...There is a significant body of research about the role the media plays in influencing public perceptions about crime. The public depends largely on newspapers and television for its information about crime and the criminal justice system, but the information they receive is often affected by the limited sources used by journalists to create news stories. Sensationalist reporting of violent crime by the media often helps to increase feelings of insecurity among citizens, and in turn, affects their overall quality oflife. There have been many attempts to increase media literacy among audiences, to monitor media content, and change the nature of crime stories produced. Public service announcements, and public education and awareness campaignsare some of the traditional approaches used by governments, another approach has been 'civic journalism'. While these approaches are still very importantin crime prevention, they represent only a part of the media's potential contribution. Trends in information and communications technology (ICT) offer community safety and crime prevention much more beyond publicity, promotional activities, or surveillance measures (eg. CCTV). Given that many governments and NGOs are investing in ICTs to develop international networks, and construct a knowledge base in crime prevention (policy, best practices, tools, training, etc), what measures can be taken to ensure thatthose who do not have access to ICTs contribute to and benefit from this exchange? The...
Words: 263 - Pages: 2
...Q. Why has the analysis of crimes of the powerful been such a growth area in criminology over the past century? It is tempting to give a simple or even simplistic answer to the above question: it is tempting to say that analysis and theory of crimes of the powerful have grown so quickly in the last century because the quantity and diversity of such crimes have themselves exploded outwards. As the number of crimes committed by the powerful have risen exponentially across the years and continents, so the police forces, crime-prevention agencies and legislators of the governments charged with halting these crimes have had to evolve into larger and more complex organizations also. For instance, amongst myriad forms of organized crime that developed in the twentieth century, one pertinent recent example is the efflorescence of high-tech and internet crime, where professional and international gangs manipulate technology to extort or steal large sums of money from the public. High-tech crime is of course a recent phenomenon; it did not exist at the turn of the last century. Therefore analysis of such activities by law agencies has grown to respond to this new threat; moreover, the analysis and prevention of such crimes has had to grow in sophistication and size just as the crimes themselves have done. Organized crime - be it narcotic trafficking, prostitution rings, corporate crimes and so on - has become a massive international business, and it has required larger agencies equipped...
Words: 1104 - Pages: 5
...focus its gaze on the crimes of the powerless and neglects those of the powerful: discuss. Today’s news society is so diverse and challenging, that many and nearly all contemporary issues receive daily coverage by all façades of the media. Some of the most highly debated and discussed coverage topics, including drugs, violence and crime reporting have taken over in incessant media reporting. Criminology without a doubt is obsessed with the crimes of the powerless at the expenses of the crimes of the powerful. “Law governs the poor and rich rules the law” (Criminology in Pakistan, 2011) intensely portrays the separation in the selective procedure of law to the advantage of certain sections without respect to others. A study of the criminology literature generates a possible outcome that much more emphasis has been placed on the crimes, committed by the marginalized groups and individuals (thus the poor), than those perpetrated by the powerful. In this essay, we will try to analyse how far this notion is true, and if true what are the reasons for this uneven approach on the part of the criminologists. Marxists and critical criminologists argue that traditional criminology focus on the ‘crimes of the streets’ and ignores ‘crimes of the suits’, committed by big businesses. Before moving on to analyse the situation let us have a look at various categories of offences committed by the powerless and the ones executed by the powerful. Assault, theft, robbery...
Words: 2847 - Pages: 12
...1. Environmental crime refers to crime committed against the environment. Environmental crime relates to corporate and state crime through primary crimes, which are crimes that are currently legal under international law. These crimes cause long lasting damage to the environment such as pollution and deforestation. One example would be the explosion in the factory in Bhopal. Emmons argues that an environmental crime is an action that breaks the national or international law. 2. Differential association was developed by Sutherland whose initial studies were into white collar crime. The culture of the organisation which justifies committing illegal or dubious acts in order to achieve the organisations goals, is what causes all of the corporate and occupational crime. Aubert found that these white collar criminals had an ‘elaborate and widely accepted ideological rationalization for the offences’. Criminal practices were quite normal. This is a way of emphasising with the criminals and understand why they commit the crimes. 3. Emotion based responses link to occupational and corporate crime as they looks at the roles of emotions and masculinity in crime. Portony says that the thrill one gets from committing a crimes is what leads rich an powerful people to committing them. Crimes committed by companies and by individuals are explicable by thrill-seeking. This also link to masculinity as the dominating gender in high positions are male and so they all compete against each...
Words: 502 - Pages: 3
...through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness,--an American, a Negro; two warring souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife,--this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self.” This theory states that as a black man, one has no choice but to look at oneself through the eyes of others, “others” being the rich and powerful, the superior – white people. The way the rich and powerful sees you, as a black man, is the way society views you. A black man must always take into consideration the views and perception of the superior, rich and powerful in the American world. This is not to say that he should disregard his own views, but the double conscious is this – he must think of himself through the eyes of the white man – as inferior, as below them, as uneducated, weak, unequal, and less than a man. Then he must also think of himself as a black man for himself, how he views himself – as a man, a strong black man, an intelligent black man, as an equal...
Words: 1462 - Pages: 6
...would like to address in this essay is the problem of crime in our society. We all know that crime is on the rise, most likely due to inequalities in race, education, social class, skills, financial status, and religious beliefs and values. Of course, both functionalists and conflict theorists are marco-level, but have differing views on the reasons for, and reactions to, crime in our society today. Interactionist on the other had is micro-level, meaning it is not that useful to the world. Functionalists believe that crime is important for a society. Crime shows other member of the society what is right and wrong. Social agreement decides how right and wrong is determined. Crime can lead to social change, say functionalists, because the existence of crime proves to the people in the society that the government does not overly control the citizens. Crime can also help the economy of a society by creating jobs for law enforcement officers, psychiatrists, and probation officers. However, even in a functionalist society, too much crime can be bad for the group, causing it to lose the standard harmony and ultimately causing the society to failure. Also it is suggested that the existence of crime is functional in its ability to gather families and communities together for a common purpose. Conflict theorists feel that crime is products of a struggle for power and control. According to a conflict theorist, a select few powerful individuals and groups make the laws, and those laws...
Words: 615 - Pages: 3
...One of the main misunderstandings in environmental crime is the lack of consistency in the definition and classification of environmental crime. The primary problem is differing perspectives as to what constitutes as environmental crime, embedded in moral, philosophical and legalistic interpretations of harm and in what circumstances does this harm becomes a crime (White, 2008). Many criminologists have put forth perspectives which explain the reasons why individuals and corporations engage in activities that cause environmental harms. These perspectives can be linked to the original environmental or green criminology perspectives. Pollution and dumping has become an increasingly costly problem for the environment. As a results, there has been a rise in criminology literature that analyses environmental harms as crimes (Crofts, Morris, Wells & Powell, 2010). Pollution entail the emission, leakage or spillage of a prescribed substance into the air, water or soil (Brickenll, 2010). It was the first environmentally damaging practice to capture the attention of the public and also concern regulatory attention. Pollutants recognised include pesticides, chemicals and gases. Whilst some of these emissions are banned and illegal, some are permitted, but only within specified levels. Pollution is thus illegal when there is a release of a prohibited substance, the emission or leakage of substance in excess of an established limit, or expulsion into areas such as vast bodies of...
Words: 2414 - Pages: 10
...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 believe there are 5 main elements...
Words: 1599 - Pages: 7
...Organized Crime In this paper, I will describe my personal perception of organized crime. I will identify any assumptions on which my perceptions are based, and answer the following questions. How would you describe or define organized crime? How does your perception compare to the definitions in the readings? What characteristics do you think are associated with organized criminal behavior? In my mind, when I think of organized crime, I think back to the days of the mafia, the Costa Nostra. People like: John Gotti “The Teflon Don”, Al Capone, Charles “Lucky’ Luciano, Bugsy Seigel, and “Machine Gun” Kelly, powerful crime families like the Gambino and Genovese families. Powerful Men and Families that ran intricate schemes of criminal activity. These men were at times ruthless criminals and at times loving family men, proven by the fact that they called their gangs a family, even though not all the men in the families were related. A large part of my knowledge about organized crime comes from television, news, movies and books. Organized crime has been sensationalized in the entertainment industry for years. Movies like the Godfather, Goodfellas, and The Untouchables, and television shows, as The Sopranos made the life in organized crime seem almost normal. The fact that these men committed numerous crimes, both financial and violent, seems to have passed over the heads of many people. To me organized crime is a group of people that band together to commit crimes for personal...
Words: 770 - Pages: 4
...Extra Credit # 3 SOCI 1301 White-collar crime is a financially motivated, nonviolent crime committed for illegal monetary gain. It is a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation. Deviance, in a sociological context, describes actions or behaviors that violate social norms, including formally-enacted rules (e.g., crime), Conformity on the other hand, is an adherence to social norms. In a conflict perspective, all societies are marked by the conflict of social classes, sometime overt, sometimes hidden, due to unequal distribution of resources - Haves and Have-nots. Those who control the productive property of any society (land, factories, and equipment) use their economic power to dominate other spheres--culture, religion, education, politics, and certainly the criminal justice system. There may be laws that benefit everybody, but mostly the upper-class. From a conflict perspective, the criminal justice system perpetuates inequalities by defining deviant behavior in terms of any behavior that threatens the powerful. Laws in a capitalist system are created to protect the interests of the ruling class. Crimes of Rich and Poor are equal, but poor have greater "recognition". Raiman developed pyrrhic defeat theory arguing that those in power have designed the criminal justice system to fail in order to yield benefits for themselves. Michael Parenti’s You Tube video presents some unbelievable facts like, The department of...
Words: 729 - Pages: 3
...higher rate is a great misconception. This is because a person commits a crime not because he is poor but because he is a human being. Certain crimes which respected members of the upper classes of society may commit are often more serious compared to the ones which the poor people commit and they may inflict greater damage on society. Crimes that involve great amounts of money or economic interests, such as bribery and corruption, are among the top crimes that adversely affect the entirety of society. Crimes of this nature are not sufficiently discussed at the academic level or as part of political agenda or debates. No human being or human-made system is free from corruption or fraud. Contrary to the popular belief, corruption, bribery and fraud are not problems specific to economically underdeveloped countries; on the contrary, these crimes are quite widespread in developed Western democracies, particularly in the US. Broadly speaking, these deviant behaviors, defined as “white-collar crimes,” can also referred to as “crimes of the powerful.” It was Edwin Hardin Sutherland, a US social scientist, who first coined this terminology in the literature of sociology and criminology. Crimes committed by individuals may vary depending on their social class es. There are certain significant differences between the petty crimes committed by blue-collar workers from lower social classes and the corruption crimes committed by white-collar workers from higher social classes. First, the...
Words: 1840 - Pages: 8
...Gangs: Economical Crimes Tajinder Dhami August 12, 2015 JADM 494: Senior Project II Professor Robbins Abstract Gang violence and activity is on the raise, this activity is not only affecting the people who have been victimized first hand but also those who live in the same area as the victim. In this day of age, gangs are no longer seen as a group of thugs, they are now well-organized organizations that are capable of committing crimes that effect everyone in a city. Today, the most common crimes committed by gang members are economical crimes, these crimes include auto theft, drug dealing, prostitution, and taxing. Now you may be thinking to yourself, how is an economical crime just as bad as a homicide. Well these crimes allow gangs to grow and make money buy weapons and equipment to commit very serious crimes. By identifying these crimes and finding a solution to them we can prevent gangs from becoming very powerful. La w enforcement organizations like the Central Valley Gang Impact Force work hard to prevent and reduce the amount of crimes committed by gangs. Throughout my research was able to learn about the different crimes that gangs commit, the different ways to prevent them, and come up with an idea that will bring the community closer and also reduce crime. My idea involves using courtesy notices to educate the public and teach them how they can prevent crime in their areas. I received a lot of positive feedback about this idea form the Central valley Gang...
Words: 4015 - Pages: 17
...would answer this question. Finally offer your opinion The present paper aims to discuss the role of prisons in the resocialization of the people kept in the incarcerated after their turned out to be guilty of committing some offence and the announcement of sentence against them from the court of law. The study will be conducted in the light of Conflict, Structural functional and Interactionsit perspectives in order to define and determine the role played by prisons in the rehabilitation of the offenders. The Paper: It is a fact beyond suspicion that every social establishment of the world has introduced law and judicial systems in order to maintain order within its jurisdiction. As a result, the individuals found guilty of committing crimes are arrested, tried at the court of law and if found guilty, the criminals are restrained in the prison houses in order to punish and penalize the offenders on the one side, and protect the society by discouraging the criminal acts on the other (Siegel, 2008:471). The prisons are regarded to be reformative centers, which serve as the platform responsible for the education, training and resocialization of the prisoners, so that they could lead a normal life like other law-abiding citizens of society (Macionis, 2008:138). The prison administrations have introduced several rehabilitation programs for the moral uplift of the prisoners, where the education and training sessions are conducted within the prison houses on regular basis, so that...
Words: 1120 - Pages: 5
...the five Italian/Sicilian-American crime families which include the Colombo’s, the Genovese’s, the Bonanno’s, the Gambino’s, and the Lucchese’s have been dominating New York’s organized crime. Each family has their own unique story about how each family made its way to becoming one of the top Five Families in the mafia. We will be taking a journey and learning the history behind each crime family, from what part of New York they controlled to who controlled each family during that time period, and who currently runs the mafia present day. Before going into the histories of each of these families, below is a hierarchy chart of the organized crime. You will need this to understand how the families were structured, and names that were associated with their titles. Boss: Also known as the “Don”. Has total control over the entire family. Underboss: They are second in command of the family; they give orders usually that comes from the Boss. Consigliere: The family advisor, sometimes they’re professional attorneys. Capo: They are captains or lieutenants; they are in charge of the soldiers and associates. Soldiers: They are the ones that do all the dirty work; they take orders from the Capo’s, and sometimes the Underboss. Associates: Are soldiers who haven’t been a “made man” yet. ------------------------------------------------- The Colombo Crime Family The Colombo crime family was formerly known as the Profaci crime family, originally formed by Joe “The...
Words: 6125 - Pages: 25
...Social class and crime Most studies in sociology suggest that the most serious and frequent offenders are young working class males. However, there may be a bias in the statistics that results in the idea that ‘white collar crime’ is underestimated... * WHITE COLLAR CRIME - middle class members of the business world - invisible and complex. * BLUE COLLAR CRIME - working class members in society - often visible and more likely to be punished. Sutherland (1949) first used the term ‘white collar crime’. He challenged the assumption that crime is mostly a working class phenomenon. However, his own definition is not helpful. The problem with it is that he does not distinguish crimes committed for an organisation. Writers have therefore distinguished between crimes: * CORPORATE CRIME - carried out on behalf of the organisation (e.g. tax evasion). * OCCUPATIONAL CRIME - benefits the individual at the expense of the organisation (e.g. embezzling money). White collar crimes are more technical, complex and discrete and often receive more lenient punishments than blue collar crimes. For white collar crimes, there is a fine line between what is acceptable and what is not. It is often about what is morally wrong rather than legally wrong. Occupational/Corporate crime: The study of these crimes developed from the work of Sutherland in the 1940s. He used the term white collar crime to refer to crime committed by people who worked in offices. His work overlaps with the interests...
Words: 2339 - Pages: 10
