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More handpicked essays just for you.
Relationships between crime and underprivileged
Sociological theories crime causation
Strengths and weaknesses of sociological explanation of crime
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Crime and Gender, The great majority of crimes are committed by men, although the United States has the highest female arrest and conviction rate in the world. The gender gap may be influenced by the “chivalry effect” in which male police officers and judges see women’s crimes as less threatening and let them off with a warning. On the other hand, women who belong to stigmatized groups, and women whose behavior challenges gender norms, may be punished more harshly. Some criminologists argue that men’s higher levels of testosterone explain their higher crime rates, but this argument does not account for differences in crime rates by social class. Sociologists argue that the culture of working class masculinity explains why these men are so likely …show more content…
to commit crimes. (Kimmel & Aronson, 2010) Crime and Race, African Americans are disproportionately likely to commit and to be the victims of crime.
Latinos are also overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Each theory of crime offers a different explanation for this link between crime and race.
Crime and Age, Young people also commit a disproportionate number of crimes. Gang activity may be one explanation, as might be the culture of masculinity among young men. Other males are the most frequent victims of crime, but females are vulnerable, too, particularly to rape and sexual assault.
Crime and Class, The poorer you are, the more likely you are to be arrested for a crime. However, this may be better explained by the fact that the crimes of the poor are more visible and they are more likely to fit the criminal profile than by the fact of economic need. In addition, the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be a victim of crime. (Kimmel & Aronson,
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2010) In general, the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be arrested for a crime.
However, this may be better explained by the fact that the crimes of the poor are more visible and they are more likely to fit the criminal profile than by the fact of economic need. In addition, the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be a victim of crime. Using the strain theory, it is a matter of social class, not race. Most Blacks are poor, and poor people living in the midst of affluence are more likely to perceive society as unjust and turn to crime. weakness is that the theory fails to take into account the fact that even within the lower classes, Blacks are still more likely to be arrested and sentenced then
Whites.
Classical and contemporary theory helps to explain gendered crime patterns. The feminist school of criminology argue criminology and criminal theory is very masculine, all studies into criminal behaviour, have been developed from male statistics and tested on males. Very little research is conducted into female criminality, this may be because women who commit crime are more likely to be seen as evil or mentally ill rather than criminal, this is because women are labe...
The majority of our prison population is made up of African Americans of low social and economic classes, who come from low income houses and have low levels of education. The chapter also discusses the amount of money the United States loses yearly due to white collar crime as compared to the cost of violent crime. Another main point was the factors that make it more likely for a poor person to be incarcerated, such as the difficulty they would have in accessing adequate legal counsel and their inability to pay bail. This chapter addresses the inequality of sentencing in regards to race, it supplies us with NCVS data that shows less than one-fourth of assailants are perceived as black even though they are arrested at a much higher rate. In addition to African Americans being more likely to be charged with a crime, they are also more likely to receive harsher punishments for the same crimes- which can be seen in the crack/cocaine disparities. These harsher punishments are also shown in the higher rates of African Americans sentenced to
criminal justice system. If the current trends persist, one out of every three African American men can expect to go to prison over the course of his life, as can one out of every six Latino males, compared to only one in seventeen white males (Bonczar 2003). For females, the figures are significantly lower, but racial and ethnic disparities are very similar. For instance, one out of every eighteen African American females can expect to go to prison, as can one out of every 45 Latino females, and one out of every one-hundred and eleven white females (Bonczar 2003). The racial disparities in imprisonment have been felt the most by young African American males (Western and Pettit 2010). Males are a significant majority of the prison and jail populations, accounting for around ninety percent of the population (Western and Pettit 2010). Racial disparities in incarceration are astounding when one counts the men who have been incarcerated in their lifetime rather than those serving time on any given day (Western and Pettit 2002). For instance, in 1989, approximately two percent of white men in their early thirties had been in prison compared to thirteen percent of African American men in their early thirties (Western and Pettit 2002). These extreme racial disparities disproportionately affect communities of color and have significant collateral effects such as family stress and dissolution,
Have you ever wondered why women get charged with convicted crimes and men get off the hook with a slap on the wrist? Well, you can stop wondering because there are actually statistics on this subject. This research paper will not only be answering this question, but also giving the statistics and reason behind men versus women getting charged of violent and convicted crimes.
According to Beirne & Messerschmidt men commit more crimes than women. With men making up 78% of arrests for every crime except Larceny, they are also more likely to commit conventional and serious conventional crimes. Especially in the case of white collar and political crimes, men make up a vast majority
Crimes are committed by all genders, based on gendered traits there are common crimes associated with both male and females. Most violent crimes committed by men are murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery (LaMance, 2011). Crimes that women offenders often commit are prostitution, murder, theft, and arson. Not all violent crimes are committed by males, many women also commit the same crimes. Nonviolent crimes are committed a lot also such as gambling, prostitution, arson, fraud, and bribery (LaMance, 2011). Crimes occur daily by people of all ages and gender, and based on gender there are common crimes.
Crime has always been a hot topic in sociology. There are many different reasons for people to commit criminal acts. There is no way to pinpoint the source of crime. I am going to show the relationship between race and crime. More specifically, I will be discussing the higher chances of minorities being involved in the criminal justice system than the majority population, discrimination, racial profiling and the environment criminals live in.
Throughout history, certain crimes have been separated into different categories based on their prevalence. For every crime, the offense and charges are different. In addition, certain crimes tend to be committed more often by women than men, and vice versa. Crimes such as larceny, fraud, forgery, and prostitution (Chesney-Lind, 1986) tend to be committed more often by women; whereas, assault, murder, trafficking, etc tend to be committed by men.
Although the years since Smart’s study have seen much more interest in the study of female crime and deviance, many general theories in this area continue to neglect gender as a factor influencing criminality. This is despite the fact that official figures suggest that gender is perhaps the most significant single factor in whether an individual is convicted of crime. Any theories which fail to explain this relationship could therefore be seen as inadequate. OFFICIAL STATISTICS, CRIMINALITY AND GENDER Pollak – the ‘masked’ female offender – ‘chivalry’ thesis Writing in 1950, Otto pollak argued that official statistics on gender and crime were highly misleading.
For every crime, the offense and charge are different. In addition, not every crime is committed by the same gender. Crimes such as larceny, fraud, forgery, and prostitution (Chesney-Lind, 1986) tend to be committed more often by women; whereas, assault, murder, trafficking, etc tend to be committed by men. When it comes to the stereotyping of women in the criminal justice system, one could say that women present themselves as victims to reach a lesser sentence or that by presenting themselves as victims they will have a longer sentence that will protect them. Statistical evidence has shown that women do in fact receive lesser and longer sentences when they are convicted of the similar crimes as men; such as drug related crimes (Coughenour, 1995).
Historically, criminology was significantly ‘gender-blind’ with men constituting the majority of criminal offenders, criminal justice practitioners and criminologists to understand ‘male crimes’ (Carraine, Cox, South, Fussey, Turton, Theil & Hobbs, 2012). Consequently, women’s criminality was a greatly neglected area and women were typically seen as non-criminal. Although when women did commit crimes they were medicalised and pathologised, and sent to mental institutions not prisons (Carraine et al., 2012). Although women today are treated differently to how they were in the past, women still do get treated differently in the criminal justice system. Drawing upon social control theory, this essay argues that nature and extent of discrimination
Traditionally, there has been little research on or interest in the impact of female crime in modern society. In addition, juvenile crime rates are on the rise, which combine for a void of research or information on female juvenile offenders. In general, crime rates for women offenders have risen since the 1990's. Increasing numbers of young women are also offending at higher rates. In a 1996 U.S. Department of Justice Report, the number of arrests of young women had doubled between 1989 and 1993. Twenty percent of all juvenile arrests were committed by girls, an increase of 87 percent. However, according to The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools, males are far more likely to admit to criminal involvement than are females. For example, 12 percent of males and 4 percent of females reported carrying a hidden weapon other than a pocketknife in the past year (Wilson, p.150). There are several theories for this rise in crime proposed by modern feminists, including that the introduction of women into traditional male roles prompted women to commit increasingly dangerous and violent crimes. However, this paper will rely on Meda Chesney-Lind's theories from The Female Offender.
In the united states recent studies and older research has shown us the true crime of our metropolitan cities across the nation. In the united states violent crimes seem to occur every 25.3 seconds as today. The rate of crime varies in gender, age and race throughout the nation and throughout the states that legalized abortion. There was a decrease of crime fell in a few states due to their legalization of abortion even before Roe v. Wade. In the united states there are different categories that contribute to crime for example gender, age, and race. In gender we see a higher crime rate with men statistically than any other category. Men are more likely to commit crimes than women statistically shown. As numbers of previous reports have reliability problems many have resorted to a self information report. A self information report consists of a poll or questionnaire in which correspondents are encouraged to be truthful because they will remain anonymous. Sociologist turn their attention to mostly males committing crimes. The sex role theory is used to argue that boys are socialized differently than girls which makes them more troublesome and delinquent. Girls get more supervision, have stricter rules and are controlled. Boys are encouraged to take risks and be the tough and manly figure presented to them. Males have more opportunity to commit crimes and inclination to take the chance against the law. Gender roles play major roles in the actions performed by the male. The boy is shown to perform roles which show him as a provider to the family and of course a strong leader. The female is shown the basic roots of being a mother from a young age which consists of giving the support emotionally and socializing the child. The crime r...
Crime and criminalization are dependent on social inequality Social inequality there are four major forms of inequality, class gender race and age, all of which influence crime. In looking at social classes and relationship to crime, studies have shown that citizens of the lower class are more likely to commit crimes of property and violence than upper-class citizens: who generally commit political and economic crimes. In 2007 the National Crime Victimization Survey showed that families with an income of $15000 or less had a greater chance of being victimized; recalling that lower classes commit a majority of those crimes. We can conclude that crime generally happens within classes.
A crime is an act that breaks a law that relates to how to behave in society. The harm caused by the act is seen to be against society as a whole, not just a specific person. More specifically, a crime is an act (something you do) or omission (something you don’t do) that is against the law and punishable upon conviction. Crime includes criminal code offences against a person or property, drug offences, and so much more. Why do people commit crimes? Why do women commit crimes? Is a woman capable of committing a crime, and what causes her to do so? Many people believe that women would never commit crimes because of the common stereotypes of them being trustworthy, nurturing, and compassionate people. They place these stereotypes on women because they believe that women are not capable of committing crimes to the point where they would have to face prison. Although these stereotypes are assured to be true, these people do not realize that women crime rates have been increasing tremendously overtime, especially in the 1980's. Women/female offenders have had the fastest growing segment over the last 40 years, but are still much smaller than men. It has been proven that out of 1.5 million prisoners incarcerated in the nation, only 54 out of 100,000 of those people are women. According to Judge Thomas Mostowy, 14% of women crimes are violent, 10% are murders, 60% are against family members, and 20% of the violent female offenders are juveniles who have committed other crimes but notably majority of them are non-violent.