Introduction
Go to your daily newspaper, an online news source, or your local radio or television news station. As you read, watch, or listen, count the number of crimes reported in the first few pages or minutes and note what types of crime they are. Pay attention to whether one type of crime is dominant and, if so, what type of crime it is. News media insiders have a saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." In other words, if a story is extreme and violent, it will become the lead story for the evening. You now are in the mental mindset appropriate for this week and next: crime and crime types.
In Week 2, you were briefly introduced to crime types in the context of crime statistics and databases. This week and next you delve into crime typologies in much greater depth and discover more types as well as more nuanced definitions and breakdowns of types. Considered by your text to be "crime in the modern world," this week you explore the first set: violent crime (otherwise known as crime against persons), property crime, white-collar crime, and organized crime.
Learning Resources
Please read and view (where applicable) the following Learning Resources before you complete this week's assignments.
Readings
Course Text: Schmalleger, F. (2015). Criminology today: An integrative introduction (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
o Chapter 10, "Crimes Against Persons"
o Chapter 11, " Crimes Against Property"
o Chapter 12, " White-Collar and Organized Crime"
Media
DVD: The Prentice Hall ABC News Video Series for Introduction to Criminology.
Disc 1: "Fool's Gold" (7:46)
Video: Gaviria, M., & Smith, M. (Writers & Producers). (2009). The Madoff affair [Television series episode]. In Frontline. Boston: WGBH/Frontline/RAINmedia. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/madoff/etc/script.htmlChapter 6, "Final Days" (10:00)
Transcript available on website
This video series from Frontline details the life of Bernie Madoff. Chapter 6 deals with the final events leading up to the discovery of Madoff's Ponzi scheme.
Optional Resources
Media
DVD: The Prentice Hall ABC News Video Series for Introduction to Criminology.
Disc 1: "Master Thief" (41:04)
Disc 2: "Peterson Story" (40:38)
Disc 2: "Martha Stewart" (19:51)
Application: Social Problems and Social Responsibility Perspectives
Consider a financial investor, an average working person in the United States who entrusted all of his life savings to a brokerage firm. Five months after the investment, the person learns the brokerage firm was a scam and lost all of his money. What perspective might you attribute this crime? Perhaps it is the personal responsibility of the people in charge of the firm, or perhaps it is a social problem stemming from a lack of governmental regulations. In this application assignment, you look white collar crimes and others and examine if these crimes are best answered from a social responsibility or a social problems perspective.
To prepare for this assignment:
1. Review the reading selections in Chapters 9, 10, and 11 in your course text. Pay particular attention to the descriptions of and information pertaining to crime against persons (homicide, rape, robbery, and assault); crime against property (larceny-theft, burglary, stolen property, and arson); and white-collar, corporate, or organized crime.
2. Using the Internet, or current news reports, select one actual crime from each of the categories ( crimes against persons, crimes against property, and one from either white-collar, corporate, or organized crime).
3. Select a video from the Learning Resources that exemplifies one of the crimes you selected, and review the video again. Pay attention to the way in which the real-life case demonstrates the crime, and consider whether it is better explained by the social problems or social responsibility perspective.
4. Think about whether each of the crimes you selected would be better explained by the social problems or the social responsibility perspective and why.
The assignment (1-2 pages):
1. Select one actual crime from each of the following crime categories: crime against persons, crime against property, and one from white-collar, corporate, or organized crime.
2. Briefly describe each crime.
3. Explain for each whether you think the type of crime is better explained by the social problems or social responsibility perspective and justify your response. Be specific and use examples to illustrate your points.
Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.