SOC101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Uniform Crime Reports, Victimless Crime, Child Pornography
People have always been committing crimes
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Concept of taking crime as something to intervene on
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Study of crime is relatively new
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Explanations for actions
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Why do people commit crimes?
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What to do about crime? How to solve / stop / punish?
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Animal cruelty
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Moral / ethical crimes
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Homicide
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Harassment
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Victimless crime (fraud)
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Rape / sexual assault
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Breaking and entering
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Drugs and trafficking
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Speeding
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Arson
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Counterfeit
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Theft
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Negligence
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Vandalism / property damage
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Prostitution
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Identity theft
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Aiding and abetting
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Weapon offences
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Espionage
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War crimes
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Pedophilia
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Child pornography
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State crimes
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Terrorism
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Workplace discrimination
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What is crime?
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Three big questions organizing the study of crime
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Why do people do what they do?
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How do behaviours become defined as unwelcome or even
punishable?
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Studying norms
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Society's expectations
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Boundaries of acceptability as an object of inquiry instead
of taken-for-granted
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Studying crime and deviance means studying normalcy
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"intentional violation of criminal law without defence and
without excuse"
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Enacted by elected people
Politicality
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4 components of Criminal Code
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Crime and Criminal Code
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Crime and Deviance
Lecture 2.1: Deviance & Crime
January 11, 2017
12:00 PM
LECTURE Page 42
Enacted by elected people
Part of political process to define laws
Social movements / lobbyists, groups try to
change, come up w new ones, etc.
Sets out exactly what is and isn't a crime
'due process' to balance rights
Make sure there are many procedures to ensure
guilt
Specificity
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Applies to everyone equally
Regardless of gender / ethnic background /
religion / class
Uniformity
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Range of penalties - depends on situation
Punishments set in advance
Set guidelines for judges to decide on a sentence
Penal sanctions
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Canadian national surveys reveal crime has been
among top three issues since 1970s
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Believe that crime in general and violent crime in
particular, is on the rise
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More likely to choose crime or medical dramas than
any other type of program
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What citizens think of crime affects how the
government responds --> people demand change
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Canadian Attitudes Towards Crime
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Information on crime collected by police
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Victimless crimes --> no one got hurt
"level one" assaults involving friend
or relatives of victims
Sexual assaults
Does not account for high degree of
unreported crime
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Reflect decisions by authorities on which
criminal acts to report and which to ignore
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Murder etc. most likely to come to
attention of police
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Nothing in the Criminal Code to indicate
what are more important crimes than
others, yet law enforcement agencies
enforce laws according to priority
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Canadian Uniform Crime Reports (CUCR)
Respondents are asked to report their
involvement in criminal activities either
as perpetrators or as victims
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Majority of Canadians have engage
in some type of "criminal activity"
About quarter of population have
been a victim of crime
Typically indicate that
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Self Report Surveys
People asked whether they have been
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Victimization Surveys
Main source or crime statistics
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Crime Rates
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