causes them to join a gang to regain their self-esteem and to regain a sense of belonging (Web. May 1995).