SOC 1410 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Victimless Crime, Binge Drinking
Document Summary
Public order crimes include a varying assortment of violations. Sometimes called vice offenses, consensual offenses, victimless crimes, or nuisance offenses: these are the moving target type-legal in some places and at some times, and illegal at other times and in other places. Societies differ in terms of their preferences and cultural attitudes towards certain behaviors: these are often viewed as moral matters. Remember that morality and legality are not one in the same. We often think of prohibition from the 1920s (moral argument against drinking associated with drinking) A social harms or public health approach to addressing the matter. Frontline documentary: discusses approach to heroin addiction as a public heath issue rather than a criminal justice issue. Of all the substances used to alter mood and consciousness, alcohol is the one most directly linked to crime, especially violent crime. More crime with alcohol than all other drugs combined. Officers spend more than half of their time on alcohol related offenses.
