Even though all of these strains have an influence on the racial differences in crime, I believe that the community contributes a lot to these differences. By observing at a community, one can derive that a community branches out to numerous types of strain. According to the text, African Americans show a disproportionate number of residents who occupy areas where there are higher rates of violence and economical disadvantages. These disadvantaged neighborhoods usually lack good public schools, job opportunities, and more often promote criminal behavior. With the lack of job opportunities in a poverty infused area, one might succumb to criminal
Jasmin Finnie Sep 6, 2010 White Collar Crimes Professor . Kellam When it comes to criminal justice, the term "White Collar Crime" is brought up very often. What exactly is a White Collar Crime? White-collar crime is defined in terms of attitudes toward those who commit it. These crimes are punishable by law, however it is generally regarded by the courts and by sections of the general public as much less reprehensible than crimes usually punished by the courts.
(Bader et al) The main difference between crime and deviance is deviant behaviour is when a social norm has been broken whereas a crime is where a formal and social norm is broken. Meaning crime can also be deviant behaviour but deviance cannot be construed as crime. (Jones pg 32) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIME AND DEVIANCE Crime and deviance is believed to overlap in behaviours that are
Critically Analyse the Meaning of Official Statistics, Applying this Explanation to the Patterns of Crime by Factors such as Class, Race and Gender and Consider how the Media may Amplify such Deviancy A lthough crime is deviant not all deviance is criminal, for example spitting in public or swearing at a shop assistant are deviant acts, meaning that they go against social norms, but are not criminal. On the other hand, crime is also deviant, but is punishable by the laws of the land. In this way, there is social order and social control, this creates a consensus of what is acceptable behaviour. Since 1857 police crime figures have been recorded and published annually, and until fairly recently they were considered to be accurate, but not all crime is reported to the police and the police can only publish figures of the crimes that have been reported. Despite this, Positivists see official crime statistics as a reliable indicator of crime patterns.
That usually means reverting to street crimes. These crimes include burglary, vandalism, and selling drugs. Those individuals feel that street crime is the only way they will obtain material success. Merton's theory may stand true when comparing social status with street crime; however, his theory becomes weak when the crimes include white-collar and business crimes. Therefore, Merton's theory has become an “anomie theory”.
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.
Sutherland believed the propensity for criminality is neither genetic nor fated. Instead, Edwin’s theory holds that external factors have a substantial influence over an individual's behavior (Scarpitti, 2009). Edwin appreciated that even though certain crimes happen more in minority populations, not everyone of that community are criminals. This is also true with more prosperous groups. Edwin wanted to go past the “black and white” walls and explain the elements that influence criminal behavior.
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.
Street crime has always received much more attention than corporate mostly due to the significant power differences between the criminals. The impact of such a disproportionate focus on street crime leads to the negative perceptions of minorities and lower-class individuals that only perpetuate the distortion of the true nature of crime in the United States. Both corporate and street crimes are but more mediums through which societal problems deriving from the class- and race- stratified nature of the United States can be seen. The heavily publicizing of street crime by the media are a few reasons why most Americans usually focus on street crime rather than on corporate crime. Other factors such as the exclusion of corporate crime in the United Crime Reports (UCR) published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that are based on data from local police agencies contribute to the less focus of corporate crime by Americans.
Social inequality based on cultural practices is much more prevalent however. Without making a judgment as to which culture is better, because honestly, it is unacceptable to make value judgments about another culture, it is still possible to see that some cultures are more steeped in crime than others. Whether or not some of these cultures, such as gang culture, were led to crime by societal marginalization or were marginalized by the crime they committed is beyond the scope of this essay. However, it is