Crime is defined as: commission of an act or act of omission that
violates the law and is punishable by the state. Crimes are considered injurious to society
and the community. As defined by law, a
crime includes both the act, or actus rea, and the intent to commit the act, or
mens rea. Criminal intent involves an
intellectual apprehension of factual elements of the act or acts commanded or
enjoined by the law. It is usually
inferred from the apparently voluntary commission of an overt act. Criminal liability is relieved in the case of
insanity. Legal minors are also relieved
of criminal liability, as are persons subjected to coercion or duress to such a
degree as to render the commission of criminal acts involuntary. In most countries, crimes are defined and
punished pursuant to statutes.
Punishments may include death, imprisonment, exile, fines, forfeiture of
property, removal from public office, and disqualification from holding such
office.
Unless the act of which a defendant is accused is
expressly defined by statute as a crime, no indictment or conviction for the
commission of such an act can be legally sustained. This provision is important
in establishing the difference between government by law and arbitrary or
dictatorial government.
Under common law, a crime was generally
classified as treason, felony, or misdemeanor, but many offenses could not be
defined exactly, and the rule was adopted that any immoral act tending to the
prejudice of the community was, per se, a crime, and punishable by the
courts. Crimes are now usually
classified as mala in se, which includes acts, such as murder, so offensive to
morals as to be obviously criminal; and mala prohibita, which are violations of
specific regulatory statutes, such as traffic violations, that ordinarily would
not be punishable in the absence of statutory enactments prohibiting the
commission of such acts. In most cases,
crimes, including treason, that are mala in se are called felonies and are
punished more severely than those that are mala prohibita, most of the latter
falling into the category of misdemeanors.
Nearly everyone in America has been touched by
crime in one way or another. There are
reports of murders, arson, robberies, etc. every night on the news. However, the viewer is constantly bombarded
with reports that there is either a crime wave or that crime is receding. This can confuse even the most adamant
viewer. The book The Mythology of Crime
and Criminal Justice by Kappeler, Blumberg, and Potter breaks down the essentials
and gives the reader ideas on what exactly crime is, how it is represented by
the media, and how Americans respond to it.
In Chapter 2, the authors discuss crime waves and their effects on
society.
In Chapter 2, the authors point out the main
contributing factor to crime in the United States--poverty. According to the text, the main contributor
to crime in the United States is a young, black male living in an urban
environment. The text also notes that
blacks commit crimes at three times the rate of their percentage in the
national population.
The official crime rate in the United States is
measured by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Uniform Crime Reports. However, there is strong criticism for the
FBIs measurement of crime using the UCR.
For example, the FBI does not require that any person be arrested for
crimes that are reported. All that is
required is for someone to believe that a crime actually took place. One can see where this could create
misleading statistics. For example, if
someone were to lose a checkbook at a local mall, they could report that a
pickpocket had stolen the checkbook from them.
Under the FBIs UCR, this would be labeled as a crime, even though the
checkbook was misplaced and was in fact not stolen.
Another source of crime information is found in
the National Crime Victimization Survey.
This survey is conducted through 100,000 households across the country
by the Department of Justice. This
survey is superior to the FBIs UCR in the fact that they measure both reported
and unreported crime, are unaffected by technological changes in police record
keeping, levels of reporting by the victims to the police, and other
factors. Even though the data may be
represented in various ways among the media, the NCVS is considered
scientifically valid.
Chapter 2 also makes reference to race and
crime. There has been wide speculation
that most crimes as committed by minorities against whites in the United
States. However, the Bureau of Justice
Statistics has documented several crimes that make this assumption void. For example, seventy-five percent of white
crime victims are victimized by whites, and eighty-five percent of black
victims are victimized by blacks. This
is contrary to the popular coverage that most media gives Americans. The authors note that most crime covered by
Americans tabloids show such crimes as young African American men shooting
white tourists at rest stops, gang attacks on innocent civilians in the cities,
and attacks against minority youth appeal.
All in all, the victims are the same race as the offenders in 80% of all
violent crimes.
The last topic discussed in The Mythology of
Crime and Criminal Justice is crime and perception. When most people are asked to imagine a
crime, they tend to think of violent crime (i.e., murder, arson, robbery). One must realize that shoplifting, slander,
even jaywalking is considered a crime in the United States. The authors note that many tabloid television
shows such as Hard Copy and A Current Affair show violent crime instead of
petty thefts. The reason for this is
clear--not many viewers would turn to watch a show that discussed petty
crimes. The media has made crime into a
great moneymaking opportunity. By
viewing television shows like these, the viewer comes to believe that the only
crimes that exist are violent crimes.
This is due to the fact that the media spends so much time covering
violent crimes here in the United States.
As you can see, there are many factors in
deciphering crime today. Different
reports and different presentations by the media can lead the public to believe
that minorities commit crimes against the white majority, almost all crimes
committed today are violent, most crimes are committed by young, urban black
males, and the list goes on. The best
way for people to understand crime or a crime wave is through the use of
statistics. Since most crime covered on
television, radio, or through other media sources focuses on violent crimes,
these statistics can be very confusing.
As the authors point out in The Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice
by Victor E. Kappeler, Mark Blumberg, and Gary W. Potter, crime can be
perceived in nearly every fashion.
Unfortunately, crime is reported in ways that are not always accurate solely
to influence the public.
pg. 39
pg. 39
pg. 47
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