Steve Barkan Victimization

Contrary to the common belief, crime has been on the decline for the past three decades. Yet, news and media have been covering crime more than ever, resulting in the public belief that crime is at an all time high. The sharp drop in crime since the early 1990s has left experts curious to discover the reasons for the decrease in crime. As I compare the article Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Decline and Six that Do Not by Steven D. Levitt and the article Evaluating Contemporary Crime Drop(s) in America, New York City, and Many Other Places by Eric P. Baumer and Kevin T. Wolff, I will briefly describe the articles, compare their agreements and disagreements, as well as discuss my personal preferences.

If I request to envision a mental picture of a serial killer, what image comes to mind? Presumably one of a relatively young, fairly attractive, and intelligent white man. Why is this? It is not plausible that every serial killer fits into this category, so why does a majority of American citizens immediately picture serial killers as all displaying these characteristics and being of the male gender? Additionally, I would like to identify some key disparities between separate groups of serial killers. Is there a certain quality that drastically alienates ethnic serial killers from the rest, or a specific trait that creates female serial killers to contrast from the males? I believe there is an entire spectrum of these murderers who are both

(B) I really do not believe that media is a cause of violence in either community. I believe it is just the individual and the environment that they are in. It is common knowledge that the violence rates are always higher in cities than in the rural communities because of the population and poverty, not the media. If an individual goes out and commit a violent crime in either setting because of what they have seen on television,

Gun control has been a controversial issue for many years. Many citizens believe that if gun control is strictly enforced it would reduce the threat of crime. People have the right to bear arms for protection, or even just the pleasure of hunting and recreational activity. With the recent events involving firearms and mass shootings, people are skeptical whether to increase or decrease gun laws. Americans have a constitutional right to own handguns and stricter laws and licensing will not effectively save lives.

The unequal power between men and women is the basis of feminist criminology. Advocates of feminist criminology claim that the cause of female criminal behavior is due to the unequal amount of wealth, political, economic, and social power. Radical criminologists also support conflict theories, class, and power inequality as causes of crime. They point to research indicating that in the criminal justice system, the poor, minorities, and women are not treated equally. According to feminist criminology, the fact the women are not always treated equally to men is the reason women commit crimes and are criminals. It has been a long journey for women and their equal rights and opportunities. In 1920, women were finally granted the opportunity

Concealed guns are allowing the public to overcome the dangers in the world, but they are also a danger in many ways. These dangers have lead to many horrific accidents in our present time. These incidents are also causing more people around the world to join in on these events. Concealed guns should be banned because by permitting handguns, it can end up causing more crimes, dangerous people are more likely to carry a gun and endanger the public, and guns can make the public paranoid.

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.” (Witkin 2) From there, Witkin begins to analyze the connection between the crime decrease and harsher prison sentencing and smarter policing (Witkin 2) As stated by Witkin, “Imprisonment...seems to be important, but not the underlying cause of the crime drop…” and while “...smarter policing was spectacularly decisive in some cities… it probably was not the key factor nationwide.” (Witkin 3-4).

Women are stripped of their ability to be able to live a life full of dignity and respect. A woman is assaulted or beaten every 9 seconds in the United States. There are more than 20,000 phone calls placed to domestic violence hotlines nationwide daily. Weapons are involved in 19% of domestic violence. Victims of domestic violence have higher suicidal and depression rates. 1 in 5 women have been raped in their lifetime in the United States. 19.3 million women in the United States have been stalked in their lifetime.7 “If we are to fight discrimination and injustice against women we must start from the home for if a woman cannot be safe in her own house then she cannot be expected to feel safe anywhere.” Aysha

In general, most of the research does not look at the media’s perception of sexual assault. Most articles look at topics related to sexual assault. Some articles look at Greek life and Greek member’s risky behavior, which can overlap with alcohol and drug use that relates to sexual assault. A main theme is that students associated with Greek organizations are much more likely to consume more alcohol and participate in risky activities.

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.

This essay will discuss the sociological imagination and social construction. It will offer insights of problem families and will look at it from a feminist theory and functionalism theory it will discus oppression and the impact on social institutions and underpin social work practise and the relevance.

No review of the economics of crime is complete without mention of the seminal paper by Becker (1968). In Becker (1968), the author outlines an optimal choice model for crime that assumes criminals are rational actors like everyone else. Perhaps more important than the model itself are its implications. From Becker (1968), we may conclude that fines are more efficient than prison time but that fines may also distort the margins of criminal choice. Furthermore, Becker (1968) argues that a low probability of punishment in combination with very severe penalties is the best way to minimize diseconomies associated with crime.

Looking at the nightly news, many would believe violent crimes are at an all-time high. There are not just one on one violent crimes or gang violent crimes. There is court shootings, school shootings, church shootings, theater shootings, mall shootings, workplace shootings, and others. Where most one on one crime is committed with illegal guns, mass shootings are done with handguns purchased legally. Violent crimes reported on the news while still surprising to hear and see has become very common. While the numbers seem to be overwhelming, statistics share violent crimes are at an all-time low. While the numbers of crimes are decreasing, gun ownership is increasing. Begging one to ask if the right to conceal to carry reduce

Women are thought of as being attached to someone or something while men are very much the opposite. Men are seen to be more independent and tend to not rely on females, as much as some females rely on males. This is an example of why men are less outspoken with their emotions; men are much more reserved and this is how men represent their masculinity towards others. Men have been raised to play the role of someone without emotions and someone who can be the foundation in a relationship or family. Gilligan’s perspective mainly focuses on the prejudice of men and women. 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

Most crime appears to be committed by males. Official statistics show that four out of five tried offenders are males in Wales and England. Statistics also show a higher percentage of men to be convicted of sexual offences and that males are also more likely to commit crimes over and over again thus becoming repeat offenders.