CRM-102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Racial Profiling, Class Conflict, Social Learning Theory

• School: University of Tampa
• Department: Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Course: CRM-102
• Professor: Armstrong

Document Summary

Crimes are behaviors that are harmful to the majority of citizens. These behaviors are defined in the law as crimes. These laws represent the norms, goals and values of the vast majority of society. I(cid:374) other (cid:449)ords, (cid:449)e as a so(cid:272)iety agree that these (cid:271)eha(cid:448)iors should (cid:271)e (cid:862)(cid:272)ri(cid:373)i(cid:374)al(cid:863) Criminal law is created and enforced by the ruling class as a means to control the behaviors of the non-ruling class. Criminal law (i. e. , the definition of crime) is shaped and controlled by the ongoing class struggle. Criminal law is structured to reflect the preferences and opinions of the people who hold social power. The definition of crime is constantly changing and evolving. Offi(cid:272)ial (cid:272)ri(cid:373)e data: fbi"s u(cid:374)ifor(cid:373) cri(cid:373)e reports (ucr) Accuracy is questionable because not all crimes are reported equally. Recent changes are moving the ucr from summary data to incident based data. Requires a brief account of each incident and arrest, including the incident, victim, and offender information.