Crime, in the world today affects everyone. People everywhere deal with it differently than
others, and also have many different views on how to categorize it. In the United States there are
three levels in which a crime can fall. Depending on the severity of the crime committed, it can fall
into one of these three. The highest level, a crime is considered to be a “Felony”, at the mid-range
they are referred to as a “Misdemeanor”, and on the lowest end, they are called an “Infraction.”
Certain people have different perspectives on a crimes impact on society, and can be biased
depending on the individual; among these many views, three are directly connected to the crime
itself.
The first view is from the men and women sworn to protect society, and uphold its laws.
Law enforcement is a very diverse profession, and within it comes many different people with many
different views. However, when the uniform goes on, all prejudices, and biased opinions should be
thrown out the window. This isn’t always the case though , depending on the person they might be dealing with, and the level of crime committed, law enforcement may have a different outlook on the situation at hand. This could be closely related to an officer safety concern, or just the opinion of
the responding official.
When dealing with a criminal, officer safety is always the key priority. When it comes to the
level of crime, officers may take a different approach to the offender. For example: When
apprehending a Felonious offender, an officer may look at the situation a lot differently than they
would with a less severe one. Officer’s know that when approaching someone for a felony, this
usually means a t...
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...tives from anyone are strictly opinionated, and hail from personal feelings.
Weather they are just or unjust, they still depend on the person and their frame of mind, and feelings
toward a certain situation. Culture plays a part in society’s outlook on crime by swaying the views of
anyone involved. It is because of this, law enforcement is held to a higher standard, and has strict
regulations set in place to ensure personal feelings are cast aside, and the investigation is conducted
in a professional manner. Criminals are the rule breakers and feel that nothing applies to them. The
victims however see things the way they feel they need to in order to get the best possible outcome
in their favor. However, when it all comes down to brass tacks, any one person will do or say
whatever they feel to create a better outcome for themselves.
Crime and deviant behavior surprisingly helps increase “social activity” among various different people within a society. Therefore, crime and deviant behavior brings “people together in a common posture of anger and indignation…when these people come together to express their outrage over the offense…they develop a tighter sense of solidarity than existed earlier” (Erikson 4). For example, in the Steven Avery case, the people of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, all had very strong feelings of Steven Avery and his family, and as a result they were seen as deviant people in their own hometown. Those feelings towards him, and his family, would be a critical factor when he was accused of the horrendous crime (Making). Based on their feelings towards the Avery family, the society in which he lived developed the overall concept of us versus them (Erikson 11). Therefore, another concept that arises as a result of crime and deviant behavior is public temper, which is described as a “mutual group feeling” (Erikson
There are many views on crime and deviance and many theories to why they occur.
The job of a law enforcement officer sometimes can be tough. Officer are sometimes plagued with situation that test their ability to enforce the law and maintain order. Police officers today face a constant battle to maintain higher ethical standards. This mission becomes tougher each day when one considers the importance of fighting terrorism, drugs, human trafficking,
officer, giving them jail time, or even treating them as they treated the victim for reasons that
The social construction of myths of crime and criminal justice seems to follow a series of recurrent patterns. These patterns allow for an unprecedented amount of social attention to be focused upon a few isolated criminal events or issues. This attention is promoted by intense, but often brief, mass media coverage of a select problem. Intense social concern of an issue is achieved by a variety of means from the mass media, government, law enforcement officials, interpersonal communications, and the interests of reform groups whom all play major roles in focusing the publics attention on select so...
Was the intrusion based on a lawful objective, such as a valid arrest, detention, search, frisk, community warden guardian of mentally ill, defense of an officer or a citizen, or to prevent escape? If these answer yes then an officer may have legal ability to use the levels of force listed below to apprehend the suspect. Another list of things to consider when determining if it was a lawful use of force is; was the use of force relative to the person’s confrontation? Was there a crucial need to terminate the condition? Even though there is no duty to retreat, could the officer have used lesser force and still safely accomplish the lawful objective? These are the questions that the jury need to answer to determine if they should side with or against the officer in any court case brought to them that deals with such a controversial topic as this.
The Uniform Crime Report, which was developed in the 1930s, is commonly used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a record of crimes committed all across the United States. These crimes, which fall under two categories, Part I and Part II offenses, are reported by local police to the Federal Bureau of Investigation each year. Part I offenses are considered to be the more serious of crimes recognized by society. Such examples of this are homicide, forcible rape, robbery, arson, motor vehicle theft, etc. Part II offenses are those that are considered less serious, such as fraud, simple assault, drug abuse, gambling, stolen property, embezzlement, etc. Part I crimes can also be subdivided into what are known as violent crimes and property crimes. (Barkan, 2012). However, there are both some positive and negative aspects of this type of crime measurement. The following paper will explore the small amount of pros and numerous cons associated with the Uniform Crime Report.
Gottfredson, M.R., Hirschi, T. (1998). A General Theory of Crime. Stanford University Press: Stanford California.83, 118, 158,159, 181, 195
In the line of police work there is great discretion that is given. With discretion there is great power, and within that power is the ability to take someone’s life. Police officers are allowed to take one’s life if there is danger to one’s self, the surrounding community and depending on the severity of the situation at hand. All three of three circumstances are continually being calculated by the police officer. Police are trained to deal with use of force and deadly force through a one-plus-one method. The method tells the officers that in all situations that their intensity has to be one step or notch ahead of suspect. The intensity can be through vocal presence or keeping a higher degree of physicality. This can all be presented through what is called the force continuum.
According to Clark and Cornish (1983), criminology theorists traditionally attribute the combined impact of adverse psychological, economic, and social factors as key drivers that predict the likelihood that a person will engage in criminal activity. These same factors also predict whether the person will experience any internal conflict about their decision to engage in criminal behavior. The “rational offender theory” (Clark & Cornish, 1983) describes how they plan, analyze and carry out their criminal activity. According to the theory, the offender’s decision-making will align to one of four models, i.e.: the initial involvement model, the event model, the continuation model and the desistance model (Clark & Cornish, 1983).
Crime and criminalization can be ambiguous; crime is only crime until certain authorities deem the actions illegal. However, social inequalities can lead to increased crime rates, notions such as gender, age, race, and class influence crime and provide criminologist with the date to determine who is most likely to commit a crime and where.
Crime exists everywhere. It is exists in our country, in the big cities, the small towns, schools, and even in homes. Crime is defined as “any action that is a violation of law”. These violations may be pending, but in order to at least lower the crime rate, an understanding of why the crimes are committed must first be sought. There are many theories that are able to explain crimes, but three very important ones are rational choice theory, social disorganization theory and strain theory.
Crime is defined by those in power- People in power shape the criminal law with their values without an objective understanding for right and wrong. Not only are acts labeled, but also people- Labels define a person without even meeting them. A person defined as smart or intelligent are more likely to succeed and stay above the law. In contrast, negative labeling can stigmatize a person into reincarnating the name given, resulting in criminal acts and major long-term consequences. Subject interpretation of behavior involves both positive and negative labels- Negative consequences are labeled only when do the labeling. The act itself can have a negative label but the contributor can be excused of the crime. For instance, a person can kill someone, but not be labeled as a murder due to an individual in take on the crime. The consequences of labeling can unfold a tale of actions, shutting out the individual will result to criminal offenses due to the feeling of detachment as well as, isolation. A label; rumor or suspicion can leave a permanent print on someone’s life. The individual will want to live up to the label depending on the severity and notice of the name. Primary deviance is, crimes or acts that are not recorded or labeled as crimes. Simply, an act within the norm and
Without the understanding of what really happened in an event or place and time justice is not being sought out and can’t be dealt to those that need it. We all have felt wronged, at one time or another, in one form or another and I feel that is why we all have a common interest in seeking justice.
In any given setting, police officers are responsible for maintaining order within a, sometimes overly chaotic, society. They are given the responsibility of acting as protectors of the defenseless and upholding justice, at the risk of injury to themselves or even the loss of their own life. In addition, it is inevitable that an officer will eventually come into physical contact with an individual, who may be volatile or avoiding arrest, which nonetheless increases the odds of a physical confrontation. The distressing truth is that, although being assaulted is not a requirement of their profession, it is essentially unavoidable. With that said, police officers realize this fact and readily accept the reality that at any given moment, be