According to Steve Barkan (Criminology: A Sociological Understanding), the patterns seen in the study of victimization are "disturbing" similar to those noted for criminality. Communities with higher than average percentages of law breakers and incidents of violence (assault, rape, murder) have commensurately higher numbers of victims included in their total population (often measured per 10,000). As was noted in Barkan's treatment of the Uniform Crime Reports, studies of victims tend to focus on street crime with fewer researchers tracking white collar crime victims. Rates of victimization are especially high for young African-American males. Medical examiners, based on autopsy evidence, affirm that greater than 85% of deceased persons register positive for the presence of drugs and/or alcohol on postmortem toxicology screening. With regard to violence crime, weapons are used in about one-fifth of such …show more content…
The majority of crimes against women are perpetrated by nonstrangers. Females are said to know their offenders in almost 70% of violent crimes committed against them (relatives, acquaintances or friends). That being said, males are victimized more than females. People from lower socioeconomic classes are inequally represented as victims. Hispanics and non-Hispanics were equally likely to experience overall violent crime (Crime In America.net, December 2010). People living in urban areas had much higher rates of crime than people living in suburbs and rural areas. Those who live in single family homes have lower rates of crime than people living in apartments (National Crime Survey). To summarize, our chances for violent victimization are more controlled by what we do than by
A possible concern is threatening weapons that are used too often when a person is causing a crime. For example, crimes all over the world have steered to atrocious incidents caused by concealed guns. This implies that the use of guns is taken for granted all over the world. This means that concealed guns have been the cause of a numerous amount dangers popping up around the world. However, “Carrying a concealed handgun could help stop a public shooting spree.”
In the article “The Crime Bust” by Gordon Witkin, it is introduced that in 1994, after a 9 year soar in crime rates, they began falling (1). According to preliminary figures released by the FBI, all across the board, the amount of crime committals were declining at a drastic rate. (Witkin 1). To determine the source of this sudden decline, several factors were examined, such as the economy, dismissed as “Robbery and burglary fluctuate with economic conditions--but murders generally do not…” (Witkin, 1-2) Prevention and domestic abuse were also discredited since “Studies show that prevention programs don’t work, and others may or may not be effective…” and “...in 1996, there were only 447 fewer ‘domestics’ than in 1993, accounting for just 9 percent of the murder reduction.”
Many factors of the crack epidemic influenced the crime drop. First, the “precipitous rise in crack cocaine in the mid-to-late 1980s in America” made violence and crime increase drastically (Baumer and Wolff, 2014, p. 21). Since crime shot up, it made statistics seem to drop even more in the 1990s, especially for homicides, as stated by Levitt (2004). The shift from young people to a “graying” society is another point at which Baumer, Wolff and Levitt can all agree could be a cause for the crime drop of the 1990s (Baumer and Wolff, 2014, p. 20).
For violent crimes (assault, robbery and rape) guns were used 0.83% of the time in self-defense. In 20% of the self defense incidents, the guns were used by police
Women of color are the most targeted, prosecuted, and imprisoned women in the country and rapidly increasing their population within the prison systems. According to Nicholas Freudenberg, 11 out of every 1000 women will end up incarcerated in their lifetime, the average age being 35, while only five of them are white, 15 are Latinas, and 36 are black. These two groups alone make up 70 percent of women in prison, an astonishing rate compared to the low percentage comprise of within the entire female population in the country (1895). Most of their offenses are non-violent, but drug related, and often these women come from oppressive and violent backgrounds, where many of their struggles occurred directly within the home and from their own family.
Furthermore, they are challenging to detect since women are less likely to be seen as capable performing deeds as heinous as serial murder. Historically, because no one suspects them, the females are able to evade capture for a longer period of time than the men (Anthes). Between 1821 and 2008, there have been sixty-four recorded female serial killers. Perhaps
Women also abuse men and this tends to be ignored by the police and society
There are many indicators of the huge impact in disparities in sentencing women as compared to men and more so when it revolves around minorities ( race and class). Though there are lower crime rates among women as compared to men, there are significant disparities which tend to show favouritism to women. Research has shown that men get 63 per cent longer custodial sentences than women. In addition, it is twice more likely to have women get non custodial sentences even after conviction. However, as mentioned the disparities are more profound when issues of race and class are intertwined in the sentencing.
Domestic terrorism according to the dictionary is defined as “the methodical use of violence or threatening by means of violence against citizens or individuals so as to obtain certain political, religious or an idea in nature by means of coercion, instilling fear in people or by intimidation” I agree with the author on the article of gender in domestic terrorism. The purpose of the author’s article is to test widely held idea regarding women’s role in terrorism by examining female criminal participation within domestic terrorism”. These idea has a lots to do with gendered stereotypes that have influence on the our policy in domestic terrorism which need further studies in order to increase peoples knowledge in the role of women in domestic
The two most popular sociological theories that offer an explanation as to why certain types of people are more likely to be victims of crimes is the Lifestyle Theory (the belief that certain leisure-time and other activities increase the chances of becoming a crime victim) and the Routine Activities Theory (the view that an individual’s daily activities can affect his or her chances of becoming a crime victim). Although these theories differ slightly in specific application, both theories generally assert that “the habits, lifestyles, and behavioral patterns of potential crime victims enhance their contact with offenders and thereby increase the chances that crimes will occur” (Miethe and Meier 1990:244). Research is supportive of either theory as an explanation of certain people being more likely to be victim
Women are more often than men to be targeted; due to women being projected as being the weaker and less capable sex; being victimized and
A number of theories have been advanced to explain criminal victimization. Lifestyle theory, for example, argues that certain lifestyles increases one's exposure to criminal offenses and increases the risk of victimization, while other lifestyles might reduce risk. For example, increased risk would be likely if a person is single, associating with other young men (who are at greater risk for criminal activity), living in urban areas, and going to public places late at night. Reduced risk would be associated with staying home at night, living in a rural area, being married and staying at home, and earning more money.
Also, victim and offender are rarely looked at, they are mentioned throughout articles literature reviews, but they never are talked about in full detail. So, this topic will either have to be combined with something else, or more articles will have to be found about them. I have not combined it yet, because I believe that this is a important topic especially when talking about the media and its
Crime offers a way in which poor people can obtain material goods they cannot attain through legal means. Often, threat or force helps them acquire even more goods, encouraging them to commit more violent acts such as robbery and rape. Thus, poverty increases crime
It is basically stated right off the bat in the section about victims and perpetrators of crime that men are more likely than women to commit crimes. The criminal justice system sees male violence as a normal way of life and approaches female offenders as if there is something wrong mentally. The ratio of women to men in prisons is incredibly imbalanced. Women are