Welcome to this blog which I have set up for this course, Soc. 220: Criminal and Deviant Behavior. We will be using this blog for a variety of activities this semester, which would include the following: (1) For what I call "activities and exercises" in the syllabus, such as the one described below. I may ask you to comment on some video program I show in class, or on something in the assigned reading, etc.. You will be called upon to contribute questions for both the midterm and final exams, which will be posted on this blog. I may also use this blog to post descriptions of some of the short essays you'll be writing during the semester. (2)I may use this blog on occasion to post lecture notes, if I get behind in class, and I will post passages from other sources which I may quote in class. Perhaps most frequently, I will use this blog to follow-up on a class lecture or discussion, or answer a question I was not able to answer satisfactorily in class. (BUT PLEASE DO NOT EXPECT THAT I WILL BE POSTING EVERYTHING I COVER IN CLASS ON THIS BLOG.)
(3) I may offer you some extra credit opportunities during the semester, which will usually involve your posting a comment on this blog. (4) Finally, you are, of course, welcome to use this blog to comment on or ask questions about anything we cover in class or the assigned reading.
When I do post a description of an exercise or anything else, I will always be sure to mention it in class and remind you to check the blog. Nonetheless, I would suggest that you get in the habit of checking this blog once or twice a week anyway.
FIRST INDIVIDUAL EXERCISE: For the past two years the FBI's "Uniform Crime Reports" has been reporting fairly substantial DECLINES in the crime rate nationally. For example, between 2008 and 2009, violent crime dropped 5.3%, robbery dropped 8%, and property crime dropped 4.6%. Between 2009 and 2010, the FBI reports similar declines: violent crime dropped 5.5%, robbery dropped 9.5%, property crime dropped 2.8%. So, my question is, what gives? Does this surprise you? And could you offer some thoughts or explanation on this trend, especially in light of the fact that these years have obviously been difficult ones economically in our country, with high unemployment rates?
Please respond to the above questions by posting a comment on this blog. All I am looking for is a paragraph or two. There is no "right" answer or answer I am looking for. I am as mystified by these numbers as you may be. Please post your comment NO LATER THAN MONDAY, SEPT. 12TH. This exercise is worth 5 activity points.
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The FBI's reported numbers show a decrease in the overall crime rate; one cannot help but question the validity of their claims. I haven't done the proper research to support nor disclaim their information but it would be foolish to blindly accept a group of number being thrown around by the government, where they have sometimes been known to change the criteria or somehow skew the data to show the country that the current politician's job is a "job well done." For example, the criterion of the unemployment rate was changed after the great depression to not calculate people that have been out of work for more than 6 months. This allowed the public to believe that unemployment was not that bad and the countries economy wasn't taking a turn for the worst; where in reality the percentage of people without jobs was much larger.
But accepting the fact that these results aren't subjective, one has to assume that since a democratic president is guiding the country that more money is being spent on welfare and unemployment. There is always an attempt to improve those things but it presents itself even more so when the economy has been struggling, as it has been the past ten years. There is a correlation between being a low socioeconomic class and a high crime rate. Therefore the more money that is being dispersed among the people the less likely they are to break the law. Alternatively it is entirely possible that the United States is in small decline in crime rate because the courts and our men with the blue lights have done well to put away most of those repeat offenders, hence the large prison population. And have also managed to temporarily deter younger ones from taking all the places of those that have been put behind lock and key.
Even though the news that crime rates have dropped sounds great, where is the proof? Anyone can come up with numbers. Did the rates drop in high crime areas such as urban areas/major cities? Did little to no crime occur in areas that are not prone to crime? I need more information in order to truly determine whether or not this information is relevant. I am not surprised by the so called drop in crime rates, due to current economic hardships, but I am sure that other crimes rates are at the same level, rising, or they have risen. One aspect to consider is that people are moving/have moved to others cities/states in search of jobs. Maybe this is why certain areas have seen a decrease in crime.
What interests me the most about violent crime, robbery, and property crime rates dropping are the years in which the FBI recorded/noticed these changes. Towards the end of 2008, the economy started to spiral downwards and it only seems to have gotten worse as time passed. I think that the downward trend of the economy has something to do with the so called decline in certain crimes. I wonder if other crimes such as white collar or sex crimes saw an increase during these tougher times. People have much more to worry about such as the possibility of losing their homes, the rising unemployment rate, and the lack of government support. I also think that sometimes announcements such as this, that crime rates have fallen significantly, can be used to divert attention. Many people are struggling, but at least crime rates are falling, right?
The numbers that the FBI has produced show a decrease in the overall crime rates. However, how do we know that these numbers are accurate? How do we know that these numbers were not manipulated in order to show a decline? Were the criterion changed? Are there any categories of crime that have showed an increase? All of these questions are necessary to ask, because after looking at the numbers one questions their validity.
Over the past few years, there has been an increase in unemployment rates and there has been an overwhelming decline in the financial stability of Americans. As the old saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. This makes me question the numbers. I would expect to see an increase in crimes such as robbery, domestic violence, and white collar crimes. These different crimes are usually caused by desperation, tensions at home and the need for financial support. It is hard to believe that these numbers are accurate, considering the difficult and trying times as of late. These numbers seem to be a ploy to distract people from the decline of the country as a whole and to focus the attention on something positive. Even though the people are struggling, at least they are not committing crimes. Are these valid statistics or just a mask produced by the government to cover the real issues?
Upon first reading the facts and figures reported from the FBI's "Uniform Crime Report," it is easy to dismiss any potential discrepancies with one's own knowledge quickly. I mean, how more legitimate could a title be than the "FBI's 'Uniform Crime Report'?" One could simply accept these facts because of the validity of the source and move on, happy to know that the world is apparently a safer place in the last few years.
However, there is the sneaking suspicion in the back of the mind upon thinking over these facts. They simply do not fit in with the economic climate of the past few years. It is obvious that it would be in the best interest of the FBI to report facts that would appease the general public, especially when these facts relate to if they are successful performing their job in keeping the public safe. Do I think that this report is an outright lie? No; however, I also think it isn't the entire story. Having taken a statistics class myself and seen the ease with which one can manipulate the scale of percentages to show more favorable upon the goal one is trying to achieve with the data, I wonder if perhaps some particularly talented statistician put up to the task. In my opinion, if these results from the FBI are such a surprising thing to so many, it must be that we are not seeing the entire story of the data. What data points were used in the sample from the country? Are we talking about major cities, small towns, or what? I highly doubt the FBI was able to crunch the numbers of all towns and cities in the United States.
In short, this data tells gives an interesting conclusion to a story that I would love to hear the rest of.
It is hard for me to understand how the crime rate has decreased in the past few years. The recent trends of our economy have shown that the average American’s life has become harder to live. In my opinion this would make individuals desperate to do anything. The economic Theory states that all social phenomena emerge from the actions and interactions of individuals who are choosing in response to expected benefits and cost to themselves. This Economic way of thinking implies that people’s actions derive from comparisons of benefits and cost. Perhaps the cost of crime has heightened the awareness of the consequence in today’s society thus outweighing the benefit of the action itself. Maybe the cost of crime has heightened due to our current economic situation therefore causing crime to decrease.
The numbers say that crime has decreased. The numbers do not say why they have decreased or to what extent has crime decreased. Ultimately it seems that it is only the number of crimes reported has decreased not criminal acts themselves. With the economy sloping downward as it is more and more people are either displaced or truly homeless. Crimes are not so readily reported when it deals with those living or working on the streets. Nor are they reported if reporting one crime could lead to the legal downfall of another individual. Crime isn't decreasing because of some magical thing the government is doing, people merely do not talk as readily about crime as they use to.
While the FBI's crime report shows an overall decrease in crimes such as robbery and murder, I'm not sure this is an accurate representation of what is actually happening in our country. I find it difficult to believe that in the midst of our country's economic and governmental financial crises, crime is decreasing. One would think that as unemployment remains high and people are struggling to make ends meet, crimes such as robbery would increase because people are desperate to survive in the current economy. I can't help but think of the numerous crimes committed everyday that are not reported and how these crimes are not included in the FBI's crime report. We must also consider that the FBI's crime report doesn't include white collar crime (corporate crime many times), such as embezzlement and identity theft among others. Many will remember one of the most famous examples of white collar crime, the Bernie Madoff ponze scheme, which occured in the earlier part of the last decade. Thus, because the the FBI's crime report doesn't include unreported crimes and white collar crime, which is just as prevalent as crimes such as robbery and murder, I don't find these numbers to be a very accurate depiction of crime rates in our country right now.
The falling crime rate is a very intriguing topic to think about, especially during our country’s time of economic hardship. While it does seem that economic difficulties would cause an increase in crime, the numbers given by the FBI beg to differ. Popular belief shows that high unemployment leads to crime rate increases; but while unemployment is on a steady rise, crime rates continue to drop. Without further research, I cannot determine whether this is correct information or not, but it causes me to think.
A possible reason for the decrease in crime rates could be due to medical and technological advances. Many disorders and medical problems cause people to be violent. Doctors now have the means to treat such patients, which could cause a decline in violent crimes. Advances in technology could help explain the drop in burglaries and property crimes. People are more aware that crimes occur and take greater measures to protect themselves and their property by arming their homes and vehicles with alarm systems and other means of technology. Therefore, the rates of such crimes would decrease. Overall, the drop in crime rates seems unusual, but when observed, it becomes clearer that there are many possibilities as to why the decline is occurring.
The FBI, who is the most well-informed about the crime scene across the USA, claims that criminal activity in the forms of violence and robbery has decreased over the past few years. Like many of my fellow classmates, I find this data to be most unnerving, considering the fact that a person cannot turn on the news without seeing a horror story concerning either a murder or a robbery, both of which have apparently declined in the FBI’s ratings. I do not pretend to be remotely knowledgeable enough on the topic of crime to accuse the FBI of publishing false figures, but, when analyzing the current situation of the world in which we live, it is difficult to reach their conclusion. Our country, over the past few years—the same years of the supposed decrease in crime—has been plagued by one economic disaster after another. Countless people have lost their jobs, and it is only the trickle effect from there; unemployment leads to bankruptcy and foreclosure, which results in homelessness, which, stereotypically, would cause the victim to turn to criminal acts in order to have some sense of financial security. In addition to the economy, the media, especially movies, TV shows, and video games, has the potential to focus on violence and crime as a means of entertainment. With the economic crisis and two such themes so visibly present within our society’s media, I cannot help but question the accuracy of the FBI’s statistics.
Aforementioned, I haven’t done enough digging to accuse the FBI of misleading the population. As I see it, there are two explanations for the drop in crime. First and foremost, the FBI may have altered the scale that they use when defining what crimes make their “Uniform Crime Reports”. Perhaps the extremity of a situation must be at a certain standard before the FBI will consider it a “violent act” or a “robbery”, eliminating more “petty crimes” from their data. Secondly, advances in technology can play a dual role in reducing the amount of crime, specifically for robbery. Each day another solution is invented for the protection of a person’s property, i.e. alarm systems for houses and cars and the products of a company like LifeLock assuredly guarding against identity theft. However, inventions like LifeLock were created in the first place because criminals can also benefit from technological advances. They too have found more innovative ways of getting money besides putting a gun to someone’s head and demanding their wallet. Again, the subject of crime rates in America is a complex subject that only further research or a connection with the FBI could truly untangle.
The FBI punlishes the UCR annually. It tells of only certain types of crimes. Some crimes that we may think of may not actually fall into one of these categories. That may be the reason that it seems to be a drop, qualifications for these categories may change over time.
That being said it is not as big a surprise to me. Law Enforcement municipalities have been doing their jobs. Just because there has been economic hardship does not mean that crime rates must go up.
I am going to try and play devil's advocate on this one, everyone seems to be doubting the validity of the numbers and assuming that crime could not have possibly come down during such hard economic times. But could it have? I argue yes. Why? I think that with the worsening economic conditions, there may have been some increase in the awareness of the common good. Could it be that because of the tough economic times, people aren't committing as many crimes as in the past because they understand times are hard on more people?
OR, and I know this may sound super crazy, what if there is actually been an increase in crime because the government has been doing it's job... Scary. I know. But if these numbers are reported consistently, then a decrease should be shown accurately based on previous years. It is always hard to determine WHO is committing HOW MANY crimes with these statistics. SO if law enforcement has eliminated more serious offenders (or repeat offenders) guilty of multiple crimes reported, the number may go down significantly. It may not be that they are getting MORE "bad guys", but that they are targeting WHICH offenders they are getting.
We are so quick to discredit the FBI... I agree with Nick about the aid being provided to the lower classes. I think that has also influenced a decrease. People are feeling a little bit more sorry for the less fortunate?
I was surprised by recent crime rates, and like many others, do not trust the Uniform Crime Report to be a completely accurate representation of actual crime rates in the United States. The Uniform Crime Report seems to have a tendency to underestimate and misrepresent crime rates, due to the fact that it cannot represent crimes that are not reported to police or other law enforcement authorities and does not, for instance, report white collar crime or instances of sexual harassment or abuse against men. Furthermore, in times of economic hardship it seems likely that many law enforcement agencies might, in order to save money, keep less individuals on staff, and as a result crimes might be less likely to be discovered or investigated, and paperwork might even go unfiled leading to crimes not being included in the Uniform Crime Report. That being said, however, I do think that the apparent reduction in crime rates might reflect a real reduction in crime rates across the country that could be connected with the recent recession.
I think it is possible that many individuals who feel powerless and are unable to escape economic hardships, could, when the economy is “booming,” be more inclined, not only to commit burglaries and robberies, but also, violent crime out of frustration: seeing that they are being left behind while the majority of people are seemingly becoming better off and wealthier. At the same time, during economic downturns there might be a sense that even if one is still poor and powerless in absolute terms, that they are less poor and less powerless relative to middle and upper classes.
The numbers do show a decrease in crime, but they do not come with explanation leaving us with no explanation of where they got the information. With our economy being such a bad state, it does not exactly make sense for the numbers to be down. We are in such desperate times that more people would be breaking the law in order to have things for their family such as food. Unemployment numbers have gone up, and that normally goes hand in hand with people being desperate. On the other hand the numbers could go down because the government is doing their job to protect us, but the idea doesn't seem likely. Not that they don't do their job, but it is almost impossible to control all crime.
In my opinion, these numbers are very surprising. Given the economic status of our country over the last few years, I would've thought that crime would be increasing, especially ones that provide wealth for the perpetrator for the offender, such as robbery. Also, I'm surprised to see violent crime rates dropping since those can be caused by stress, and the lives of Americans have become more stressful as the cost of living and unemployment rises.
I can only think of a few reasons why these rates may be dropping. One possibility is that the status of the nation, while dire, is causing people to form stronger bonds with their communities and those around them, thereby making people think more about the situations of their potential-victims before attacking them. A second possibility is that there is a direct relationship between the overcrowding of our prisons and the drop in crime rates. Finally, people who commit crimes such as robbery, property crime, and violent crime are often the most impoverished among us. However, if, in their time of need, potential-offenders were given some kind of loving support or assistance, whether it be from benevolent individuals, charitable organizations, or a local church, it could lead them to make significant changes in their lives, as well as making them more loving individuals In the process.
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How accountable are the FBI's reports? It says the crime is dropping, that may be true in some areas but in others not. We don't know how extensive and general those statistics are. If those accounts are true then it is because of the technological advances in security these past couple of years. Criminals simply can not get away with crimes that were possible ten years ago.
The fact of the matter is if crime is dropping i personally dont see it. If it truly was dropping at that rate then wouldn't each and every one of us be witness to it. No, the crime rate is not lowering but the crimes reported are.
This FBI report showed significant drops in crime rates. With a terrible economy crime rates should go up, right? Yes, they should and most likely have. However, with government spending dwindling due to lack of funds the availability of state and federal jobs has dropped as well. This means less teachers, mailmen, and subsequently law enforcement. With fewer and fewer cops and such more crime is unattended to or goes under the radar. This would show on reports that crime rates are falling when in fact they are probably on the rise.
Recent figures show a decline in overall crime rate in the United States. With statistics such as these, one must always take in question their validity. Numbers and percentages are easily tampered with. However, let us assume that these figures are indeed accurate. I am surprised that crime in the country has decreased in such a manner. The recent economic hardship should have had an inverse effect on crime. Perhaps increases in social welfare programs account for the decline.
People living in impoverished areas have long been accused of resorting to crime as a means of income. Social welfare could very well have taken the need for crime away as a source of income. If a family can support itself solely on the government aid, then the need to steal is removed. This could be the reason crime has decreased in such a manner yet I am still skeptical about how accurate these new numbers truly are.
While I do not doubt the validity of the information gathered by the FBI's latest crime report I do believe that the decrease in the rates of violent crimes such as robbery and murder necesarrily reflects a drop in crime rates in all types of crime. In fact, I suspect quite the opposite.
While the FBI crime report does record information about violent crimes such as murder in the U.S it does not seem to shed light on the statistics for any type of white collar crime in America, especially financial crimes. Crimes such as identity theft, fraud, embezlement, and insider trading have seemed to be on the rise in teh recent decade due to America's struggling economy. I believe that this correlates with a lack of violent and other types of street crime due to the fact individuals in today's American society have discovered that they can stand to gain more easy profit by avoiding physical crimes and focusing on activities such as identity theft and embezlement from any number of employers. Simply put though certain types of crime have seen a reduction of rate in the past year or so I believe that due to the level of understanding of the average American of our floundering economic system, that certain criminals may have simply shifted their focus or found ways to protect the profit they are already making with whatever illicit activity they may be involved in.
The decrease in crime rate is baffling given that the country has fallen upon hard times. Due to our country's focus on punishment and not rehabilitation leaves a majority of criminals unable to function in society upon exiting prison. This leads to a cycle of numerous arrest and prison sentences, increasing in severity with every offense. This has lead to many offenders of robbery and property crime also committing violent crime and being sentenced to much longer sentences. Many criminals are off the streets and due to Obama's unprecedented campaign of change and election, many who might possibly turn to crime now have hope in the government to turn around the economy.
The FBI's crime numbers are surprisingly low. During these tough economic times, you would think that people would do whatever it took to put food on the table. This makes me skeptical of these reports and how many actually people report crime that has occurred. Its hard for me to think that the unemployment rate and crime rate could be inversely proportional. I tend to think that if people would loose their jobs that more people would be more emotionally unstable and act out violently.
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