Crime definition

Question 1

Name 4 different ways to define crime

Answer 1

1. Legal: behavior prohibited by law
2. Moral: behavior that offends shared morals and beliefs
3. Social: behavior that violates social norms
4. Humanistic: behavior that denies human rights

Question 2

What are the 3 elements of crime?

Answer 2

1. Harm –> can be economical, physical or emotional
2. Social consensus –> use rational thinking to determine what behaviors are criminal
3. Official societal response –> legal aspect of it; for it to be a crime you have to define it in a law.

Question 3

What are 3 crime prevention strategies?

Answer 3

1. Developmental –> how people have changed over time; motivations; factors among the individual
2. Situational –> focus on where the crime occurs; what is happening? Changing these factors
3. Community –> focuses on social cohesion and broader neighborhood approaches

Question 4

What are patterns of crime?

Answer 4

Where it occurs –> can be spatial trends (across space); can be temporal trends (across time); can be demographic trends (across populations)