...Personal Criminological Theory Jacoby Whitacre AJS/542 - Criminological Theory September 2, 2013 Shaunita Grase Personal Criminological Theory Throughout the years Criminologists has conducted a great amount of research and through that research Criminologist has developed different theories in order to better understand and explain criminal behavior. Theories try to help make sense out of many observations that are conducted presenting the facts of the principal that connects and explains the theories. If good theory has been developed; then it becomes very valuable to Criminologist, because it shows the knowledge that is beyond the facts that has been presented; which will show Criminologist how to predict how others might behave. Occurrence of Crime and Why People Commit Crime There exist many theories that have been used to explain crime. First is the classical theory of Cesare Beccaria, which claims that crime happens when the benefits outweigh the costs or when individuals chase after self-interests in the absence of effective punishments. Thus crime is seen as a free-willed choice. “There are three main legs in which Beccaria’s theory rests. Those are that all individuals possess freewill, rational manner and manipulability. Beccaria, like all classical theorist, believe that all individuals have freewill and make choices on that freewill. The second leg, rational manner, means that all individuals rationally look out for their own personal satisfaction...
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...Bradley Barnes MKT 625 Unethical Consumer Behavior Dr. McFaul January 20, 2013 Unethical Consumer Behavior Introduction Today’s consumer is looking for the best value and some consumers find ways to take advantage of a business through unethical consumer behaviors. Consumer ethics is defined as “moral rules that apply to consumers, such as the choice to return a used item for a refund, shoplift, and engage in software piracy, as well as the steps, the company takes to counter these actions, such as charging restocking fees and limiting returns” (Shiffman, 2010, p. G-2). Consumers have caused businesses additional costs through unethical consumer behavior. Anytime a consumer is unethical it costs the business money in lost profits. Unethical Behavior Many consumers find ways to cheat a company through unethical behavior. Piracy is an ongoing issue that many companies face through consumers illegally recording movies, music, software, and ringtones. Many consumers are stealing these products and do so because it saves the consumer from having to buy these products. Consumers also take the time to buy pirated material at a reduced cost than they can purchase these products at a retailer price. The downside to pirating is that this behavior costs every element of the supply chain money. Those affected are other consumers that have to pay inflated costs, Manufactures, retailers, and inventors or producers of the materials. Some consumers may be performing unethical...
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...Protection Plan for the PBMC Condominium Association Understanding that there is a growing problem on construction sites with thieveries and defacement it’s very important to have a proper perimeter protection. This is such an imperative proposal for the company. A perimeter protection has many designs benefits. It has been found that thieves are targeting larger equipment parts that are costing companies thousands of dollars and even tens of thousands at some point. Even the smaller tools and nice equipment that are stolen still require the money and the time that takes away from the organizations operation. Therefore, it is apparent that in order to protect property and save money on lost products the company need the best and most efficient. Now recent research has acquired that cameras are really good for deterring burglars as well as playing as a good investigative tool for criminal acts. However, even though the cameras help serve as an aid to recover of some property, the damage and destruction is still done. Also perimeter fencing is very popular as well, however because of the fact that the fencing is only used for a temporary manner it can easily be dismounted, knocked over, or even climbed across. Even more, the thought of having guard dogs just opens up the alley of to many liabilities. In most cases insurance aids will not allow guard dogs as a claim. However, if that wasn’t the case then guard dogs would be a great deterrent. All in all these risk could potentially...
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...Court Issues Analysis University of Phoenix David Hunt CJA/394 March 7, 2013 Timothy English Court Issues Analysis According to Muraskin and Roberts (2009), one strong current that emerged during the latter part of the twentieth century was the quest for personal safety, stability, and risk reduction in an otherwise unpredictably dangerous world. Crime prevention programs on a societal level tackle the social roots or social conditions that breed lawlessness. Victimization prevention strategies have much more modest goals: to reduce the odds of violence and theft faced by specific individuals, small groups, and communities. Commercial interests have discovered that crime victims constitute a significant group of consumers of goods and services that allegedly will help reduce the risks of being harmed physically, emotionally, or financially, and speed recovery. The market will surely expand for high-tech victimization prevention gadgetry and private security, protection management, and loss prevention services. Already, the ranks of police departments, sheriff’s departments, and other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies are reinforced by a growing number of security consultants, private detectives, and personal bodyguards along with night watchmen, store detectives, hotel detectives, chauffeurs, even doormen. Antitheft devices already abound and will become even more commonplace. Alarm systems are being sold as standard equipment on vehicles, boats,...
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...Essay 5 Are you a victim of employee theft? Did you know that employee theft has cost from small businesses to major Fortune 500 companies over $37.14 billion in 2010 alone? Fraud against business includes the theft of physical assets such as cash or inventory. Essentially there are two types of inventory fraud: physical loss and financial statement fraud. Inventory shrinkage is the term use in accounting to describe the loss of inventory. Loss of inventory might be due to shoplifting, employee theft, damage, etc. Inventory fraud can occur in any company. Nearly 50% of retail inventory shrinkage comes from employee theft. Dr. Hollinger, who conducts the National Retail Security Survey, reported that shrinkage (as mentioned before) has cost the retail industry $37.14 billion in 2010. Shrinkage is divided into employee theft (43.7%), shoplifting (32.6%), administrative error (12.9%) and vendor fraud (5.4%). While is really hard for a manager or CFE to determine who can steal from a company you have to keep in mind that everyone with the right motives can steal from you. Even a longtime employee who has always been on time and loyal to the company may be tempted to commit theft due to recent live event such as a divorce, not enough money to send kids to college, etc. others do it simply because of greediness. I work for a mid-size property management company in Rockville, MD. The executive director, accountant and secretary where fired last month because they were stealing money...
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...In the United States, from an early age we are taught that individual wealth is a measure of personal success. Wealthy people are viewed as powerful, happy, and successful. They are also viewed as having access to educational and occupational means that provide them with opportunities to increase their wealth. Strain theory as it relates to digital crime involves the feeling of people in the lower and middle social classes that they do not have equal opportunities or access to those same educational and occupational opportunities. Instead of pursuing legal means to increase their wealth, some of the people who commit white collar crimes are those from the lower and middle classes who are stressed and strained due to finances and their jobs. (Robert W. Taylor, 2011) According to the strain theory, individuals who commit white collar digital crimes feel a sense of entitlement to financial and occupational success because life hasn’t been fair. They have been divorced, lost a significant other, lost their job, or had some other sort of negative situation in their lives. When an individual feels as though they are a failure, they may be more likely to turn to crime as a means of success. (Robert W. Taylor, 2011) The strain theory is the most relevant theory as to why people may turn to committing digital crimes because at one point or another in our lives everyone has had a feeling of inadequacy or failure in some aspect of our lives. Since it is not an uncommon feeling, the...
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...American Intercontinental University Unit 1 Individual Project CRJS 105 – Theories of Crime Causation November 11th, 2010 Abstract The following will examine the differences between criminalists, criminologists and forensic psychologists. It will then transition into how what exactly is a white collar crime and a blue collar crime. Lastly the paper will discuss the differences between index-one and index-two crimes as defined by the UCR. Media Portrayal of Crime Introduction With the prevalence of crime being portrayed in the media world, it can be difficult for the modern American to decipher all the aspects of crime. Criminology, the study of crime and its causes, is a excellent way to find out just what makes a criminals mind tick. Although it may be hard to know just what makes a person commit a crime, having a better understanding of the base of criminal justice aspects may be of assistance. Criminologists, Criminalists, and Forensic Psychologists With a plethora of jobs out there relating to the field of criminal justice, it may become overwhelming to try and decide who does what and how they do it. To have a better understanding of such fields one must know exactly what each field does separately from the other. A criminologist uses sociological theories and methods to study criminal behavior and how societies respond to crime (Hall, 2010). This means the criminologist seeks to find out the mentality behind a crime and how that thinking affects the...
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...Classism and Criminal Justice Draft 2 Justice is a term that we hear every day and accept although many of us have skepticism as to what it truly means. In general, justice is the idea of righteousness and equality. In regards to society’s views on how “just” the criminal justice system is, we always incorporate the “ism’s”: Racism, sexism and classism, to demonstrate some of the pitfalls that the system has. Though it is obvious that all of these societal differences play a large role in the criminal justice process, I will focus on classism. Classism is the discrimination against a group or individual based on social and economic status. Classism is one of those “ism’s” that occurs more than we notice and sometimes, we may confuse it with things like racism or sexism. Classism, in my opinion, plays a larger role in the criminal justice system as opposed to the other forms of discriminatory practices. In particular, class largely comes into play during the sentencing process. Many authors argue that factors outside of class play a more important role, but I believe that there needs to be more attention paid to the role that class plays in targeting and the sentencing process in the criminal justice system. In order to understand the role that class plays in the sentencing process, we must, first, look at the role that it plays before the criminal reaches the day of sentencing. There are a plethora of publications that speak on profiling and actuarial methods which get people...
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...Unit 1 IP CRJS 105 Abstract After reading this paper you will be able to explain the differences between Criminologists, Criminalists, and Forensic psychologists and the differences in their discipline of expertise. Additionally, this paper will briefly discuss blue collar crimes vs. white collar crimes, the way in which the FBI reports and measures these crimes in their Uniformed Crime Reporting (UCR) system. The author further elucidates blue collar crimes and how their culture is more populated by the media. This paper also includes the variations of Index I and Index II crimes and the manner in which they are reported either as violent or property crimes under the UCR system, as well as, the sentence that accompany such crimes. The author concludes this paper with a basic understanding of these three fields and the importance of their role within our criminal justice system that together create a unified force to battle crime. Introduction To get a better understanding of how our criminal justice system operates, society needs to know the involvement and the many specialists that are needed to keep our communities safe as well as, get the criminals off the streets to prevent them from committing future crime. One should look at it like baking a cake and each ingredient is an important part of the recipe. 1st ingredient is the investigation, 2nd ingredient is solving the crime...
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...Assignment 1: Types of White Collar Crime Angela L. Langley LEG 200 – White Collar Crime in Government, Business, and Labor Professor Thomas Demko Strayer University May 28, 2012 Assignment 1: Types of White Collar Crime A white collar crime is illegal and unethical, which violates the public trust. It deals with lying, cheating, and stealing by high profile individuals. A single con can destroy a business, hurt families by cleaning out their life savings, or cost investors billions of dollars. “Devastating losses in relation to homes, businesses, jobs, retirement funds, and college savings were widespread. “It was clear that fraudulent misrepresentations on many levels were at the center of this crisis” (Friedrichs, 2010, p. 1). We will compare and contrast the nature of white collar crime with other types of illegal acts, compare and contrast the typical participants of white collar crime against the participants of other types of illegal acts, discuss the role of technology in white collar crime and how its role may create differences from other forms of crime, and analyze the role of opportunity and how it contributes to white collar crime. Compare and contrast the nature of white collar crime with other types of illegal acts. The key elements of white collar crimes are trust and its violation. “White collar crimes take on the form of misrepresentation, stealing, misappropriation, self-dealing, corruption, and role conflict” (Friedrichs, 2010,...
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...Kristopher S. Bolds Classism and Criminal Justice Justice is a term that we hear every day and accept although many of us have skepticism as to what it truly means. In general, justice is the idea of righteousness and equality. In regards to society’s views on how “just” the criminal justice system is, we always incorporate the “ism’s”: Racism, sexism and classism, to demonstrate some of the pitfalls that the system has. Though it is obvious that all of these societal differences play a large role in the criminal justice process, I will focus on classism. Classism is the discrimination against a group or individual based on social and economic status. Classism is one of those “ism’s” that occurs more than we notice and sometimes, we may confuse it with things like racism or sexism. Many authors argue that factors outside of class play a more important role, but many believe that we should be more attentive to the role that class plays in targeting and the sentencing process in the criminal justice system. In order to understand the role that class plays in the sentencing process, we must, first, look at the role that it plays before the criminal reaches the day of sentencing. There are a plethora of publications that speak on profiling and actuarial methods which get people into the system. Though these are two large proponents of the discriminatory acts that exist within the confines of the criminal justice system, it does not begin with these institutionalized methods...
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...Categories of Computer Crime Shanice A Gilliard Prof. Carl Brown CIS 170 January 27, 2014 There are four types of computer crimes. The purpose of this paper is to explain each type and provide an example. During the course of this paper, I will also decide which type of crime in my opinion represents the greatest overall threat and give ways the government along with law enforcement agencies can attempt to counteract these crimes. Types of Crimes The four types of computer crime are as follows: (1) the computer as a target, (2) the computer as an instrument of the crime, (3) the computer as incidental to crime, and (4) crimes associated with prevalence of computers. As technology changes every day, you can always expect many more new offenders, offenses, and victims to appear simply based on the quality of knowledge someone possesses and also by the quality of the technology they are able to access. The better the quality the more extensive the damage will be. Being able to distinguish between these different categories is another thing that may seem difficult. Examples of Crimes The first type of computer crime is using the computer as a target. This is defined as a basic denial towards the owner of the system or by altering the data on the network itself. Altering the data or denying access to the system or network can be harmful to as business because it can prevent them from offering products or services to clients or it can also prevent the client access to their...
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...gain any meaningful means of living and unfortunately, this state has been nationalized in Nigeria. Unemployment in Nigeria has hindered the economic growth of the country. Unemployment is of great harm to the society and the youth age; it drastically increases illegal activities in the society and the youth are left with no choice other than to indulge in illegal activities. Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest rate of unemployment. In Nigeria, about two-third of the working population is unemployed. This is as a result of lack of job opportunities and productivity of the government. Lack of employment has an adverse effect on the society and on youths especially. For example, it creates false employment such as militancy, theft (armed robbery), and prostitution (both in male and female). This false employment increases the crime rate in the country and contributes to the gradual crumble of the economy of the country. According to the CIA World Fact-book, in 2008 the rate of unemployment in Nigeria was about 4.90%, and in 2009 it increased to 4.90%. Firstly, for a country like Nigeria that dwells mainly on oil as a source of income and foreign exchange, militancy does more harm than good. Militancy has become a burden in the heart of the government because of the high rate of destruction these unemployed youths indulge in. A good number of unemployed graduates and undergraduates take it upon themselves as a task to willingly vandalize the pipelines which the oil...
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...Skimming Devices in Gas Pumps Lori Markey Acct 571 15 March 2014 ABSTRACT This paper explores fraudulent activity committed by using gas pumps to steal financial information from victims. Furthermore, the paper attempts to answer a variety of questions as presented on Page 143 of our text book. Such as the control issues that were breached and how the fraudsters meet the profile of the average perpetrator. Additionally, I will explore elements of the fraud triangle, red flags for fraud, and problems with prosecuting criminals. Skimming Devices in Gas Pumps In March 2013, four men Garegin Spartalyan, Aram Martirosian, Hayk Dzhandzhapanyn, and Davit Kudugulyan were charged with 426 counts of money laundering, criminal possession of stolen property, grand larceny, criminal possession of a forgery device, and criminal possession of forged instruments (Vance, 2014). The men are from Las Vegas, Nevada except Hayk who hails from California (Vance, 2014). The four along with nine other accomplices were accused of stealing victims banking information and PINS by using skimming machines at gas stations in Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee. The skimming device is put inside the pump with a universal to open the front and only takes between 5 – 10 minutes to install/remove (biggs, 2014). The skimmers that were used connect into the line between the card reader and pump computer to read the PIN input and the magnetic strip and store the information locally (biggs, 2014)...
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...honesty has been an ever growing problem within the education community. It starts from grade school and continues on through the rest of the student’s lives as well as the work place. No more than ever before has there been more pressure to perform at a higher level in school and some students will go to extreme lengths to just get a decent grade. As you well know academic honesty is a big thing when completing assignments and test in college. But honesty comes down to the core of who we are, from are family’s to are work place. It creates an invisible untrustworthy factor between the student and professor. It basically comes down to cheating, which means to use another person’s ideas or answers for your own. It’s also known as intellectual theft. Academic honesty is not a victimless crime, and you may wonder why, but it has many factors. Taking credit for something that isn’t yours or stealing it can actually put you in jail. Students these days have a lot of pressure on them, which causes them to resort to desperate measures. Some other reasons is because they lack the knowledge or skill for the course or they are just plain lazy. One last thing is that they didn’t even know they were cheating at all because they didn’t use proper citation. One thing I have learned from this article is that, I didn’t know it was as widespread as I initially thought, which really surprised me. The conclusions of the article are extremely accurate when compared to other course material, because...
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