Criminology For Dummies

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Defining and Measuring Crime 5

Chapter 1: Entering the World of Crime 7

Defining the Terms: What Crime Is and How You Measure It 7

Identifying elements of criminal behavior 8

Gathering crime statistics 9

Recognizing the Various Costs of Crime 9

Noting the financial impact 9

Respecting the price a victim pays 10

Considering Categories of Crime 11

Studying individual crimes 11

Focusing on organized crime 12

Spotlighting terrorism 13

Figuring Out What Makes Someone Commit a Crime 14

Making a rational decision 14

Pointing the finger at society 14

Blaming mental and physical defects 15

Waging a War against Crime 16

Policing the streets 16

Getting the feds involved 16

Working together in task forces 17

Bringing Criminals to Justice 17

Prosecuting crime 18

Determining punishment 18

Giving juveniles special attention 19

Chapter 2: What Is Crime? 21

Understanding the Two Categories of Criminal Activity 22

Violating natural laws: Acts that are inherently bad 22

Violating manmade laws: Acts that aren't inherently bad 22

Identifying Elements of a Criminal Law 24

Distinguishing civil from criminal law 24

Defining felonies and misdemeanors 25

Requiring a physical act 26

Having a guilty mind 27

Linking Criminal Behavior to Cultural Mores 28

Understanding that crimes change over time 28

Recognizing the impact of location 29

Realizing that politics play a role 30

Chapter 3: How Crime Is Measured and Why It Matters 33

Gathering Crime Stats: How Much Crime Is There? 34

Relying on crime reports 34

Tallying the number of arrests 35

Spotlighting unreported crime: Victimization surveys 37

Accepting the shortcomings of crime statistics 38

Putting Crime Stats to Use 38

Considering the Costs of Crime 40

Funding the justice system 40

Measuring the costs to society and victims 42

Chapter 4: Helping Those in the Wake of Crime: Victims 45

Looking at the Historical Treatment of Victims 46

Identifying the Impact of Crime on Victims 46

Physical scars 47

Emotional effects 47

Economic loss 48

Pinpointing Who Is Likely to Be Victimized 48

Considering personal characteristics 48

Taking a look at theories of victimization 49

Expanding Victim Services in the 21st Century 50

Crime victim compensation 51

Support of victim advocates 52

Direct help from private, nonprofit groups 53

Observing the Laws That Protect Victims' Rights 54

Invoking victims' rights 54

Enforcing victims' rights 55

Part 2: Identifying Types of Crime 57

Chapter 5: Getting Violent: Crimes of Force 59

Identifying Types of Violent Crimes 59

Defining Homicide 60

Murder 60

Manslaughter 62

Negligent homicide 63

Assisting a suicide 63

Attacking or Threatening Someone: Assault and Battery 64

Vehicular assault 65

Spousal assault 65

Child abuse 67

Forcing Sexual Contact: Rape, Sodomy, and Child Molestation 68

Rape and sodomy 68

Child molestation 69

Taking Property under the Threat of Violence: Robbery 71

Kidnapping 72

Pinpointing Causes of Violence 73

Struggling with drugs and alcohol 74

Feeling the lasting effects of family troubles 75

Suffering from mental problems 76

Being influenced by society 77

Making a personal choice 77

Chapter 6: Hitting You in the Pocketbook: Property Crimes 79

Categorizing Types of Theft 80

Shoplifting 80

Scamming people out of their money 81

Taking personal and credit card information: Identity theft 83

Stealing autos 85

Breaking and entering: Burglary 86

Defining Property Damage 88

Sending up smoke signals: Committing arson 88

Leaving your mark: Vandalizing property 89

Looking at the Causes of Property Crime 89

Wrestling with addiction 89

Making a career choice 91

Being drawn to bright and shiny objects 92

Battling kleptomania 92

Chapter 7: Dressing Sharp and Stealing Big: White-Collar Crimes 93

Identifying Types of White-Collar Crime 94

Stealing from the boss: Embezzlement 94

Evading taxes 95

Selling phony investments: Securities fraud 96

Dumping waste and endangering employees: Environmental crime 97

Cheating business and service clients 98

Cheating consumers: False advertising and price fixing 99

Mixing politics and crime 100

The Challenges of Investigating White-Collar Crime 101

Measuring the costs (in time and money) 101

Facing a dearth of financial investigators 102

Prosecuting and Punishing White-Collar Crime 103

Equating good suits with good verdicts 103

Testing the limits of corporate liability 104

Making punishments fit the crimes 105

Chapter 8: A Group Effort: Organized Crime and Gangs 107

Grasping the Basics of Organized Crime 107

Obsessing over the Italian Mafia 108

Tracing the growth and decline of the Sicilian mob 108

Recognizing the Mafia's impact on public policy 110

Identifying Other Ethnic-Based Organized Crime Groups 111

Looking at What Organized Crime Groups Do 112

Selling narcotics 112

Marketing counterfeit and pirated products 113

Committing fraud 114

Loan sharking 116

Extorting money 116

Committing violence to support the "business" 117

Laundering money 117

Fighting Organized Crime 118

Overcoming jurisdictional boundaries: Task forces 119

Proving conspiracy 119

Setting up wiretaps 120

Relying on informants 121

Going undercover 123

Taking back the money: Forfeiture 123

Getting an Inside Scoop on Criminal Gangs 124

Youth and street gangs 124

Motorcycle gangs 127

Prison gangs 129

Chapter 9: Tackling a Worldwide Problem: The Narcotics Trade 131

The Global Workings of Dealing Drugs 132

Making drugs illegal 132

Growing plants for the drug trade 133

Mixing chemicals for the drug trade 136

Moving dope to your neighborhood 139

Treating Drug Users 142

Examining types of treatment 143

Using drug courts 144

Shifting treatment goals 144

Working to Prevent Drug Abuse 145

Educating in school 145

Testing for drugs 146

Monitoring prescription drugs 146

Chapter 10: Front-Page News: Terrorism 147

Structuring Terrorist Threats 148

Striking as an organization 148

Acting alone 149

Recognizing Types of Terrorist Threats in the U.S. 149

Right-wing threats 149

Left-wing threats 151

Religious threats 152

Acting Out of Hate: Distinguishing Hate Crimes 155

Fighting Back against Terrorism 156

Reducing terrorist motivation 156

Eliminating operational capability: Defunding terrorists 157

Joining forces to combat terrorism 158

Part 3: Figuring Out Who Commits Crimes and Why 161

Chapter 11: What Factors Lead to Crime? 163

Noting Personal Characteristics That Many Criminals Share 163

Age: Is crime a young person's game? 164

Gender: Why do men take first place in crime? 166

Income: Does less money in your pocket lead to more crime? 166

Race: Does skin color influence criminality, or is racism to blame? 168

Education: Do higher degrees equal lower crime rates? 172

Religious affiliation: Are there benefits of practicing a faith? 172

Looking at the Impact of Societal Conditions on Crime 173

Pop culture: Is violence inspired through entertainment and games? 173

A bad economy: Does recession lead to crime? 173

Your Zip code: Do regional differences affect crime rates? 174

Studying the Impact of Atmospheric Changes 177

Chapter 12: Regarding Crime as a Rational Decision: Rational Choice Theory 179

Taking a Quick Tour through Classical Theory 180

Calculating the Benefits and Drawbacks of Crime 181

Analyzing risks and rewards 181

Choosing the type and place of crime 183

Factoring in personality and skills 183

Meeting the offender's needs 184

Creating Rational Deterrents to Crime 184

Running the risk of being caught (and punished) 185

Increasing the severity of punishment 186

Aiming for speedy punishment 187

Preventing the rewards 188

Examining the Limits of Rational Choice Theory 189

Considering humans who behave irrationally 189

Seeing how crime often pays 191

Dealing with the values gap 191

Chapter 13: Looking at Society's Role in Crime 193

Introducing Social Disorganization Theory 194

Studying Strain Theory 194

Anomie theory 195

General strain theory 195

Institutional anomie theory 196

Subculture theories 197

Considering Social Learning Theories 198

Differential association theory 198

Techniques of neutralization theory 199

Delving into Social Control Theories 200

Containment theory 200

Social bond theory 201

Chapter 14: Can Your Mind or Body Make You a Criminal? 203

Biological Positivism: Trying to Link Appearance to Crime 203

Wrestling with the Influence of Genetics 204

Figuring out how parents influence criminal behavior 205

Creating criminals through evolution 206

Blaming the Brain 206

Eating a poor diet 207

Grappling with the wrong brain chemistry 207

Having a low IQ 207

Struggling with Mental Illness 209

Dealing with a Personality Disorder 209

Focusing on antisocial personality disorder 210

Distinguishing psychopaths 210

Chapter 15: Critical Criminology: Theories off the Beaten Path 213

Considering Someone a Criminal: Labeling Theory 214

Changing someone's self-image 214

Erasing the criminal label 215

Finding the theory's weakness 216

Exploring Feminist Theory 217

Examining Leftist Realism: A Response to Law and Order 218

Making Peace with Peacemaking Theory 220

Seeking Healing through Restorative Justice 221

Encouraging justice within a community 221

Debating treatment versus incarceration 222

Part 4: Fighting Crime 223

Chapter 16: Battling Crime at the Local Level 225

Keeping the Streets Clean: The Players at the Local Level 225

Distinguishing sheriffs from police chiefs 226

Driving the streets: Patrol officers 227

Focusing on neighborhoods: Community officers 228

Supervising patrol officers: Sergeants 229

Investigating crimes: Detectives 229

Police officers with special assignments 230

Counting on civilian employees 231

Greater than the sum of their parts: Task forces 232

Bringing in citizen cops: Reserves 232

Thinking about Theories of Policing 233

Policing at the community level 233

Following the broken windows theory 235

Adopting intelligence-led policing 237

Chapter 17: Tackling Crime at the Federal Level 241

Sorting through the Alphabet Soup of Federal Agencies 242

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 242

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) 244

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) 245

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) 246

Secret Service 248

U.S Marshals Service 248

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 249

Other federal law enforcement agencies 249

Coordinating Federal and Local Efforts 251

Working with local law enforcement 251

Federal funding: Tapping federal resources to maximize effect 252

Chapter 18: Solving Crimes: The Process 253

Responding to a Crime Scene 254

Interviewing witnesses 254

Interrogating suspects 255

Gathering physical evidence 256

Writing a report 258

Using Special Crime-Fighting Tools and Techniques 259

Conducting crime scene investigations 259

Applying for search warrants 262

Analyzing computers, cellphones, and other electronic evidence 263

Administering lie detector tests 263

Looking for fingerprints 264

Testing DNA 265

Comparing handwriting 268

Studying blood stain patterns 269

Collecting cell tower evidence 270

Reconstructing an accident 271

Part 5: Prosecuting and Punishing Crime 273

Chapter 19: Seeking Justice in Court: The Players and Their Roles 275

Prosecutors: Guardians of Safety 275

Charging crimes 276

Helping with investigations 278

Weighing ethical responsibilities 279

Fulfilling additional duties 279

Defense Attorneys: Guardians of Liberty 280

Hiring a public or private defender 281

Facing ethical dilemmas 283

Trial Judges: Overseeing the Justice Process 283

Authorizing cops to search 283

Keeping cases moving 284

Presiding over a trial 285

Sentencing the defendant 287

Appellate Judges: Setting Legal Precedents 288

Looking for procedural errors 289

Wading through the final layers of appeal 290

Chapter 20: Finding the Truth: Pleading Guilty or Going to Trial 293

Keeping It Local: Municipal Courts 293

Movin' On Up: State Court Systems 294

Affecting the Whole Nation: The Federal Court System 295

Negotiating a Plea Agreement 296

Determining the strength of the evidence 297

Figuring out time in custody 298

Considering victim compensation 298

Working out probation conditions 299

Suppressing Evidence (or Not): The Pretrial Hearing 299

Determining whether a search was legal 300

Looking at a defendant's confession 300

Facing a Jury (or a Judge): The Process 301

Choosing trial by jury or by judge 301

Selecting a jury 302

Making opening statements 302

Proving the state's case 303

Conducting direct examinations 304

Displaying physical exhibits 304

Cross-examining witnesses 305

Putting on a defense 305

Hearing closing arguments 308

Reaching a verdict 309

Chapter 21: Punishing the Guilty: Why and How Society Does It 313

Understanding Theories of Punishment and Incarceration 314

Seeking retribution, not personal revenge 314

Deterring future crimes 314

Protecting society: Incapacitation 315

Aiming for rehabilitation and restoration 315

Combining the theories 316

Placing Defendants in Custody 316

Going to a local jail 317

Heading to state prison 318

Facing federal prison 321

Serving time in Private Prison, Inc. 322

Facing Challenges in the Prison System 323

Controlling contraband 323

Dealing with inmate violence 324

Implementing treatment and education programs 327

Covering the cost of imprisonment 328

Placing Defendants on Probation 329

The probation officer's role 329

Probation violations and their effects 330

Debating the Death Penalty 331

The crimes you can die for 331

The rules of a capital case 332

The execution process 334

Arguments for or against the death penalty 335

Chapter 22: Examining the Juvenile Justice System 339

Looking Back: The Historical Treatment of Juveniles 339

Why Juveniles Are Treated Differently 341

Walking through the Juvenile Justice Process 342

Speaking the language of the juvenile justice system 343

Introducing the key players 344

Arresting and detaining a juvenile 345

Filing a petition - or not 346

Adjudicating a case 347

Proceeding to disposition 348

Facing probation 348

Treating a Juvenile like an Adult 349

Eyeing Modern Trends in Juvenile Justice 350

Part 6: The Part of Tens 351

Chapter 23: Ten Jobs to Consider in Criminal Justice 353

Police Officer 353

Corrections Officer 356

Forensic Scientist 357

Computer Forensic Specialist 358

Crime and Intelligence Analysts 359

Probation Officer 360

Juvenile Counselor 361

Crime Victim Advocate 362

Legal or Law Enforcement Administrative Assistant 362

Court Reporter 363

Chapter 24: Ten Notorious, Unsolved Crimes 365

The JonBenet Ramsey Murder 365

The Sam Sheppard Case 366

The Zodiac Killer 367

The Murder of Robert Blake's Wife 369

The Murder of Seattle Prosecutor Tom Wales 369

The D B Cooper Hijacking 371

The Black Dahlia Murder 372

The Jack the Ripper Killings 373

The Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa 373

The Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G 374

Index 377

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• Crime e criminologia

Understanding criminology; introduction to criminology; introduction to crime; introduction to policing; the criminal mind; understanding the criminal mind; law enforcement techniques; criminal law; justice; crime-fighting techniques