The migration of others into this country by illegal means has risen astonishingly. This act leads to higher crime rates in larger metropolitan areas. These immigrants are responsible for a significant percentage of trafficking, both human and drug. This is just the beginning of the issues that affect the criminal justice system. Many organized crimes have evolved from illegal immigrants, not to mention the bridge that has enabled cross-border terrorism.
This will show what time of year, which season, if it is hot or cold, if it is near a holiday, etc… that the crime rates increase or decrease. It will also give law enforcement agencies and the FBI an idea of where the bigger crimes occur more often. When a murder is heard about, most people think that it will be in a larger “high crime” kind of city like Chicago, but many times smaller, rural towns are just as likely to have high crimes as well. The state
Even when such issues are present, it doesn’t affect the utilization of reported crime statistics for determining the efficiency of guidelines intended to diminish crime. As long as UCR data remains the only source of geographically disaggregated data on crime, recognizing and calculating the probable causes of policy-related measurement errors in UCR data will be a main focus of research (Levitt, 1998). The purpose of this paper is to only give a very brief overview of the NCVS and the UCR and its problems. The problems of both are so complex a much larger
The reasons are complex but easy to understand. My recommendation is that the government should focus more on fighting poverty since its most likely the easiest way to lower crime rates. Why Poverty leads to Crime: Along with the evolution of human beings, the development of crime has been developing. For almost 3000 years we commit crimes and consider certain places or cities a breeding point for criminal activities. But why do we commit crime and why are the crime rates in certain places like Compton, East St. Louis or Detroit so high?
Assess the usefulness of functionalist approaches in explaining crime The functionalist approach to analysing deviance and the causes of crime looks at society as a whole. It explains crime that the source of criminal behaviour lies in the nature of society itself rather than in psychology or biology. Functionalists such as Durkheim see deviance as an inevitable and necessary part of society and too little is unhealthy. Some also consider crime to have positive aspects for society. In this essay we will assess the usefulness of these functionalist theories, and look at how it helps us explain crime.
Despite this, Positivists see official crime statistics as a reliable indicator of crime patterns. Positivists seek the causes of crime and over time can compare social groups and look for patterns in crime. The groups that are most likely to be convicted are young males, some ethnic minorities, inner city dwellers and working class. As not all crime is reported however, the statistics do not give a true picture. (Hallam et al.
Are official statistics a reliable source of information about crime in Britain? Official criminal statistics are defined as “Statistical data compiled by the police and the courts and routinely published by governments as indices of the extent of crime” (Munchie, 2001, p194). “The working class, the young males, and members of some ethnic minorities are all more likely to commit crimes than the middle class, the elderly, females and whites – according to official statistics”. (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004, p338). In assessing the question “Are official statistics a reliable source of information about crime in Britain?” several factors will be considered: including how the statistics are collected, the divide between males and females in crime statistics, the over representation of ethnic minorities and any problems in looking at the true extent of crime using statistics as an indicator for this.
Durkheim’s study on suicide is viewed as a well-known paradigm in sociological studies. The purpose of this essay is to explain how Durkheim was able to show the social causes of suicide through the analysis of statistics across several countries (Hassan, 1998). Durkheim chose to study suicide because in the 19th century sociology was not entirely recognised as an area of academic interest (Finchman, Langer, Scourfield & Shiner, 2011). In addition to this, Durkheim wanted to show that suicide was not just an individual act and that sociology played a part. This essay also intends to explore how Durkheim was able to
Religion as a force for social change There is a constant and great debating concerning the role of religion in society. Whereas some claim that religion acts as a conservative force, suggesting that in fact inhibits change. Others would argue that religion is a major contributor to social change. As expected many sociologists have taken the middle ground and argue that religion is in fact both a conservative force and an initiator of change. The view that religion is a conservative force stems from theories from Functionalists, Marxists and Feminists.
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. However because not all crimes which are reported, are actually recorded, the true extent to crime can never be revealed through official statistics or otherwise. Positivists believe that official statistics are indeed very useful to the understanding of social problems. They believe that because official statistics look at such a large proportion of the population that it allows us to make comparisons over time and make comparisons between different societies. They can allow generalisations to be made and over time they can have some affect on laws within society.