According to Tappan’s (1947 p.100, quoted in Muncie et al 2010 p.4) “crime is an intentional act in violation of criminal law (statutory or case law), committed without defence or excuse and penalised by the state as a felony or misdemeanour”. In other words crime may be known as an act deliberately committed which breaches legal conduct punishable by state. This is a common understanding of crime today but unfortunately crime is not as simple as being a breach of law. The study of crime is vast and under constant debate. Crime is ever changing varying culturally, globally and historically.
Why do people engage in these violent criminal acts? Do people have the choice and free will or do individuals have certain traits that make who they are? Cesare Beccaria, the founder of the classical theory, “believed that criminals weighed the benefits and consequences of crime before choosing to violate the law. They would be unlikely to choose crime if punishments were swift, certain, and severe” (Siegel, page 84).
The results, of the crime control model are wrongful convictions, being over-turned and this is a major downfall in the criminal justice system. On the other hand the due process model is more concerned with the structure and the efficiency of the law. The due process focuses on evidences and facts in a case and ensures that a person in innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. In addition the due process model goal is the prevention and the elimination of crimes within the criminal justice
Mr. Beccaria and other members of the Classical School fought for punishment to be set by legislative instead of judges having all of the authority for punishment. The members of the Classical School of Thought believed that preventing crime was more important than punishing the criminal. When criminals know what the punishment is going to be for the crimes that they are going to commit it will help to deter the crimes from being committed. When people do commit crimes the crime is done of their own free will. This procedure of knowing the punishment with it being severe to the
Examine the role of access to opportunity structures in causing crime and deviance. Opportunity structures are seen to be one of the biggest factors that can lead to deviant behaviour or criminal activity such as stealing and selling drugs, an example of this would be a person not being successful in their education and unable to achieve socially approved goals by opportunity structures, this may result them to illegitimate opportunities such as crime so that they get what they want such as materialists things. Mertons strain theory helps explain this, he argues that people engage in deviant behaviour when they may become frustrated and stressed this often leads to criminal means of getting what they want by taking their anger out on someone else or also taking drugs to comfort them from their failure. Merton explains that there are two elements to this theory; Structural factors, which is society’s unequal opportunity structure and cultural factors, which is the strong emphasis on success goals and the weaker emphasis on using legitimate means to achieve them. Merton argues that deviant behaviour starts from the structure of society and because they are unable to gain something from socially approved goals by legitimate means.
The robber, in this case, made the decision to commit this crime, and upon getting caught, or being seen, must suffer the consequences of being deemed evil, because someone who is out for the greater good of people and society as a whole, wouldn’t be stealing anything from anyone for personal gains. The last example I will give in regards to evil being present in so many different ways is the touchy subject of child molestation. Everything about child molestation is evil and inhumane, so my view on the matter can be seen right there. The people who commit these crimes may not have been evil in their life leading up to the crime, however, once a thought like that comes to mind, only bad things can happen from there on out, affirming that evil is a part of us, and it is our choice whether to carry out things that most people wouldn’t dare of doing, such as molesting a young
Describing crime and deviance is varied across different cultures; history; social situations and place. It will look at the bodies that measure crime and look at the reasons why they are not accurate. There are several differences between crime and deviance, deviance is a violation of the social norms whereas crime is a violation of the laws of the land. Society has no power for deviance but the government can punish with crime. Much behaviour that was seen as deviant in the past has today become a criminal offence, as with crime behaviour seen as criminal is now seen as deviant.
1. In which ways does crime affect society? I believe that crimes have very bad influences on a society and it has serious consequences. It makes the citizens behave more paranoid and nervous. I also believe that crime leads to more violence.
Juvenile Justice Paper 1 10/17/12 Society deems those who commit crimes as undesirable. Whether it’s a white–collar crime such as fraud, or a violent homicide, if convicted, they’ll pay a fine, get treatment, or be removed from the rest of society to pay their debt. Crimes are committed by people of all ages, races, ethnic backgrounds, and religions. Age plays a very crucial role in how the rest of the procedures play out. Sure a middle-aged man convicted of murder will be tried as an adult, but there are those who commit the same crime that are still juveniles.
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.