| Personal Crimes Paper | CJA/314Instructor Fred Sams | | Amber Jackson | 02/05/2011 |

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Every crime has different characteristics that make it a crime, yet one characteristic that every crime shares is a perpetrator and a victim. Rape is a big problem in the United States. Each year thousands of women and men are raped, 17.7 million women have been raped at one point in their lives and 2.8 million men. Rape is considered the most unreported crime in the United States. In the 1970’s is when major awareness started to take shape for victims of rape, such as rape crises centers, medical protocols, and laws to protect rape victims. Criminal status concerning rape differs from state-to-state, but the Federal code is nationwide. There are two different ways that rape is reported; one is through private research organizations and the second is through the U.S. Department of Justice. The NIJ conducts a survey each year to measure reported crime and unreported crime, along with the private research groups. Even then, both organizations have certain guidelines in how they obtain their statistics. With certain guidelines in place, the statistics are good, but not a 100% accurate on exactly how many men, women, and children are raped. Only small percentages of rapes are reported each year to law enforcement and it is important to continue the study of rape and sexual assault issues in the United States to properly get better control of the problem. Women and girls seem to be higher risks targets for rape then men and boys. There is little research that exists on male victims of rape. According to the Bureau of Justice, “women between the ages of sixteen and twenty four years old are at a greater risk of rape than any other females in different age groups” (NIJ, 2000). Based on most research most victims are raped by someone they know or have known in the past. Most offenders are in their late twenties or early thirties and most often times are white. There are five different types of rape, drug rape, marital rape, gang rape, and acquaintance rape. All are the forced sexual actions on a person without his or her consent or ability to give consent. Rape is wrong and it is the one crime in America that goes the most unreported. Homicides are violent deaths where the perpetrator kills one or more people. The legal term is any intentional or unlawful killing of another human being. Homicides are more likely to be committed by a white male with the use of a firearm as the choice of weapon. Filicide is another characteristic of homicide and is usually committed by a female who kills one or more children. Theorists have put together typologies for homicides to better help understand why homicides happen. There are several different types and all vary from state-to-state; Crime of passion, capital offense, felony murder doctrine, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, justifiable homicide, heat of passion, manslaughter, wrongful death, second-degree murder, and self-defense. Crime of passion is a type of homicide that is hard to prove and the perpetrator must be able to show that they killed another person by being provoked into a state of passion without time to cool off. Capital offense in most states carries the death penalty, this type of homicide is considered murder one which is when such offense of murder is done to a person of law enforcement or a person has committed treason, or where the killing was found to be premeditated. Felony murder doctrine is considered any killing that takes place while a felony is being committed. First-degree murder is the killing of another human being that was deliberate or premeditated. The specifics of first-degree murder vary from state-to-state depending on statutes. A state of heightened emotional rage where a killing takes place, but is usually reduced down to manslaughter one. Homicide the unlawful killing of another human being, included with this is crimes of murder and manslaughter. Justifiable homicide the killing of another human being without criminal intent, there can be no charges brought in a justifiable homicide, such as insanity. Manslaughter is the unlawful, but unintentional killing of another human being. Self-defense is used in assault battery and homicide. Not all states have the same laws when it does not come to the typologies of homicide, nor does every state consider all of these as a form of homicide. Each state has their own statutes and laws when it comes to what the punishment and sentence will carry in a homicide along with the circumstances. Some states do not even consider the crime of passion homicide, while other states have the make my day law typology of homicide. It is interesting to research the different characteristics of homicide by each state and what each state considers homicide by law and the different punishment and sentence. In Colorado, there is the make my day law, which states that if a person steps on to your property and you feel fear or threatened you, have the right to kill that person, in Colorado no charges can be brought because the make my day law is considered justifiable homicide. Robbery and violent theft take place all over the world, not just in the United States. There are certain types of characteristics that explain robbery and violent theft. Most robberies and violent thefts are committed by males between the ages of 22- 40 and tend to decrease with age. Most behavioral characteristics of robbery and violent theft are vagrancy, loitering, and extreme consumption of alcohol or drugs. In most cases of robberies or violent theft, fifty percent of the acts committed were done with two or people. Most theft is done at a residence and in most cases; the victims never give any resistance during the time of the crime. Most offenders that commit theft do not use physical force only threats, they do not use weapons just their own strength. Perpetrators that commit violent theft differ from those that commit robberies. Violent theft perpetrators use physical force along with some form of weapon, firearm, or tool. Violent theft offenders have no problems committing rape or homicide during the crime.

Perpetrators that use firearms during the crime have usually had one or more accomplices such as in a group or gang members. Perpetrators that use knives and physical force are committing the crime for survival reasons, and perpetrators that used tools, injured, or killed the victims committed the robbery or violent theft for fun or pleasure. Research has shown that depending on the types of robberies or violent thefts committed intelligence, education, social background, and geographical locations all play a role in the characteristics and types of robbery or violent theft being committed. Most perpetrators of robbery have been known to be successfully rehabilitated. Violent theft crime perpetrators have shown less satisfaction in the rehabilitation area because research has shown that what influences violent theft criminals are his personal characteristics instead of life style and social background. Rape, homicide, and robbery are all three kinds of crime that share some similarities and characteristics. All three involve causing harm to another human being or property and all three crimes involve an offender. Each crime has different statutes and laws from state-to-state on sentencing and punishment. All three crimes can carry a sentence of life in prison depending on how heinous the crime was that was committed. Other characteristics that rape, homicide, and robbery share are that in most cases when the perpetrator was committing the crime he or she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. There are so many different reasons for why a person would commit a crime, to but none of which are justifiable enough to let the perpetrators get away with. Crime is crime and anyone who commits a crime should be punished, because without people being held accountable for their crimes, everyone would think, it is all right to commit wrongdoings against other human beings and the law.

References http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdft.lesl/ny/210346.pdf http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/su.html Schmalleger, F (2009). Criminology today. (5th ed.) Upper Saddle River. NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.