...Betty Waltermire Critical Issues in Criminal Justice JUS-250 March 22, 2014 The Benefits of Crime in Society There is no place on earth that is totally crime free. Crime is in every community, neighborhood and society in the world. No one is crime free, just because you do not know of crime in your neighborhood does not mean that it is not close by and waiting for the right chance to strike your community. Crime is the opportunity to commit the act and reap the rewards. Our tax money is used to educate people about crime, to bring criminals to justice, and lock them away. To have a criminal incarcerated, our tax dollars provide for the prisons, the officers, three meals per day, dental, vision, medical, medications, hospital for surgeries, recreation equipment, color television and all of their toiletries are also provided. For those who are religious, there is a church and outside ministers come in to do services. Criminals look for easy targets that will give them big rewards for their efforts. Take for instance there are several elderly persons who live in the neighborhood and receive checks on the 1st of every month. They cash their checks and this would be easy prey for a criminal to take the money. Also there is three elderly disabled persons who use the power chairs to get around, they cash their checks and are just as vulnerable. The neighborhood has empty store fronts, rundown buildings...
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...material from item A and elsewhere, assess different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class. Marxism is a conflict structural theory which states that there is a division of labour between two social classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariats, because of the existence, exploitation and reproduction of capitalism. Marxists explain how superstructures in society, such as religion, politics, media, education, law etc, act as agencies of control and serve the interests of the ruling class. Unlike functionalists, Marxists do not agree that there is a value consensus in society but instead state that the superstructures benefit the bourgeoisie and damage the lives of the proletariat. As Item A states, crime in society can be seen as a reaction against the unequal distribution of wealth through the social position they have been given. The essay will focus on the relationship between crime and social class in a Marxist perspective. The traditional Marxist approach to crime suggests that crime is inevitable because capitalism is criminogenic – crime is built in its very nature. The concept of capitalism is to create as much profit by paying low wages to the labourers which leads to many consequences. The exploitation rises poverty and material deprivation which means that crime may be the only option for working class members to survive. Utilitarian crimes are more likely to be committed by working class members than the ruling class because the materials...
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...Assess the usefulness of Marxist theories in explaining crime and deviance Marxists sociologists believe that we live in a capitalist society which is divided into classes. They argue that society is based on conflict over the inequality of wealth and power between the bourgeoisie; the ruling capitalist class who own the means of production and the proletariat; the working class who are exploited by the bourgeoisie in order for them to gain profit. This is known as capitalism. The Marxist view on crime is based on three main elements. The first element is criminogenic capitalism, this suggests that crime is inevitable due to the fact that capitalism breeds crime in society. This is the idea that the exploitation of the working class can cause a rise in crime rates. For example, people in poverty may resort to crime in order to survive as crime may be the only way they can obtain consumer goods by committing utilitarian crimes which are crimes concerning money such as theft, embezzlement etc. In addition to this, alienation may also be another way to cause working class people to commit crime as the lack of control they have over their lives may lead to frustration and aggression which can result in non-utilitarian crimes which are crimes that do not concern money such as murder, violence, vandalism. Gordon, a sociologist believes that crime is a rational response to the capitalist system and it is found in all social classes. The second element is the state and law making; this...
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...Assess the View that Crime is Functional, Inevitable and Normal. (21 marks) Within the sociological perspectives of crime and deviance, there is one particular approach which argues that crime is functional, inevitable and normal. This sociological perspective, of Functionalism, consists of Durkheim’s work on crime and deviance. His main argument was that ‘crime is normal’ and that it is ‘an integral part of all healthy societies’. This perspective views crime and deviance as an inevitable feature of all societies which is universal. However, Durkheim did argue that too much crime can lead to the destabilisation of society. Durkheim identified three positive aspects of crime which make it a functional component of society. He did this through magnifying the positive impacts it can have on social cohesion which refers to the invisible bonds which bring people together within a society. There were three main positive aspects which he accentuated as they made crime and deviance functional. These were ‘reaffirming the boundaries’, ‘changing values’ and ‘social cohesion.’ The first, reaffirming the boundaries, refers to situations where crime has already occurred. When the criminal is taken to court, the public outcry which follows verifies the boundaries. This can be seen particularly in countries such as Saudi Arabia, where public hangings and executions take place. The second positive aspect of crime which makes it functional for society is changing values. Durkheim stated that...
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...Item and elsewhere, asses the different Marxist view of the relationship between crime and social class (21marks) Marxist believes that in a capitalist society inequality and exploitation of the working class is inevitable. When assessing the relationship between crime and social class Marxist believe because of this exploitation crime inevitable. However there are two main views to this theory traditional and neo Marxist which believes in the same functions of crime (that is inevitable) however has conflicting views on how this occurs. Traditional Marxist believe capitalist society explains crime in 3 main functions criminogenic capitalism, the state and law making, and the ideological functions of crime. Criminogenic capitalism explains that the working class have no other option but to commit crime this may be because; they live in poverty so have no choice but to commit crime, lack of control over their lives therefore due to frustration commit non ulitarian crime such as vandalism, or Ulitarian crime may be the only way they can obtain goods that are advertised in capitalist culture. Traditional Marxism state it is not only working class that commit crime they state that a capitalist society encourages greed therefore promotes white collar crime such as corporate crime. From this the relationship between crime and social class is fairly equal as they both are victims of a capitalistic society. Gordon explains this as a ration response to the capitalist system and hence is...
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...COST OF CRIME [First-Name Last-Name] [Course number] [Instructor’s Name] May 25, 2016 Determining the cost of crime to the society is a vital task that many have tried to decipher. A quick research unveils many crime costing literature that employ different approaches to approximate the losses due to crimes committed and the cost of crime prevention. Statistics from the U.S. department of Justice show that billions of dollars are used in crime prevention and related legal activities in addition to the billions of dollars that are incurred in economic losses. Studies have shown the cost of crime in developing countries to be approximately ten percent (10%) of their GDP, a figure which agrees with findings that the US spends $1 to $2 trillion annually on crime prevention. McCollister and colleagues categorizes the cost of crime to the society into four groups: victim cost, costs incurred in the criminal justice system, crime career costs and intangible costs. Victim costs are the losses that the victim faces such as loss or damage of property, hospital bills and loss of money. The criminal justice system costs include the money the government spends on crime prevention such as police protection and correctional programs while crime career cost is the opportunity cost that results from the choice to engage in crime rather than sticking to the straight and narrow. Intangible costs, unlike the other three crime cost categories, don’t have a particular cost...
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...functionalist view that a small amount of crime is useful to society There is a long running argument between sociologists about the existence of crime and deviance and whether or not it can benefit societies in some ways. Many of them in the functionalist point of view argue that it can however, there are many, for example Marxists and feminists, which would argue that it doesn’t benefit anyone. Durkheim, the ‘founding father’ of functionalism believed that a small amount of crime in a society is necessary toward creating a perfect society, due to the three functions or outcomes that crime induces upon its occurrence: boundary maintenance, adaptation and change and social solidarity. Boundary maintenance is the effect that crime has upon the conformers within the society in which they see or hear about a crime and then know where the boundaries of their actions lie, due to the reaction of the authorities from the crime carried out and from the severity of the punishment given to the law-breaker, acting almost as a deterrent of crime toward the wider society. Adaptation and change is an outcome of a crime and is what can be done to prevent that crime from happening, as it perhaps show that parts of the society and community are flawed and need to be adjusted so that everybody can live better lives and not think they need to break the law to get the things they want or deviate from the consensus values to get what they want either. A large scale crime, for example the 7/7 bombings...
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...between crime and social class Marxists believe that the capitalist system is just a way in which the ruling classes control and exploit the workers, and it focuses on the unequal conflict between these two sectors of society. Marxists believe that the capitalist system is criminogenic – which means that by its nature it inevitably causes crime. Marxists see crime in the capitalist system as something the ruling class can use to control the working class and crime is a result because of the oppression the working class face. They also believe that laws are enforced mostly to benefit the interests of the ruling class. Neo-Marxists are another branch of Marxism. They discuss more contemporary ideas of crime and their ideas, such as saying crime results out of political anger. They state that the traditional Marxist perspective is too deterministic. Traditional Marxist’s view of crime has 3 key aspects: The Criminogenic capitalism, the state and law making and ideological functions of crime and law. Criminogenic capitalism is the Marxist idea that crime is inevitable because of the nature of capitalism. They believe that because of capitalism as the unequal divide between classes, committing crime is sometimes the only way people can live. For example, a young man who is living in poverty may have to resort to robbery in order to survive. In addition, sometimes the working class may feel frustrated that they are under the control of the ruling class and commit crimes such as...
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...the right realist approach to crime and deviance. (21 marks) Right realists argue that crime today is a very real and growing problem. Right Realists argue that crime threatens society’s work ethic, social cohesion and destroys communities in society. Unlike other theories, Right realism focuses on the solutions for crime alongside the explanation of what causes crime in society, this approach also criticise labelling and criminology theories for being too sympathetic to the offender or too hostile to those in power. Right realists, Wilson and Herrnstein argue the idea that crime is a result of biological differences in people. Some people are suggested to be more inclined to commit crime than others. For example, those with higher traits of aggression may have the increasing tendency to commit crime. In support of the previous point, Wilson and Murray argue that low intelligence can lead to the causes of crime, this being a biological trait shows that crime is because of biological differences. In contrast, Lilly found that differences in intelligence only accounted for a 3% difference in offenders. This implies that it is very unlikely that the causes of crime are biological differences. Clarke, a right realist, came up with the rational choice theory, suggesting that crime is a matter of choice which is made by the criminal who weighs up the costs and benefits of committing crimes. In today’s society, the costs of committing petty crimes are rather low, whereas the rewards...
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...what they use the most for a crime that is made in the U.S. What our tax money is getting used and what it could be mostly used for in the U.S. What could be fixed or done differently for the crimes to be lowered and what can be used to possibly prevent the crimes from happening over again after another. The topic is about how there are many different criticisms of the United States criminal justice system. One major factor in our criminal system is Punishment. It is about how our primary method that is use in the United States for crime punishment is confinement. This is what the argument is really about. How the United States uses the criminal system to punish the individual and why hasn’t it been lowered if there being confined in prison. What could be done and what ways could the criminal justice system be helped and have new ideas to benefit them as well as the one that’s committing the act of a crime. It is also important that we see and know that the crimes aren’t lowered and that they are just arising day by day. We need to really know why and how are criminal system works so we as society could help prevent the actions towards our community and children if possible. This is what supports my topic and argument in the Criminal Justice System. Punishment in the form of social shaming such as censure also has a role in the U.S. criminal justice system but is largely secondary. That those who violate our laws should be removed from society, and/or their social privileges...
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...Economics of Crime and Prevention Ja-mel Q. Whitaker ECO 499 Senior Seminar in Economics and Finance Professor Juliet Elu September 4, 2011 I. What is a Crime? Criminal activities produce several social issues in the United States. Criminal activities affect our “general well-being by threatening loss of property and by generating concern for our physical safety” (Grimes, Register, & Sharp, 2010). A large portion of “national output is devoted to crime prevention activities.” Unfortunately, this diversion of outputs leads to the used resources being “unavailable for other, [perhaps more pressing,] production processes,” such as education. This is not to say crime prevention is not important at all. In fact it is a serious pressing issue that needs serious attention, but could be avoided if people do not participate in criminal behavior. According to dictionary.com (2011), crime is “an action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited.” Criminal acts are any actions that “society (or one of its subdivisions) has decided it is better off without, which it has therefore made illegal through laws, ordinances, and the like” (Grimes, Register, & Sharp, 2010). Not all criminal acts are immoral, which is the issue with the first definition and most definitions of crime for that matter. Speeding is not necessarily immoral, but it is a crime. Cheating...
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...structured societies; criminal behaviour is , then , the inevitable expression of class conflict resulting from the exploitative nature of economic relations. Criminality is simply not something that people have or don’t have; crime is not something some people do and others don’t. Crime is a matter of who can pin the label on whom and underlying this socio-political process is the structure of social relations determined by capitalism. Using material from item A and elsewhere asses the usefulness of the Marxist approaches to an understanding of crime and deviance (21 marks) Marxists essentially see crime and deviance as defined by the ruling class and used as a means of social control – if you don’t conform then you will be punished. Institutions such as the police, the justice system, prisons and schools, the family and religion are there to encourage you to conform. They argue that white collar crimes (which tend to be committed by the more powerful in society) are ignored, while crimes committed by the less powerful in society such as burglary and street crime are focussed on and seen as more serious. Marxists would also argue that different social classes are policed differently, with the working class heavily policed in the expectation that they will be more criminal and therefore raising the chances of their crimes being detected. Classical Marxists argue that this fundamental fact of exploitation provides the key to unlock the explanations for the workings of society. They...
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...OUTLINE AND ASSESS FUNCTIONALIST EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME AND DEVIANCE (50) INTRODUCTION * Structural theory * Believe that society is good and order is necessary * Therefore at first glance crime appears to be negative, but functionalists believe crime can be beneficial to social system PARAGRAPH 1 - DURKHEIM * Believed in consensus and need for social order + that crime was inevitable * He believed crime and deviance were product of lack of attachment to prevailing consensus over collective values * Durkheim believed the speed of change in modern societies was likely to generate deviance and crime as the modern world rapidly reinvents itself * Intro of new economic process and technology combined with social/geographical mobility leave people feeling unsure about their place in the world, so people lose a sense of what it is to be normal and develop sense of anomie (normlessness) * Crime and deviance are bound to increase now * After fall of Soviet Union crime increased rapidly in Russia as whole social fabric was transformed * Durkheim said crime was necessary for society and he notes 3 main benefits of crime: 1. Reaffirming the Boundaries – when someone is taken to court, the sanction and the publicity reaffirm existing values 2. Changing Values – sometimes when someone is charged with a crime, a degree of sympathy occurs for the person prosecuted leading to a change in values, which can lead to change in law to reflect...
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...control and exploit the workers (the proletariat), and it focuses on the unequal conflict between these two sectors of society. Marxists believe that the capitalist system is criminogenic – which means that by its nature it inevitably causes crime. As item B states, Marxists see crime in the capitalist system as ‘a tool of the ruling class’ where they can control the working class and crime is an unavoidable result because of the oppression the working class are subject to. They also believe that laws are enforced mostly to benefit the interests of the ruling class. (An example of this is 80% of laws exist to protect private property.) NeoMarxists (also known as critical criminology) are another branch of Marxism which was established in the 1970s. They discuss more contemporary ideas of crime and their ideas, such as saying crime results out of political anger. They note that the traditional Marxist perspective is too deterministic and try to implement an element of free will in their theory. Traditional Marxist’s view of crime has 3 key aspects: The Criminogenic capitalism, the state and law making and ideological functions of crime and law. As previously stated, criminogenic capitalism is the Marxist idea that crime is inevitable because of the nature of capitalism. They believe that because of capitalism as the unequal divide between classes, committing crime is sometimes the only way people can live. For example, a young woman who is living in poverty may have to resort to...
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...1. I would say its two sides of the coin of law. Criminal justice deals with crime using law enforcement, prosecution, and the courts, parole etc. It is a study of policing, correctional institutions, criminal courts and juvenile justice facilities which involves police officers, attorneys, courts and corrections professionals. Criminology has a heavy focus on sociology and deals with the intricacies of crimes, its causes, and the costs associated with the crime. It's a specific face of sociology I would say a specific branch and deals with a precise situation. So though they are both groups together some basic differences make them the separate field of study as mentioned above. 2. Deviant behavior is something that is against the social...
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