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Effect of criminal behaviour in society
Ethical issues in criminal justice today
Ethical issues in criminal justice today
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Victimless crimes, the illegal act(s) that involves consenting adults and lacks a complaining participant, have been the topic of heated debate for some time now (Kendall, 2014). This debate centers primarily on the question as to whether these acts should be crimes at all. The arguments take several forms. One of the controversies involves the importance of personal freedom versus society’s idea to uphold moral standards. A second issue addresses the problem of the conception of harm. People who stand on this side on this side of the argument raise questions as to whether victimless crimes are harmful not only to the participants but to others in society as well. More importantly, they ask whether such acts result in negative consequences that might not be seen immediately. Finally, there is an issue as to whether attempts to control victimless crimes are, as a whole, more helpful or detrimental to the criminal justice system and society in terms of cost effectiveness. In terms of my viewpoint, I stand with the people who believe that victimless crimes should not be decriminalized as I constantly question whether these crimes are truly victimless. As much as I believe that legalizing offenses like illicit drug use, euthanasia, prostitution, and gambling would help society in terms of cost effectiveness, I still believe such acts can cause more harm than what people make them out to be, thus not making them entirely victimless. PROSTIUTION Prostitution is one of the oldest jobs in the world and perhaps considered the ultimate victimless crime (Ruskin, 2012). As a profession that is estimated to bring in over 14 billion dollars a year in the United States alone with nearly 1 million prostitutes performing the acts, there ... ... middle of paper ... ...ce. Retrieved from http://www.justthinktwice.com/factsfiction/fiction_drug_use_is_a_victimless_crime.html Gorbenko, M. & Lakomy, A. (2011, November 12). Prostitution: the world’s oldest and most dangerous profession. Kendall, D.E (2014). Deviance and Crime. Sociology in our times: the essentials (9th ed., pp. ). Cengage Learning. Meier, R.F. & Geis, G. (1997). Victimless crime? Prostitution, Drugs, Homosexuality, Abortion. Los Angeles: Roxbury Press. Rosenberg, M. J., & Weiner, J. M. (1988). Prostitutes and AIDS: a health department priority? Retrieved from AM J Public Health website: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/articles/PMC1349367/ Ruskin, K. (2012, April 16). Prostitution – Secret Service Scandal – Mental Health View. Retrieved February 16, 2014, from http://www.drkarenruskin.com/prostitution-secret- service-scandal-mental-health-view/
Stephan Pfohl, Images of Deviance and Social Control: A Sociological History, 2nd ed. , McGraw-Hill, 1994. Edwin Pfuhl and Stuart Henry, The Deviance Process, 3rd ed., Aldine de Gruyter, 1993. Larry Siegel, Criminology, 4th ed., West publishing, 1992.
Since the beginning of our nation, victims have always existed, and the categories of victims and types of suffering have expanded greatly. At our creation, more obvious examples of victims stood out, such as the Native Americans who first inhabited this land. The colonists may even consider themselves victims to the Crown. As we move throughout our history we continue to see widely-known examples of people suffering, from the disgusting era of slavery to the horrific terrorist attacks on our country's soil at Pearl Harbor and on 9/11. However, it was the day-to-day victimization that had yet to be known or explored. This speaks to the crimes occurring every day in our nation that result in the short-term and long-term suffering of victims.
Prostitution, as stated by Flemming, is known as a form of sexual activity, a kind of sexual style or category, and a form of economic activity, a way of making a living through the provisions of certain services, by behaving in accordance with, or falling into such a category (39). This definition, though, is controversial. While conducting research for this project, we found that most topics regarding prostitution and its affiliates were controversial. Each author gave a differing interpretation for the same data. Due to this, our project centered on the female prostitutes, even though there is evidence of male prostitutes.
Over a ten-year span Sterk, immerses herself in the lifestyle of prostitution in the New York City and Atlanta area: she walked the streets with the prostitutes and observed their interactions with the various customers, and ‘pimps’ in order to gather the majority of her data. In order to gain their trust, Sterk had to go through a number of tests, and it was essential for her to have the right connections to experience the full und...
“There is no difference in work in which a women sells her hands, such as a typist, and a work in which a women sells her vagina, as in sex work.” Claims author Lacy Sloan. In today’s society, many people believe that prostitution is an immoral act. It is the world’s oldest profession and because it has been long condemned, sex workers are stigmatized from mainstream society (ProQuest Staff). However, the act of purchasing sex between consenting adults should not be prohibited by the government, but regulated for society's overall best interests. Prostitution is illegal and as a consequence prostitutes are often victims of violence and sexual assault; therefore, prostitution should be legalized and regulated to ensure the safety of sex workers.
Bohm & Haley (2012) describe harm as an physical or verbal act upon another person. The authors describe illegal drug use, prostitution and gambling as, “victimless crimes by those who argue that only those people involved in these
"Sociological Theories To Explain Deviance." Sociological Theories To Explain Deviance. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. .
Sampson, R., & Laub, J. (1990). Crime and Deviance over the Life course: the salience of adult social bonds. American Sociological Review, 55(5), 609-627.
Wilson, James and Herrnstein, Richard. "Crime & Human Nature: The Definitive Study of the Causes of Crime" New York: Free Press, 1998.
A victimless crime is a consensual illegal act lacking any complaining parties. No one is directly harmed, or if harm occurs, it is negated by the informed consent of willing participants. It has been suggested however the actual is indirect and can take on various forms. But that since the targeted individual consented to participate in one of these acts, the attribution of victimization is no longer considered. Victimless crimes may include: public drunkenness; vagrancy; various sexual acts that usually involve consenting adults (fornication, adultery, incest, homosexuality, and prostitution); obscenity; pornography; drug offenses; abortion; gambling; and juvenile status offenses (offenses that would not be criminal if the actor were an adult).
“Deviant behavior is behavior that violates the normative rules, understandings, or expectations of social systems” (“Deviant Behavior,” 1968). Sociologists that study crime and deviant behavior look at a variety of different things to try to determine the causes of these acts. First, they look at cultural norms and in what ways these cultural norms change. Second, they look at how these cultural norms are being enforced. They also look at what would happen to individuals when they break these cultural norms (Crossman, 2015b). Through these observations, sociologists have come up with numerous theories as to what causes deviant behavior.
“The U.S. Congress defined and classified human trafficking into two categories sex trafficking and labor trafficking the TVPA. As stated previously, sex trafficking involves the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person forced to perform such an act is younger than age 18. A commercial sex act means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. Types of sex trafficking include prostitution, pornography, stripping, live-sex shows, mail-order brides, military prostitution, and sex tourism,” (Clawson, 2009). The demand in the sex trade is formed by two different things: the male demand and the money made. “The male demand for sexual services sustains the profitability of the sex trade as a multi billion dollar industry,” (Kara, 2009). This is something that is crucial in understanding why the sex trade functions. Since the current state of rehabilitation for former trafficked females has been ineffective, legislation and programs need to be developed to be more effective.
A victimless crime is also known as a consensual crime and is really a crime against oneself. Generally, these crimes are labeled in such a way because there is no physical harm to a person or property “the only person being hurt is the person committing the crime themselves” (Schmallegar 2010, p.365). Victimless crimes are considered illegal, primarily because of statutory laws (Ward, 2003). These types of crimes typically involve willing participants and in most cases are violations by law. As a rule,” participants freely engage in the activities that are considered to be illegal or harmful” (Schmallegar 2010, p.365). Some examples of victimless crimes include “prostitution, drug dealing, lewdness, indecency, seduction, adultery and gambling” to name a few (Schmallegar 2010, p.365).The distinction of a victimless crime centers on the willingness of or agreeability of the individual engaging in the said activities.
Another example is in Rhode Island where it is legal to do indoor prostitution in 2003- 2009 and the rape rate reduces significantly. The difference between legalization and decriminalization is that decriminalization is to get rid of all punishment for prostitution and the advertisement of prostitution, while legalizing is wherein the states doesn’t prosecute prostitution per se but takes a heavy-handed approach to its regulation (Brown, 2). I’m strongly with decriminalization overall because having a criminal record could affect your future as in getting a job. When men who buy sex and females who sell sex become criminals in the eyes of society they will always be a criminal because it will be on their