Unit 1 Flashcards
What is a hate crime
A crime perceived as being motivated by prejudice or hate based on a person’s race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender.
Examples of hate crime
Verbal assault, Harassment or Physical assault
Victims of hate crime
Anyone under the 5 strands of discrimination, who usually fall under the ‘BAME’ race, with Islam religion or lesbian/gay sexual orientation
Offenders of hate crime
People who don’t fall under the 5 strands, and have a prejudice against a group of people, usually with traditional views.
PA hate crime
High level of public awareness due to an increase in media, as well as the anti-terrorism crime and security act 2001 being added to the legislation.
C or D hate crime
Criminal as it is against the law, deviant as it goes against the social norms, most wouldn’t agree with victimising a group of people.
Hate crime case study
Mathew Shepard was beaten to death in October 1998, for being gay. This is a hate crime because he was targeted for his sexual orientation.
Domestic violence definition
An act targeted to be abuse against a partner or family member within the home, often in secret. The five types are psychological, physical, sexual, financial, and emotional.
Examples of domestic violence
Rape, coercive control, blackmail, sexual abuse
Victim of domestic violence
Overwhelmingly female, vulnerable wives, girlfriends or any female involved in an intimate relationship.
Offender of domestic violence
Overwhelmingly male, boyfriends or husbands.
PA domestic violence
Low level of public awareness as victims often fear reporting it due to manipulation and other reasons. It also happens behind closed doors, so people turn a blind eye.
C or D domestic violence
Criminal as it is against the law, and also deviant as society views abuse as cruel and unnecessary, and it is therefore against the norms of society.
Domestic violence case study
Clare Wood was murdered and burned by her ex boyfriend, and found 3 months later. This is domestic violence because it happened within a (past) relationship, and had extreme elements of control and violence within it.
Honour crime definition
Any punishment on people, mainly women, for acts deemed to have brought shame upon the family.
Honour crimes examples
Acid attacks, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and abduction.
Honour crimes victims
A young girl within the family, usually a daughter, within the Asian community.
Honour crimes offender
A male family member such as an uncle, brother or father.
PA honour crime
Low level of public awareness as it is not reported often, it is normal in their culture and the UK system is different, therefore people are unsure whether it is a crime.
C or D honour crime
Criminal because it is against the law, and deviant because it is not the dominant culture in the UK, and is not accepted in society.
Honour crime case study
Shafilia Ahmed, who was murdered by her parents through suffocation after they believed she had become too ‘urbanised’ and she attempted to move out. This crime was unsolved until seven years later when her sister, Alicia, reported the murder as a witness.
Moral crime definition
Any crime against the normal standard of society, based on what the majority of people see as right or wrong.
Moral crime examples
Prostitution, vagrancy, euthanasia and illegal drug use.
Moral crime victims
(in non victimless cases) is often the same person as the offender
Moral crime offenders
Someone vulnerable personally or financially.
PA moral crime
Low level of public awareness as many people are unaffected by the crime and are unaware that it is a crime.
C or D moral crime
Criminal as it is against the law, and is sometimes deviant depending on the act, and something like vagrancy is not seen as against society’s norms, but prostitution is
Moral crime case study
An example of this would be the case study of Diane Pretty, who was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease giving her a low quality of life. She wanted her husband to assist her suicide, which is a clear example of euthanasia and therefore is an moral crime.
State crime definition
A state crime is a crime carried out by government or stage agencies or under their order to further their policies
State crimes examples
Torture, genocide and imprisonment without trial.
Victims state crime
Citizens of a country with different political views or religion than the government, who are usually innocent.
Offenders state crime
High ranking officials under the orders of the country’s regime.
PA state crime
Previously low level of public awareness as it is done through important organisations and not in the public, however it has grown due to the media and news sharing information about it.
C or D state crime
Deviant and criminal as it goes against the law, and society’s social expectations, as it is looked down upon and illegal to kill mass groups of people or order for it to happen.
State crime case study
Rwanda genocide, the government ordered Hutus to attack the tutsies, resulting in the deaths of 1,070,014 people. This is a State crime because it was done under the orders of the government.
White collar crime definition
A white collar crime is a crime committed in a commercial situation for financial gain.
White collar crime examples
Tax evasion, fraud, embezzlement and Ponzi schemes.
White collar crimes victims
Individuals who use white collar services such as banks or investors. Recently retired workers who use investing services.
White collar crime offender
A person of high social status and respectability, usually white, middle class men in commercial employment.
PA white collar crime
Low level of public awareness as the cases are extremely difficult to investigate, and most victims are unaware that they’ve been a victim
C or D white collar crime
Criminal because it is against the law, and it is deviant because society looks down on stealing and taking advantage of others.
Case study white collar crime
Bernie Madoff, ran the largest financial fraud in history, a Ponzi scheme for decades, stealing tens of billions of dollars. This is a white collar crime because it steals from accounts through commercial businesses and benefits the offender financially.
Tech crime definition
A technological crime is a crime committed on the internet.
Tech crime examples
Sextortion, hacking, downloading illegal material and promoting hate crimes.
Tech crime victims
Anyone who uses the internet and is less tech savvy such as younger or elderly people.
Tech crime offender
Anyone with knowledge about the internet who is often younger or lives overseas who seeks to gain status from their peers.
PA tech crime
Low level of public awareness, however it is increasing due to internet safety lessons and growing knowledge and media coverage.
C or D tech crime
Criminal because it is against the law, deviant depending on the crime, because it is against society’s norms to take advantage of people online, however it isn’t against society to download music online.
Tech crime case study
What are the reasons for unreported crime
Fear, Shame, Disinterest, Not affected, Lack of knowledge, Complexity, Lack of media interest, Lack of public concern, Culture bound crime
What is fear
Being cared for themselves and for their family.
What is shame
Feeling shameful or embarrassed of the situation.
What is disinterest
People do not always care about the situation or sympathise with the victim.
What is not affected
If an incident doesn’t concern the person, ‘ has nothing to do with them’.
What is lack of knowledge
Unaware that the crime exists, the procedures of the crime or that they have been a victim.
What is complexity
General public may not understand that a crime has been committed or it’s too difficult to understand.
What is lack of media interest
Some crimes are not widely promoted in the media as they believe the public will not take interest.
What is lack of public concern
Offence is not considered a crime or deviant by society.
What is culture bound crime
Crimes are acceptable in certain cultures, some think they are mystifying and ignore it because they don’t want to interfere.
What is the ripple effect
The impact of the crime spreads beyond the initial victim, If the crime goes unpunished it can socialise the victim’s children into believing it’s acceptable causing them to repeat it themselves as adults, so the crime is repeated through generations.
Example of ripple effect
Domestic violence won’t only affect the mother as a victim, but also the child who witnesses the violence, either by fearing the father or growing to have similar relationships.
Harm of ripple effect
Negative effect- harms more people than the initial victim
What is cultural differences
Cultural differences may make something legal in one country and illegal in another. Cultures that are different to your own might be hard to understand, meaning some cultures turn a blind eye and don’t want to interfere. The crime continues , unrecognised as a crime.
Example of cultural differences
Female Genital Mutilation is illegal in the UK but some communities practice it as a part of culture.
Similar for forced marriage.
Harm of cultural differences
Negative as the crimes continue without punishment
What is decriminalisation
Some laws cannot be enforced. May not be reported to the police as the general consensus is that it shouldn’t be legal.
less time and money is put into finding perpetrators of the crimes. Crime being made legal as the government cannot control it.
Example of decriminalisation
Illegally downloading music should be made legal as is doesn’t cause major harm and is so widely performed that it is publicly decriminalised
Same for same sex marriage.
Harm of decriminalisation
Positive because things seen as human rights are legal and a more efficient legal system focuses on ‘real crime’.
What is police prioritisation
Police focus on certain crimes ensuring that issues local to their area get addressed, resulting in crimes not being prioritised or being investigated. Police don’t have the capacity for all crimes, and allocate less time and money to certain crimes. Individuals therefore don’t report it because they feel it isn’t worth police time or significant enough.
Police prioritisation example
Knife crime and violence against women have the most reports and have high profile cases in the media making the police prioritise it.
Police prioritisation harm
Positive because police can focus on important things , but also negative because some crimes don’t get enough attention
Unrecorded crime example
Rape is often reported by victims and let down by the police. 25% of unreported crime is rape, and is known as the ‘dark figure’ of crime.
what is unrecorded crime
Some crimes are reported to police but not recorded.
More than 800,000 of all crimes reported to the police are unrecorded each year. This means an investigation into crime is unlikely to happen and the offender will not be punished or other crimes will not be prevented.
Unrecorded crime harm
Negative as there is no punishment and no closure for victims.
What is cultural change
In some areas, crime becomes the norm, there is a cultural shift to tolerate the crime meaning it continues and increases.
Broken window theory states visible signs of a crime create an environment that encourages further crime and disorder because individuals won’t be punished.
Cultural change example
Community that is run down will have vandalism as it is accepted as the norm and not challenged.
Cultural change harm
Negative because crime continues
What is legal change
Crimes that go unreported for a long time may be seen as a human right. This is due to values and norms changing in society.
Legal change example
In 2010s, stigma around same sex marriage couples are reduced, leading to same sex marriage being legal in 2015
Legal change harm
Positive because it no longer goes against human rights.
What is procedural change
Different procedures to report crime are introduced to encourage people to report incidents due to a lack of people using the traditional method. Particularly in hidden crimes like rape, domestic violence, hate crimes and bullying,
Procedural change example
People do not have to visit a police station to report a crime, instead they can report them online, through organisations such as crime stoppers and remain anonymous, means people are more likely to report crimes as they are less daunting and from the comfort of their own home.
Procedural change harm
Positive because crime becomes more likely to become reported.
