In order to properly Respond to Crime, it is important for the Professional Crime Fighter to learn as much as possible about the phenomenon called CRIME. We established a Definition for Crime in the last lecture [see: Define Crime]. Armed with that definition, we can explore the concept of criminal behavior as a social phenomenon.
We must begin our lecture with an admission of ignorance. There is something called the Dark Figure of Crime. The dark figure of crime is the proportion of all crime which have been committed, that criminal justice agents and agencies have not yet discovered or have failed to report. The dark figure of crime is a deficite to criminal justice. It prevents Professional Crime Fighters from truly understanding all aspects of the nature of CRIME. Without this understanding, the Professional Crime Fighter is at a disadvantage when it comes to developing and employing strategies and tactics designed to reduce, stop, or control Crimetext-decoration: underline;.
Still though, even in the face of this potentially blinding ignorance, we have managed throughout the years to gain an indepth understanding of What Crime Is, How Crime Occurs, Why Crime Is Committed, Who Is More Likely To Commit Crimes, When Crime Is More Likely To Occur, and Where Crime Is More Likely to Be Committed. We have learned this through countless hours of ceaseless research in The Field. The end result of all of this research is that we can now discuss CRIME as:
Crime must be examined not from a single perspective, but from many different angles. It is a complex phenomenon that involves human beings. Since Humans are complex creatures who live complicated lives, Crime is also a complex and complicated concept. Yet, it can be simplified. The following discussion seeks to simplify CRIME with the goal of providing the Professional Crime Fighter with the requisite knowledge to identify the participants and their roles in the Criminal Process.
Crime is a behavior. Behavior is any action or inaction that is exhibited by a particular object or individual. It is for this reason that we define Crime as any action or inaction that society has defined as wrong and/or unacceptable and to which a punishment and/or penalty has been attached. Measuring Crime as a Behavior is not too difficult. Either the behavior occurs or it does not. Murder is either committed or else it is not committed. Violating the Speed Limit either occurs or else it does not occur.
Unfortunately, measuring Crime as a Behavior does not inform us very much about its true nature. Neither does this tell us enough about how to combat Crime. To become efficient and effective Professional Crime Fighters, we must learn more about CRIME than the fact that it occurs or that a particular type of Behavior occurs or does not occur. We must put a face and a personality upon this phenomenon called CRIME. Therefore, we examine it as an Event and as a Social Interaction.
Crime is an event. As an event, Crime is a measurable occurrence which is bound by a specific time frame, such that it has a beginning point and an ending point. For this reason, we can examine Crime as a Time-Based Phenomenon. We can compare criminal events either across timepoints or between timepoints or even at milestone timepoints. By measuring Crime in these ways, the Professional Crime Fighter can gain a better mental picture of the temporal aspects of CRIME. This temporal aspect of CRIME refers to the need to plan strategies and tactics of Crime Control in such a way as to place the maximum amount of preventive effort into The Field at the most opportune point in Time, so that our efforts to stop or control criminal events will be more efficient and most effective.
There are several specific timepoints that can be measured within the time frame that a criminal event occurs. These timepoints are often divided into three specific categories:
The first timepoint within the Criminal Event produces a criminogenic environment. To begin with, the Potential Criminal enters the locale. Next, the Potential Victim enters the locale. Then, the Potential Criminal and Potential Victim experience Close Contact.
The second timepoint within the Criminal Event produces the actual criminal activity. Verbal and Nonverbal Cues are issued. Reaction to those Verbal and Nonverbal Cues occurs. The potential criminal identifies something of value that can be taken away from the Potential Victim. The potential criminal then metamorphosis into the Actual Criminal. Finally, the Crime occurs. This final part of the second timepoint that the object of value is taken, which metamorphosises the Potential Victim into an Actual Victim.
The third timepoint within the Criminal Event produces an environmental reaction to the criminal event. It is at this point within the event that the Victim reports the crime or that the crime is Discovered by the Professional Crime Fightger. An Investigation of the Crime Scene then ensues. Victim Services are usually provided within this timepoint as well. When conducted properly, the Investigation leads to the identification of a Suspect and/or the arrest of the Perpetrator of the Crime. The Professional Crime Fighter then brings the Defendant to Justice [see: Trial and Conviction of The Offender].
When measured between timepoints, criminal events are usually reported in set form. Murders Committed in 1997-1999 [43], 2000-2002 [27], and 2003-2005 [32] is an example of criminal events being measured between timepoints. Criminal Events measured across timepoints are usually reported in summary form. The total number of murders committed from 1845 to 1937 [2043] is an example of criminal events being measured across timepoints. When measured at milestone timepoints, criminal events are normally reported as static totals or estimated per capita totals. Number Of Murders in 1900 [300 per capita] and in 2000 [190 per capita] is an example of criminal events being measured at milestone timepoints.
Crime is a social interaction. The world in which we Live and Interact with one another is called The Grande Stage Of Life. There are four major Actors who populate the Grande Stage Of Life. These are the Perpetrator, the Victim, the Witness, and the By-Stander.
Every Crime produces a Victim. The Victim is by definition the target of a criminal activity. The Victim is the indivdual who is harmed by the Criminal Behavior. Victims fall into several categories, based upon the type of harm that is inflicted upon them by the Perpetrator of the Criminal Behavior that is targeted against them. The categories of harm which might be inflicted upon a Victim are:
Every Crime has a Perpetrator. By Definition, a Perpetrator is one who commits a particular action or inaction. The Perpetrator of a Crime is defined as the individual who targets another party as his/her source of criminal gain.
To be a Perpetrator, one must satisfy several qualifications. The Qualifications form a sort of Resumé for the Perpetrator. An incomplete resumé prevents an individual from becoming a Perpetrator. There are Eight Qualifications or Elementsthat must be met before an individual can be classified as a Perpetrator. These Qualifications Of The Perpetrator are:
Every Crime has at least one Witness. By definition, a Witness is one who vicariously experiences an event from an intervening distance. The Witness is the one who indirectly directly experiences a crime’s commission by seeing or hearing it. Witnesses serve a vital part in the Professional Crime Fighter's occupation. Witnesses provide supporting evidence against a suspected Perpetrator, such that the Suspect can be indicted and convicted for his/her criminal behavior. Without Witnesses, the Crime Fighter's job becomes very difficult, and in many cases it becomes imposible to complete.
While every crime has a Perpetrator, a Victim, and a Witness; every crime does not necessarily have a By-Stander. A By-Stander is one who is present within the vicinity of a Crime, but who may not have witnessed the actual event taking place. Therefore, it can be said that the By-Stander is defined as the person who was close to, but not involved in, the Criminal Interaction.
Criminal justice agents and agencies have developed many new and more accurate methods of acquiring and analyzing data about the crimes that are being committed. Nevertheless, the fact remains that while our measures of crime may have improved over the years, we remain ignorant about much crime, and it is still difficult to describe accurately the volume of work performed by criminal justice agencies. In illustration of this problem, the point is given in the classroom that only about five percent (5%) of those who report using controlled substances are arrested in any given year. Thus, using only arrest data, we are unaware of ninety-five percent (95%) of drug crime. However, vast improvements in data entry and analyses have been made over the fast several decades.
Data are put to four primary uses. [For a definition of data, read your notes from the in-class lecture.] The primary applications of data include:
Data relevant to criminal justice issues come from two primary sources:
Official statistics are those tabulations of offenders, offenses, and justice actions that are produced and reported by the official agencies of criminal justice. The primary source of official statistics about crime is the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). This annual report includes crimes known to the police and describes the characteristics of those arrested.
The Crime Index includes criminal offenses that have been defined by the Federal Government as potentially destructive to our Society. The Index Crimes include:
Problems and limitations of these data, which include definitional differences, failure to report, and rules of counting, are also examined. The concept of a crime rate--whose calculation is presented both in the classroom environment and within the text--must be clearly understood by the criminal justice student. It is the very basis of the official crime statistic, and it is used daily for policy-making and procedure-development decisions. Other sources of oficial statistics, such as National Prisoner Data Statistics, Uniform Parole Reports, and Epidemiological Reports, are discussed within the textbook and in the classroom. The wise student understands the importance of a clear understanding of these sources of statistics and their proper application to the study of criminal justice.
Unofficial Data differ greatly from official data sources. Victimization data can be found within the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). These data represent one of the best alternative sources of information about crime in The United States. The focus and data collection strategy of the National Crime Victimization Survey differ gretly from those of official statistics sources. However, the results of data analyses are quite similar. Both types of statistics (official and unofficial) produce results that reflect the same general distribution of offenses [see Textbook and Class Notes].
In recent years, efforts have been conducted to improve official and unofficial sources of crime and victiminzation data. The NCVS's Survey Instrument [questionnaire] has been revised to include all household members over the age of twelve (12) years, as well as including more specific and detailed questions about crimes of Rape, Assault, and Sexual Assault. The UCR is currently being phased out, with a National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) being implemented to gather more complete and detailed information about crimes known to the police.
In addition to victimization surveys, data about crime has been obtained through self-report studies that ask people if they have committed crimes. These data indicate that while nearly everyone is likely to have broken some law, people differ in terms of how often they violate the law, and how serious their offensive behaviors are. Those who violate the law most frequently and those who commit more serious offenses are also more likely to be found in correctional populations. Such information carries far-reaching implications for future criminal justice policies and procedures.
From a combined look at the results of these three measures of crime, we can draw several conclusions. First, there is a general ageement among the measures that the most serious and most frequent criminal offenders come from the lower socioeconomic classes. Second, hose persons arrested adn subjected to criminal justice processing are not representative of the general population. Urban dwellers, the poor, young persons, males, and minority group members are more likely to be arrested and processed than their numbers in the general population would suggest.
These findings raise interesting questions. Is it possible that there is some sort of discrimination in criminal justice? Do agents of the justice system select minority group members for justice processing based on ethnicity? Are the more well-to-do subjected to less intervention than the poor, based solely on social status?
The data seem to indicate that the probability of arrest and justice system processing depends more upon the frequency of criminal behavior and the social context [urbanism] than it does on characteristics of individual offenders. This finding indicates both how justice system priorities reflect offense seriousness and how justice actions reflect environmental factors. That is to say, there are more police in urban areas, and more arrests occur in cities.
Official statistics, victimization surveys, and self-report studies represent the principal ways through which we learn about the working of the justice system and the nature and distribution of crime. However, two other important sources of information also deserve mention. First, cohort studies provide an opportunity to estimate the likelihood of individuals becoming involved in the justice process, and allow us to track the progress of a group of persons through the system. By selecting a sample of persons sharing some characteristics, such as gender and birth year, we can trace a cohort over time and determine what happens to them. Finally, observational studies allow researchers to examine specific questions in more detail by observing how criminal justice agents, ofenders, and people in general typically behave.
There are many problems inherent in describing the justice system. As a result of different needs among jusitce agencies and the variety of agencies that colelct information, it is difficult to describe fully the opeations of the criminal justice system. In many jurisdictions, for example, it is not economical to trace a particular case through the process from detection ot discharge. Rather, the researcher must use different data sets to estimate the number of arrests that result in conviction or imprisonment.
At best, such methods produce inaccurate results. Thus, it is difficult to trust the published statistics that are used to describe criminal behavior. Further, it is suggested that, just like buying a brand new used car, published statistics should be viewed with a grain of salt and a suspect lens! Otherwise, one might reach erroneous conclusions. However, when viewed carefully and circumpsectly, the body of knowledge that has been generated by research into CRIME has produced the following resultant perspective:
Crime causes harm to the Social Structure of our Country. Crime damages our State. Crime weakens The Community. Crime jeopardizes The Family. Crime hurts each and every one of Us. For these reasons, The STATE has a Pressing Need to Protect The Public and The Nation from Crime.The purpose of this lecture has been to educate you toward the understanding of the major components that comprise Crime As An Event Of Social Interaction.