Week 2: Types of Crime

Question 1

What are the six categories of crime in Uniform Crime Reporting?

Answer 1

1. Violent Crimes
   2: Property Crimes
2. Other criminal code offenses
3. Criminal code traffic violations
4. Drug offenses
5. Other federal statute violations (e.g. YCJA or Immigraiton and Refugee protection act)

Question 2

Name at least 5 types of violent crime.

Answer 2

Homicide, violations causing death, attempted murder, assault, sexual assault,
robbery, use of firearms, forcible confinement/kidnapping, trafficking in persons, extortion,
criminal harassment, uttering threats, indecent or harassing communications, non-consensual distribution of intimate objects, commodification of sexual activity.

Question 3

Define Homicide.

Answer 3

Homicide: when a person directly or indirectly causes the death of a human being.

Question 4

What is the difference between culpable and non-culpable homicide?

Answer 4

Culpable homicide is when the person should not have died and an someone is responsible for their death. For example, first degree murder is culpable homicide.

Non-Culpable homicide is also called justifiable homicide. It is when the person responsible for their death is not criminally accountable. For example, police killing in the line of duty, or someone killing in self-defense.

Question 5

Define Murder including the three main types.

Answer 5

Murder: when a person intentionally causes the death of another person or intends to cause bodily harm likely to result in death.

First Degree Murder: culpable homicide that is planned and deliberate OR the killing of a police or corrections officer OR murder that occurs during another serious offense (e.g. sexual assault).

Second Degree Murder: Culpable homicide that is intentional and unlawful but not planned

Manslaughter: culpable homicide that is unintentional and unplanned. For example murders committed in response to sudden provocation, due to impaired judgement, or recklessness/carelessness.

Question 6

What is the difference between Serial Murder and Mass Murder?

Answer 6

Serial Murder is Culpable homicide that involves the killing of several victims in three or more separate events.

Mass Murder is the illegal killing of four or more people at one location within one event. When mass murder is politically motivated it is called a terrorist attack.

Question 7

What is Infanticide?

Answer 7

Infanticide is when a women is considered “disturbed” from birth and she causes the death of her newborn (age 0-1). For example, a women suffering severe post-partum depression who kills her newborn.

Question 8

Define sexual assault.

Answer 8

Sexual assault is an assault committed in the circumstances of a sexual nature such that it violates the sexual integrity of the victim (survivor). Victims and perpetrators can be any gender. Penetration is not a required criteria.

Question 9

What are the three levels of sexual assault?

Answer 9

Level 1: assault that violates the sexual integrity of the person
Level 2: sexual assault that involves a weapon, bodily harm, or threats to cause bodily harm.
Level 3: aggravated sexual assault; assault that wounds, maims, disfigures, or endangers the life of another person.

Question 10

What is the most commonly reported type of sexual assault and what are two factors that have affected reporting rates?

Answer 10

Level 1 is the most commonly reported type.

An estimated only 5% of sexual assault gets reported to the police (and an even more dismal percentage of these actually go to court and lead to a conviction…) But two things that have positively affected reporting rates are:
-Changes in the definition of sexual assault (e.g. removing the criteria of penetration, adding marital rape) and
- Changes in police handling (putting policies in place to reduce victim blaming)

Question 11

What is criminal harassment?

Answer 11

Commonly called stalking. Is the repeated following, watching, or communicating with a person or someone known to the person that causes the person to fear for their safety or the safety of someone they know.

Criminal harassment includes cyber bullying, cyber stalking, and online harassment.

Question 12

Why is criminal harassment classified as a violent crime?

Answer 12

criminal harassment often escalates to violence, especially sexual assault. Like sexual violence, women are most often the victims of criminal harassment.

Question 13

What is Robbery and why is it classified as a violent crime?

Answer 13

Robbery: the unlawful taking or attempted taking of property that is in the immediate possession of anther by threatened or actual use of force or violence.

Is considered a violent crime because it is committed in the presence of the victim and involves force or threats of violence.

Question 14

Define assault and distinguish between the three levels.

Answer 14

Assault is the intentional or threatened application of force on a person without consent. It has three levels.

Level 1: Assault or common assault; this includes hitting, punching, use of hands or limbs etc. Can also involve threats by act or gesture (e.g. hitting the wall, breaking things aggressively.)

Level 2: Assault that involves the use of a weapon or that causes bodily harm.

Level 3: Assault that maims, wounds, disfigures, or endangers the life of the victim (survivor).

Question 15

Define hate crime.

Answer 15

Hate Crimes are criminal act towards a person or a group because of race, natural or ethnic origin, religion, language, colour, sex, age, sexual orientation, or mental/physical disability. Hate crimes often advocate for genocide, involve some sort of public incitement of hatred, and willfully promote hatred towards a specific group.

Question 16

What is the most common form of hate crime?

Answer 16

Mischief in the form of vandalism is the most common. Minor assault is the second most common.

Question 17

Who is responsible for a majority of violent crimes.

Answer 17

Men commit about 90% of all violent crimes in Canada.

Question 18

What is property crime?

Answer 18

Property crime is unlawful acts perpetrated with the intent of gaining property but without the use of threats or violence.

Question 19

What is breaking and entering? What are the different types?

Answer 19

Breaking and Entering is the unlawful entry of a a place with the intent to commit an indictable offense.
Types:
- Residential B&E: breaking and entering a private residence
- Business B&E: breaking and entering a commercial building
- Other B&E: breaking and entering private property structures such as sheds or shops

Question 20

Define Theft. How is theft severity categorized?

Answer 20

Theft is dishonestly taking someone else’s property with the intention of depriving the original owner permanently or temporarily. This includes motor vehicle theft.

Theft severity is categorized based on the value of the stolen property. Specifically it goes into the category of theft over and theft under where theft over involves theft of property over 5000$ and theft under involves the theft of property under 5000$

Question 21

Define Identity theft and identity fraud. What is the difference between the two?

Answer 21

Identity Theft is knowingly obtaining or possessing another person’s identity information with the intent to use the information to commit an indictable offense.

Identity Fraud is fraudulently impersonating another person, living or dead with the intent to gain personal advantage or with the intent to disadvantage the person being impersonated.

Identity fraud is very specifically involves impersonating the person who’s identity has been stolen. You can commit identity theft without committing fraud (e.g. selling identity information to people intending to commit fraud.)

Question 22

What kind of crimes are connected to identity crimes?

Answer 22

Identity crimes are connected to many other types of crime. For example, credit card fraud, mortgage fraud, money laundering etc.

Question 23

What is the most common crime committed by women? What is an explanation for this?

Answer 23

Women are most likely to commit theft under crimes. One explanation for this is the feminization of poverty where women are more likely to experience poverty and more likely to experience more severe poverty than any other demographic.

Question 24

What is White Collar Crime?

Answer 24

White collar crime is a crime committed by a person, usually of higher social status, in the course of their occupation.

Question 25

What is a Ponzi Scheme?

Answer 25

A Ponzi scheme is an investing scam where a fraudster pays returns to existing investors with the new investors’ funds under the false pretense that the returns are being made. This scheme is sustained by the constant recruitment of new contributors.

Question 26

What is Edward Sutherland’s big contribution to Criminology?

Answer 26

Edward Sutherlan coined the term white collar crime and challenged the idea that crime only exists in the lower classes. He redefined crime so that it included “civil and regulatory law violations” and “harmful acts for which no legal remedy yet exists”.

Question 27

What did Edward Sutherland have to say about the cost of White Collar Crime?

Answer 27

He believed that the seriousness of white collar crime was underestimated and often did not get “counted” because in reality, the financial cost of WCC far exceeded the cost of traidtional crime. As well, because WCC reduced social trust and contributed to social disorganization on a larger scale, he believed the cost of WCC was extremely severe.

Question 28

Why is White Collar Crime such a big deal?

Answer 28

• It has a high degree of harm that is widespread
• Investigating WCC is complex and involves the use of experts
• It often involves international components
• Perpetrators often have better access to technology than the law enforcement, making managing WCC difficult.

Question 29

What is the difference between White Collar Crime and Corporate Crime?

Answer 29

White collar crime takes place in a corporate context but is committed by an individual, it often takes place without the endorsement of the corporation. (e.g. embezzlement)

Corporate crime is committed by the corporate entity (or at least an individual(s) acting for the corporation. (illegal dumping of hazardous substances)

Question 30

What is Fraud?

Answer 30

A type of WCC; it is a dishonest act that deprives or risks depriving another person of something.

Question 31

What is money laundering?

Answer 31

A type of WCC; it is the process of concealing the source of illegitimately obtained money.

Question 32

What is Bribery?

Answer 32

A type of WCC; the practice of illegally inducing a person, company, or government, to act in one’s favour usually through the transfer of money or property.

Question 33

What is Embezzlement?

Answer 33

A type of WCC; it is the taking of money or the misappropriation of funds that belong to someone else. In Canada, embezzlement is classified as fraud or theft.

Question 34

What is Tax evasion?

Answer 34

A type of WCC; is the illegal circumvention of taxes. Is distinct from tax avoidance which is the strategic reduction of taxes through legally approved ways.

Question 35

What is Insider Trading?

Answer 35

A type of WCC, it is the practice of trading in stock, bond, or other security while possessing material non-public information about the company in question.

Question 36

What is Price Fixing?

Answer 36

A type of WCC, is an agreement between competitors to fi the price of a good or service by buying or selling at an agreed upon price or by manipulating supply and demand.

Question 37

What is Negligence in the context of white collar crime?

Answer 37

Negligence is a legal intent standard that considers whether a person, regardless of actual intent or knowledge, failed to take reasonable care in doing or failing to do something.

Question 38

What is cyber crime and what other crime is it affecting?

Answer 38

Cyber crime is any crime committed over the computer or internet. It has made identity theft more prominent.

Question 39

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

Answer 39

It is the theory of corporate self-regulation whereby companies actively pursue compliance with the law and ethical norms as a part of doing business. It includes the idea of the triple bottom line (profit, people, planet).