Crime Occurrence Review

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Crime Occurrence Evaluation Paper

Professor M. Callahan

AJS/514

Grace Acevedo

October 28, 2019

Crime Occurrence Evaluation

Criminal Justice involves a set of interdisciplinary knowledge and integrated systematic actions to reach the awareness of a truth related to the criminal phenomenon, which includes the management of strategies that scrutinizes the role of the victim, the offender, and the crime as such, and the study of techniques aimed at countering, controlling and preventing criminal activity. This paper intends to interpret the occurrence of crime.

Current Trends in the Crime Rate

Based on FBI data, crime rates decreased by 3.9% during the past year and have continued to decrease.  These include murder, robbery, burglary, vehicle thefts, larceny, and non-negligent manslaughter.  With rape, the rate showed to have increased, subsequent in the last six years (https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/09/30/new-fbi-data-violent-crime-still-falling)  

Social and Environmental Factors Influencing Crime Rate

Economic circumstances as poverty and lack of employment are issues that affect low income communities. Communities where abnormal behavior is ignored and/or stimulated result in criminal activities.  The population holding firearms has exploded. Between 6% to 10% of teenagers in high school have access to guns carry guns to school, this escalating to committing violent crimes (https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781337514910/).  The recruiting of children and teenagers in gangs is rising, drugs and substance abuse are major causes for violent crimes. Exposing children to violent video games is an issue affecting today’s generation by teaching violence and undermining law enforcement (https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781337514910/).

Factors that contribute to Criminal Behavior and Crime Rate

Family relationships lead to criminal behavior.  The lack of attention from parents to children, a household composed of one parent, child abuse, exposure to drugs and alcohol, and prostitution are some situations that push children and teenagers to seek support from other sources where bad influences can trigger delinquency.  

Antisocial behavior leads to engage in delinquent acts.   Risk-taking is another factor in committing delinquent activities and is most seen between the ages of 11 to 21.  During this period, behaviors such as careless driving, substance use, unprotected sex, eating disorders, homicidal and suicidal behaviors, and dangerous sports are characteristics of risk-taking that lead to criminal behavior.

Investigating Crime Occurrence through Research and Theory Development

Social structure theories state that criminality is a product of social forces which include traditions, responsibilities, laws, morality, and religious beliefs (Calderon, M.).  These theories are social disorganization, social change, conflict, and lack of social consensus as root causes of crime. The “broken window” theory focuses on external factors rather than on individual crime causation; the strain theory - individuals unable to succeed through legitimate means and turn to other avenues promising economic and social recognition and acceptance; and cultural conflict of values between socialized groups where the inability of gaining new values, is the root of crime (Schmalleger, F. ).  

The combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies gave rise to a mixed approach. This new perspective has led to the search for ways to reconcile the use of research strategies of quantitative and qualitative methods and encourage epistemological approximations aimed in providing greater theoretical support. Social and behavioral research reveal that mixed methods are being extensively used to solve practical research problems. 

Triangulation is a method that decreases the possibility of confusions, producing redundant information during data collection clarifying meanings and verifying the repeatability of an observation. It is a combination of qualitative or quantitative research methods in the measurement of the same analysis unit. These are objective and when combined allow to use resources and ease the weaknesses of each one of them; to cross data and to observe these reach the same conclusions. (Denzin, NK, & Lincoln, YS (Eds.). (1994).

Sources of Crime Data - Advantages and Disadvantages of Data

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is comprised of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), the Summary Reporting System (SRS), the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) Program, and the Hate Crime Statistics Program (https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr). It includes data collected by the FBI which gathers the information and statistics from local law enforcement agencies on a yearly basis (https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781337514910/).

The UCR Report gathers statistics on violent crime–murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and non-negligent manslaughter, and property crime–larceny, burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft. Its purpose is to produce dependable criminal statistics useful for law enforcement operations, administrations, and management. It is the most important report detailing the growth and decline in crime (https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/what-is-the-uniform-crime-reporting-program-26494)

The UCR does not include unreported or "dark figure” crimes such as prostitution, considered a victimless crime. Rapes reported involve females, not male or same-sex rape. Crimes that involve multiple-offense violations are only recorded as the most severe type, for example, a murder would offset arson and so a murder/arson would only be reported as a murder (Farmer, S).

Importance of Crime Research in the Development of Recidivism Reduction Strategies or Crime Prevention Policies

Criminology is the science that covers various areas of knowledge as anthropology, biology, psychology, and sociology.  Policies created in criminal justice are based on moral institutions and its theories focus on controlling social dysfunction.  As Weiss explained 30 years ago, “unless a social condition has been consensually defined as a pressing social problem, and unless the condition has become fully politicized and debated, and the parameters of potential action agreed upon, there is little likelihood that policy-making bodies will be receptive to the results of social science research” (Weiss, 1979).  

Research supports policymakers to make sound, unbiased decisions and is used to make sure that existing policies are working and if they need to be changed or dropped altogether. The method used in criminological research comes from the social and natural sciences and all use empirical methods of work based on the observation of the world and the establishment of hypotheses from these observations. 

Conclusion

Criminology has a set of intelligence focused on crime trends and in each of its objects of study: criminal behaviors, victims of criminal behaviors, citizens that commit criminal doings, and social control. It does not base its theories on assumptions or intuitions but on inductions or reasoned deductions The expertise produced by criminology is coherent and structured; it has its own principles and laws that explain the fact of a study, which can be checked in different situations; but as any other social science, are not universally applicable.

References

Calderon, M., Crime Causation. Retrieved from http://raurk1.writing.com

Denzin, NK, & Lincoln, Handbook of Qualitative Research., YS (Eds.). (1994) Retrieved from https://www.scirp.org/(S(i43dyn45teexjx455qlt3d2q))/reference/ReferencesPapers.aspx?ReferenceID=713514

Farmer, Sean, "Disadvantage of the Uniform Crime Report System,” Retrieved from https://legalbeagle.com/6765451-disadvantage-uniform-crime-report-system.html.

Importance of Research. (2017) Retrieved from https://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/importance-of-research-10978.html

New FBI Data Shows Violent Crime Falling, Except Rapes ... Retrieved from https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/09/30/new-fbi-data-violent-crime-still-falling 

Schmalleger, Frank (2006). Criminology today:  an integrative introduction (4th ed). Retrieved from Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Siegel, L. J. Criminology: Theories, Patterns and Typologies. Ch. 1 -2, [University of Phoenix]. Retrieved from https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781337514910/

Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program — FBI - FBI.gov, Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr

References

Weiss, C. (1979). Journal of Criminology, 35(1), 1–16. The many meanings of research utilization. Public Administration. Retrieved from https://acawiki.org/The_Many_Meanings_of_Research_Utilization

What is the Uniform Crime Reporting Program? - HG.org, Retrieved from https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/what-is-the-uniform-crime-reporting-program-26494