essay on state crime

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section State Crime

Introduction, general overviews and anthologies.

• Definitions and Conceptualizations
• State of the Field Essays
• State-Corporate Crimes
• Nuclear Weapons
• US Government Case Studies
• Non-US Case Studies
• Crimes of Globalization
• Victimology
• The 2003 Iraq War

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State Crime by Christopher Mullins LAST REVIEWED: 24 June 2020 LAST MODIFIED: 24 June 2020 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195396607-0014

The focused academic study of crimes committed by nation-states is now more than two decades old, spanning several generations of scholars and increasingly drawing on multiple theoretical positions. At its root is the attempt to push the boundaries of both academic and political discourses to provide a recognition of the most harmful actions as states as criminal in nature and to bring social scientific theories of crime and criminality to bear in the identification, analysis, and control of these events. The subfield developed out of white-collar crime studies, as a group of mainly critical scholars applied and revised conceptual and theoretical materials developed in the study of crimes of corporations (and their actors) to the behavior (and agents) of nation-states. Of course, not all scholars who approach the study of crimes committed by nation-states are tied to critical criminology. Some work has been published that looks at law violation by states criminologically from mainstream theoretical perspectives. As this article is situated in the discipline of criminology, there are some threads of research that it does not index. Criminologists are not the only scholars to research crimes committed by nation-states. Even though the field is highly interdisciplinary, areas of overlap with history, political science, and legal studies exist. While these bodies of work are beneficial and illuminating, this bibliography limits itself to work that has an explicit or implicit criminological foundation. While a section is included here on genocides and other mass atrocities, sources included are limited to those that somehow work within criminological theories or approaches. Thus, the massive literature on the Holocaust is excluded (save for the few criminological explorations), as is political science–based work on state violence and repression (i.e., the work of Gurr or Rummel).

Since the late 20th century, a number of books have been published that provide a conceptual and empirical overview of the field. Some have taken the form of anthologized collections; others are monographs. All represent an attempt to define and overview the breadth and depth of the field. Most anthologies represent multiple positions on Definitions and Conceptualizations . Barak 1991 represents the earliest statement of the field and its concerns, while Friedrichs 1998 , a two-volume work, is the most extensive. Green and Ward 2004 and Rothe 2009 are both excellent overviews. Two recent anthologies are both strong contributions, with Chambliss, et al. 2010 focusing more on issues of neo-empire and state crime and Rothe and Mullins 2011 providing a broader presentation of the field as a whole.

Barak, Gregg. 1991. Crimes by the capitalist state: An introduction to state criminality . Albany: State Univ. of New York Press.

This early anthology pulls together a number of disparate views and conceptual frameworks. The uniting factors are the attempts to define state crime and to apply basic conceptual and theoretical positions from criminology (especially critical criminology) to specific cases of state crime.

Chambliss, William J., Raymond Michalowski, and Ronald C. Kramer, eds. 2010. State crime in the global age . Collumpton, UK: Willan.

Anthology of essays examining many current expressions of state crime. Integrates issues on globalism and internationalisms throughout. Strongly focused on issues of empire and state imperialism. An excellent presentation of this vein of state crime thinking and scholarship.

Friedrichs, David O., ed. 1998. State crime . 2 vols. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.

Anthology of state crime and legal studies pieces that attempt to identify and understand violations of law by nation-states. An invaluable resource for the serious scholar of the field. Includes numerous pieces from law, political science, and other disciplines not typically read by criminologists.

Green, Penny, and Tony Ward. 2004. State crime: Governments, violence and corruption . London: Pluto.

Provides an overview of the nature and types of state crime. Becker-influenced audience-based definition is central. Suggests that state acts are criminal when social audiences define them as such. Involves actions typically defined as criminal, but also governmental responses to natural disasters, maintaining services, and similar realms of state responsibility.

Rothe, Dawn L. 2009. State criminality: The crime of all crimes . Lanham, MD: Lexington.

Subfield overview suitable for students and scholars. Covers and classifies numerous cases of crimes and controls. Expands the boundaries of state crime to include violations of international law. Stands as the best assimilation and presentation of work in the field to date.

Rothe, Dawn L., and Christopher W. Mullins, eds. 2011. State crime: Current perspectives . New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press.

Presents updated versions of several classic essays in the field, as well a few new works. It covers the more traditional orientations of state crime as well as the two new threads of crimes of empire and the push into supranational criminology. Valuable as an introduction or for experienced scholars.

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Essay on Crime

Students are often asked to write an essay on Crime in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Crime

Understanding crime.

Crime refers to acts that violate the law. They are considered harmful and punishable by a governing authority. Crimes can range from theft to murder.

Types of Crimes

There are various types of crimes. Violent crimes include actions like assault, while theft falls under property crimes. White-collar crimes involve fraud or embezzlement.

Consequences of Crime

Crimes have severe consequences. They can lead to imprisonment, fines, or even death penalties. Moreover, they harm communities and individuals, causing fear and damage.

Preventing Crime

Preventing crime involves law enforcement, education, and community programs. Everyone can contribute to a safer society by obeying laws and reporting suspicious activities.

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250 Words Essay on Crime

Introduction.

Crime, a pervasive aspect of society, is an act that violates a law and is punishable by the state. It disruptively breaches societal norms, creating a sense of insecurity and fear. This essay delves into the nature of crime, its causes, and the role of law enforcement.

The Nature of Crime

Crime is a complex phenomenon, varying across cultures and societies. It ranges from minor offences like theft to severe ones like homicide. The nature of crime reflects societal values, as what is considered criminal is determined by the prevailing legal and moral code.

Causes of Crime

The causes of crime are multifaceted, involving biological, psychological, and sociological factors. Biological theories suggest genetic predispositions towards criminal behaviour. Psychological theories focus on the individual’s mental processes and their interaction with the environment. Sociological theories, on the other hand, emphasize societal structures and inequalities as major crime contributors.

Law Enforcement and Crime

Law enforcement agencies play a crucial role in maintaining order, preventing crime, and ensuring justice. They function as a deterrent, keeping potential criminals in check. However, their effectiveness is contingent upon their ability to adapt to evolving criminal tactics.

In conclusion, crime is a societal issue with deep roots in individual and social structures. Understanding its nature and causes is key to formulating effective strategies for prevention and control. As society evolves, so too must our approach to understanding and combating crime.

500 Words Essay on Crime

Crime, a social and legal concept, has been a part of human society since its inception. It refers to the actions that violate the norms and laws of a society, leading to harm or potential harm to individuals or the community. The study of crime, its causes, effects, and prevention, is a crucial aspect of sociology, psychology, and criminology.

Crime is a complex phenomenon, varying across societies and times. It is not static but evolves with societal norms and legal frameworks. What may be considered a crime in one society may not be in another, and similarly, what was a crime in the past might not be so today. For instance, homosexuality was once criminalized in many societies, but it is now widely accepted and decriminalized.

Types of Crime

Crimes are generally categorized into personal crimes, property crimes, inchoate crimes, statutory crimes, and financial crimes. Personal crimes involve direct harm or threat to an individual, such as assault or robbery. Property crimes involve interfering with another person’s property, like burglary or theft. Inchoate crimes are those that were started but not completed, while statutory crimes are violations of specific statutes. Financial crimes, such as fraud or embezzlement, involve the illegal conversion of property ownership.

The causes of crime are multifaceted, often interwoven with societal, psychological, and economic factors. Poverty, lack of education, substance abuse, and family violence are some common societal factors leading to crime. Psychological factors include personality disorders, low self-control, and aggression. Economic factors, such as unemployment or income inequality, also contribute significantly to crime rates.

Effects of Crime

Crime affects society in numerous ways, from creating fear and insecurity to damaging social cohesion. It impacts the economy by diverting resources towards law enforcement and away from other sectors. On an individual level, crime can lead to physical harm, psychological trauma, and financial loss.

Crime prevention strategies are as diverse as the causes of crime. They include social strategies, such as improving education and employment opportunities, and legal strategies, such as effective law enforcement and fair judicial systems. Psychological interventions, like counseling and therapy, can also play a significant role in crime prevention.

Understanding crime is essential to creating a safe and harmonious society. By examining its nature, types, causes, effects, and prevention, we can develop effective strategies to reduce crime rates and mitigate its impact on individuals and communities. It is a collective responsibility that requires the concerted efforts of individuals, communities, and governments.

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State crimes and state harms: a tale of two definitional frameworks

• Published: 25 October 2007
• Volume 48 , pages 43–55, ( 2007 )

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• Rick A. Matthews 1 &
• David Kauzlarich 2  

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Criminologists have long debated the issue of how to define crime, and hence, the scope of criminological inquiry. For years, some critical criminologists have argued for expanded definitions of crime that include harmful behaviors of the state that may not be officially defined as criminal. Other critical criminologists have argued that existing legal frameworks may be used to study varieties of state crime, and that defining the harmful actions of the state as criminal is important to help mobilize public support for their control. In this paper, we first trace the historical development of these two perspectives, and then offer a tentative solution to the seeming tension between these two perspectives.

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Matthews, R.A., Kauzlarich, D. State crimes and state harms: a tale of two definitional frameworks. Crime Law Soc Change 48 , 43–55 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-007-9081-5

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Published : 25 October 2007

Issue Date : September 2007

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-007-9081-5

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State Crimes

Last updated 7 Aug 2018

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State crimes are crimes committed by governments. They were defined by Penny Green and Tony Ward (2005) as "illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by, or with, the complicity of state agencies”.

Of course, states generally create the laws of their countries and while governments may break their own laws, it is more likely the case that they are breaking international law; or their actions should be seen in terms of transgressive criminology (causing harm rather than breaking the law). A wide range of state crimes may be considered.

This can include corruption, e.g. kleptocratic regimes robbing their populations, or human rights abuses, including very extreme acts such as the Rwandan genocide or ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia.

State crimes include (but are not restricted to):

• Discrimination
• Funding terrorism
• Funding organised crime
• Assassination

Eugene McLaughlin (2001) divided these into four types of state crime:

• crimes by the security and police forces
• economic crimes
• social and cultural crimes (like institutional racism) and
• practical crimes (like corruption)

Spiral of Denial

Stan Cohen (1996) identified a spiral of denial that states use when accused of human rights abuses.

"IT DIDN'T HAPPEN"

The first reaction is often to deny that anything occurred at all. This lasts until international bodies produce evidence that it did occur.

"IT'S NOT HOW IT LOOKS"

Once such evidence is provided, the next stage is often to question a particular version of events, instead claiming that others carried out the atrocity or the evidence pointed to something rather different occurring.

"IT HAD TO BE THIS WAY"

The final stage of the spiral of denial is to admit that the abuse occurred but to justify it. To suggest that it was the fault of the victims, or that there was no other way.

There is some similarity to Matza's techniques of neutralisation as referred to in functionalist explanations of crime, deviance, social order and social control . This can also be applied to state crimes.

Evaluating the Sociology of State Crimes

While Marxists look at all manner of harmful activity as being state crime, some question what the parameters are. This is the same issue raised elsewhere in relation to transgressive approaches to crime. For all the problems of limiting considerations of crime to transgressions of specific laws, opening it up to all harm becomes very unwieldy. While everyone would agree that torture or genocide are state crimes, some might question whether the absence of health and safety and equality legislation could be considered as such; yet Marxists and feminists might describe such measures as states causing harm.

Some worry that discourses of human rights can be ethnocentric , seeking to apply western norms to all societies. While the argument is often used to oppose international intervention in countries (such as Iraq, for example) it would be difficult to justify the argument when presented with specific examples: it does not seem acceptable to argue that women should have fewer rights in Saudi Arabia than in the UK just because those happen to be the local norms and values. The whole point of a discourse of human rights is to challenge and change such values.

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Beyond Policing: The Problem of Crime in America

José luis morín.

1 John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, New York City, NY, USA

Photo by Francois Polito. Sculpture by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd.

In 2020, the United States experienced the sharpest one-year rise in homicides on record. 1 In 2021, hate crimes also surged to their highest level in twelve years, with the largest increases being anti-Black crimes followed by anti-Asian crimes. 2 Pundits and politicians on the right have been quick to cite bail reform and “defunding” of police as reasons for the national rise in crime. Yet, the best available evidence points to other causes—among them, the massive social and economic dislocation resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and the nationwide proliferation of guns along with the spread of racial and ethnic hatred and the violence it has roused.

While violent crime today [is] much lower . . . than in 1991, when [it] reached its highest point in recent history, public anxiety about crime is high.

While violent crime today registers at much lower levels than in 1991, when violent crime reached its highest point in recent history, 3 public anxiety about crime is high. Yet, more police and a redoubling of get-tough measures, however alluring, have not proven to be as effective as they appear. An examination of what is not driving the recent spike in crime as well as what probably is driving it—and revisiting the role that policing and the criminal justice system has played in U.S. society in reproducing racial, social, and economic inequalities—may move us closer to arriving at effective public safety solutions.

Starting with What Is Not: Bail Reform and Defunding the Police

The purpose of bail is to “provide reasonable assurance of court appearance or public safety,” 4 but, a 2022 briefing report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights suggests that the current cash bail system is also associated with producing deleterious racial disparities and economic inequities that undermine the presumption of innocence and worsen public safety. 5 The Commission report points out that low-income persons and people of color are disproportionately detained as a result of their inability to make bail, and persons of color are more often assigned higher bail amounts and considered more “dangerous” than whites. 6 To persons jailed simply because they could not afford bail, jail can result in severe trauma: loss of employment, housing, custody of a child; and economic hardship. 7 The think tank, Prison Policy Initiative, issued a report in 2016 documenting that cash bail “perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and jail time.” 8 Nevertheless, with crime rates on the rise in 2020, bail reform became a political cudgel, and New York State’s law became a focal point of harsh condemnation from the GOP and conservative media outlets nationwide. But analyses of bail reform show no clear link between bail reform and spikes in crime. 9

To reduce unnecessary pretrial detention and ameliorate the harms associated with cash bail, New York State passed a bail reform law in 2019, ending cash bail for certain misdemeanors and most non-violent felony cases. Changes to the original law in 2020 and 2022 gave judges the ability to impose cash bail in more situations. 10 To date, research on the law shows no significant impact on crime rates. One study by the Times Union of Albany found that, of almost 100,000 cases, only a minimal number (2 percent) of individuals faced rearrest for a violent felony. As a result, as many as 80,000 people may have avoided incarceration while posing no documented threat to public safety. 11 And, looking at the national picture, the Brennan Center for Justice, a progressive law and public policy institute, points out that crime surged nationally, even in states that did not enact bail reform. 12

Another report—this one from the Office of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander—covered three calendar years and revealed that “pretrial rearrest rates remained nearly identical pre- and post-bail reform.” 13 The Comptroller’s report also warned that rollbacks to New York State’s bail reforms would “syphon money” from low-income communities. Indeed, families unable to make cash bail often turn to for-profit bail bond companies that require a non-refundable premium of 10 to 15 percent, even if no wrongdoing is found. Some form of collateral—such as a car or house—is also required. As the bail bond industry has become increasingly lucrative, growing numbers of indigent persons and their families face steep financial risks. 14 Critics of bail reform, by contrast, have produced little to no empirical evidence to support their position. Outspoken in its condemnation of bail reform, the New York Police Department has fallen short in backing up its assertions that bail reform was causing increases in gun violence. In 2021, when challenged by Albany legislators, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, failed to provide any hard data to support his contention that bail reform is driving up crime. In the end, he was forced to retract his statements. 15

The term “defunding the police” has been variously understood. For the purpose of this discussion, I define the term not as a movement to eliminate police budgets, but as a call to lessen encounters with police by shifting funds away from aggressive and militarized forms of policing toward social services—such as mental health, addiction, education, and housing. In its most literal meaning, “defunding the police” is frequently cited as a reason for the surge in crime. As with bail, hard evidence to support this allegation has not materialized. Of twelve Democratic-led cities (including Austin, Louisville, Rochester, and St. Paul) cited by Republicans as examples of where crime purportedly rose due to police defunding, criminal justice scholars find no discernible link between defunding and crime. In fact, not all twelve cities defunded police; most did not substantially reduce police funding, and some actually increased their police budgets. 16

Funding quality educational programs, by comparison, has proven to be successful in diminishing crime. 17 For example, two studies—one in North Carolina and one in Michigan—showed that increased expenditures on primary schools helped to reduce adult crime by improving student academic success, which in turn provides a greater opportunity for socio-economic mobility. 18

Examining What Is: Covid-19, Guns, and the Rise in Hate

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, crime rates were relatively low. As the graph in Figure 1 demonstrates, the rate of violent crime offenses declined from a peak in 1991 of 758.2 per year to 398.5 per year in 2020. 19 The rate of homicide over the same period also dropped significantly, from its highest level in 1991 compared with 2020. 20 But the crime rate shows an uptick with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Rate of violent crime offenses by population in the United States: 1985-2020.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Trend of Violent Crime from 1985 to 2020,” Crime Data Explorer, accessed September 19, 2022, https://crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend .

Note. Rate per 100,000 people, by year.

The pandemic is widely understood as the cause of immense social and economic dislocation, disproportionately disadvantaging children, communities of color, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more) youth, and persons with disabilities. 21 The pandemic also exposed and aggravated deeply entrenched inequities in health care, poverty, education, housing, and racial segregation. Its impact on mental health and psychosocial well-being, substance abuse, and domestic violence has become a focus of attention in relation to the rise in crime. All these factors are related to the rise in crime.

As gun violence became a major driver of crime nationwide, hate crimes also spiked. During the pandemic, reports of hate crimes reached a twelve-year high.

The proliferation of guns and gun violence nationwide appears to have contributed greatly to the spike in homicides. Sharp increases in gun purchases coincided with the start of the pandemic in 2020 and continued well into 2021. 22 The increased supply of guns as well as the types of guns—high-powered semi-automatic weapons, for instance—has been linked to the surge in gun violence. 23 Criminologists Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig deem gun violence and the fear of gun violence as devastating to the lives of children and families around the country, most especially in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. In their estimation, public safety begins with addressing the needs of communities most vulnerable to gun violence, and that includes investments in social policies, such as summer jobs for teens, cleaning vacant lots, and spending more on social programs—all of which have been shown to reduce homicide rates. 24

As gun violence became a major driver of crime nationwide, hate crimes also spiked. During the pandemic, reports of hate crimes reached a twelve-year high (see Figure 2 ). 25 While anti-Black incidents topped the list of hate crimes based on race, people of Asian descent experienced a steep rise in anti-Asian violence and crime, with a 169 percent increase in reports of anti-Asian hate crimes in fifteen of America’s largest cities and counties in the first quarter of 2021 when compared with the first quarter of 2020. 26

Hate crimes in the United States: 1995-2020.

Source: Hate Crime in the United States Incident Analysis, 1995 to 2020,” Crime Data Explorer, accessed October 6, 2022, https://crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/crime/hate-crime .

. . . [I]t is no surprise that the earliest form of policing in the United States was the slave patrol, established in 1704.

Even before the pandemic, former President Donald Trump’s xenophobic, racially inflammatory rhetoric and policies were understood as green-lighting racial and ethnic violence. But unfortunately, this is not unique in our history. Hate groups of different types—white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and anti-government paramilitary organizations—historically have played a major role in the spread of hatred and violence.

Policing: The Historical Context

The history of policing in the United States may help us determine the best policies and practices to advance public safety without subjecting communities to abusive police practices.

The institution of slavery—and its continuance—was integral to the founding of the nation. So, it is no surprise that the earliest form of policing in the United States was the slave patrol, established in 1704. 27 The patrols were designed to maintain the system of slave labor and to capture runaway slaves. Patrollers, often armed, used violence to terrorize slaves and deter rebellions. In 1787, the apprehension of slaves was codified in the U.S. Constitution in Article IV, Section 2, commonly referred to as the “Fugitive Slave Clause.” The intent of the clause, which passed unanimously, was “to require fugitive slaves and servants to be delivered up like criminals.” 28 The clause was nullified by passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. Slave patrols were also disbanded after the Civil War, only to be replaced by other forms of policing Black lives. These included the Ku Klux Klan and the institution of Jim Crow, which was maintained in Southern states by police who often used intimidation and terror to maintain a brutally oppressive system. 29

By the 1990s, the acquisition of military equipment by police forces across the country became ubiquitous . . .

Over time, police and other law enforcement agencies helped preserve and reproduce race and class inequality, as in the 1918 massacre of fifteen Mexican men in Porvenir, Texas and the 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma massacre that resulted in destruction of a prosperous Black neighborhood. 30 Business and economic elites—such as Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick—also relied on police or private law enforcement agencies to employ deadly force against workers and union organizers. The massacre of strikers at the Homestead Steelworks in 1882 is one example; the 1897 massacre of coal miners in Lattimer, Pennsylvania is another. 31

The militarization of policing arose in the 1960s, amid cries for a “war on crime” and a “war on drugs.” In Los Angeles, Daryl F. Gates, then head of the Los Angeles Police Department, spearheaded an effort to outfit local police departments with military-grade armaments and equipment to handle emergencies, such as hostage situations and sniper shootings. By the 1990s, the acquisition of military equipment by police forces across the country became ubiquitous through a federal program that encouraged the militarization of law enforcement. 32 But, as a report from the American Civil Liberties Union documents, militarization, too, frequently came at the expense of individual civil liberties, particularly in Black and Latinx communities. 33

Police practices—including chokeholds, stop and frisks, and “broken windows” tactics—have come into question as the victims of police brutality have come into sharp focus. From George Floyd and Breonna Taylor to Eric Garner and Freddy Gray, their names are now familiar and—for some—synonymous with policing in the United States. Yet, despite the bright light shone on these cases, fatal police shootings continue to rise. According to the Washington Post , “2021 was the deadliest year for police shootings” since the newspaper began tracking such incidents in 2015. 34

Centering Communities to Advance Public Safety

Following incidents of excessive police force, municipalities commonly opt for police retraining. However, as some analysts observe, retraining is too often inadequate or ineffective in resolving or mitigating a recurrence of police misconduct. 35 Similarly, while there is merit to hiring police officers who resemble members of the communities they serve, a diverse police force does not necessarily decrease incidents of brutality against persons of color. Regrettably, research shows that a Black officer may be more inclined to use force in encounters with Black community members than white officers. 36 These officers often face the dilemma of how to fit into a police culture that commonly takes an “us against them” approach when patrolling communities. Aggressive behavior can be one way to prove that they belong. 37

Ensuring public safety requires attention to non-violent as well as violent situations. In the context of rising crime, expectations that police officers can resolve a wide array of concerns are high. Police are often called to aid unhoused people, assist individuals experiencing emotional difficulties, or settle domestic disputes. The police are not trained to handle such matters. Social workers or other trained professionals are much better equipped to deal with problems of this nature.

National data on homicide “clearance rates”—the rate at which homicide cases are resolved—also raise questions about the effectiveness of policing. In 2020, the clearance rate was just under 50 percent, representing a historic low and “a long, steady drop since the early 1980s, when police cleared about 70 percent of all homicides.” 38 The pandemic and the spike in violent crimes may help to explain the fall in clearance rates, but the data still beg the question of whether policing itself is sufficiently effective in meeting the public safety needs of contemporary society.

In determining the best approaches moving forward, the intractability of problems related to policing cannot be ignored. Policing remains a leading cause of death for young men in the United States. 39 People of color are most vulnerable, with Black men facing a one in one thousand risk of being killed by police. As we have seen, violent encounters with the police have profound effects on whole communities and neighborhoods, affecting the health and the life chances of individuals in those communities.

Community concerns about crime are real, especially in the most vulnerable communities of color. But the alternative of aggressive policing and mass incarceration has resulted in tremendous harm and cannot be the ultimate solution.

The high rate of recidivism—the rate at which persons released from prison are rearrested—does not point to a system that works well. The most recent Bureau of Justice Statistics covering a ten-year period (2008-2018) shows that “about 66 percent of prisoners released across 24 states in 2008 were rearrested within three years, and 82 percent were arrested within ten years.” 40 Recidivism rates this high should call into question the adequacy of the criminal justice system. It should also raise the issue of whether a system, focused on retribution rather than rehabilitation and public health, is actually serving the cause of public safety. These questions have found resonance with advocates of prison abolition. These abolitionists include scholars Angela Davis, Gina Dent, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, and Alex Vitale. In their view, the current structure of policing and incarceration is profoundly connected to systems of oppression. What is required, they believe, is a system that operates within a social-justice framework—one that substantively engages communities in maintaining their own safety. Such a system, they believe, would reaffirm the values of self-determination and community empowerment. 41 Rather than simply replicating punitive approaches that disproportionally and discriminatorily harm communities of color, abolitionists look to broader social solutions to the problem of crime—remedial measures such as restitution, reconciliation, rehabilitation, and restorative justice.

While a complete transformation of policing and the criminal justice system may not be on the immediate horizon, a variety of initiatives in recent years have sought to address the basic human needs of communities while minimizing negative interactions with police. In a 2021 experiment in Brooklyn, for example, the Brownsville Safety Alliance—a community-based organization—arranged for precinct police to disengage from their usual assignments in a two-block area for five days. In their place, trained violence interrupters and crisis management groups were charged with securing public safety. Although limited in duration, this pilot program has been praised by New York City officials as well as members of the community as “a model for the future.” 42 A range of other crime-reduction strategies that do not involve the deployment of police have also produced promising results. These include improvements in street lighting, clean-up of empty lots, provision of quality mental health and drug treatment services, and expansion of Medicaid services. 43

Community concerns about crime are real, especially in the most vulnerable communities of color. But the alternative of aggressive policing and mass incarceration has resulted in tremendous harm and cannot be the ultimate solution. The best, most promising option is to center communities and underlying social and economic inequality as the means to advance public safety.

Author Biography

José Luis Morín is a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York.

1 Jeff Asher, “Murder Rose by almost 30% in 2020: It’s Rising at a Slower Rate in 2021,” New York Times , September 22, 2021, updated November 15, 2021, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/upshot/murder-rise-2020.html .

2 Federal Bureau of Investigation, “FBI Releases 2020 Hate Crime Statistics,” August 30, 2021, available at https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/press-releases/fbi-releases-2020-hate-crime-statistics ; See also, Christina Carrega and Priya Krishnakumar, “Hate Crime Reports in US Surge to the Highest Level in 12 Years, FBI Says,” CNN , October 26, 2021, available at https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/30/us/fbi-report-hate-crimes-rose-2020/index.html .

3 Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Trend of Violent Crime from 1985 to 2020,” Crime Data Explorer, available at https://crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend .

4 Timothy Schnacke, “Fundamentals of Bail: A Resource Guide for Pretrial Practitioners and a Framework for American Pretrial Reform,” National Institute of Corrections, September 2, 2014, available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.nicic.gov/Library/028360.pdf .

5 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, “Civil Rights Implications of Cash Bail,” Briefing Report, Washington, DC, available at https://www.usccr.gov/reports/2021/civil-rights-implications-cash-bail .

6 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 10.

7 Adureh Onyekwere, “How Cash Bail Works,” Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, December 10, 2019, updated February 24, 2021, available at https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-cash-bail-works#:~:text=Cash%20bail%20is%20used%20as,is%20forfeited%20to%20the%20government ; See also, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 6-8.

8 Bernadette Rabuy and Daniel Kopf, “Detaining the Poor: How Money Bail Perpetuates an Endless Cycle of Poverty and Jail Time,” Prison Policy Initiative , May 10, 2016, available at https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/DetainingThePoor.pdf .

9 Ames Grawert and Noah Kim, “The Facts on Bail Reform and Crime Rates in New York State,” Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, March 22, 2022, available at https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/facts-bail-reform-and-crime-rates-new-york-state .

10 Taryn A. Merkl, “New York’s Latest Bail Law Changes Explained,” Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, April 16, 2020, available at https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/new-yorks-latest-bail-law-changes-explained ; See also, Jon Campbell, “NY Lawmakers Pass $220B Budget that Changes Bail Reform, Approves Buffalo Bills Stadium Funding,” Gothamist, April 9, 2022, available at https://gothamist.com/news/ny-lawmakers-pass-220b-budget-that-changes-bail-reform-approves-buffalo-bills-stadium-funding?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=nypr-email&utm_campaign=Gothamist%20Daily%20Newsletter&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fgothamist.com%2Fnews%2Fny-lawmakers-pass-220b-budget-that-changes-bail-reform-approves-buffalo-bills-stadium-funding&utm_id=88591&sfmc_id=2849872&utm_content=202249 .

11 Grawert and Kim, “Bail Reform and Crime.”

12 Grawert and Kim, “Bail Reform and Crime.”

13 Office of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, “NYC Bail Trends Since 2019,” available at https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/nyc-bail-trends-since-2019/ .

14 Gillian B. White, “Who Really Makes Money Off of Bail Bonds?” The Atlantic , May 12, 2017, available at https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/05/bail-bonds/526542/ ; See also, Onyekwere, “How Cash Bail Works”; Rabuy and Kopf, “Detaining the Poor.”

15 “During Questioning in Albany, NYPD Commissioner Shea Backtracks on Bail Reform Law as Big Reason for Gun Violence,” CBS New York , October 14, 2021, available at https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/bail-reform-nypd-commissioner-dermot-shea-assembly-hearing/ .

16 Daniel Funke, “Fact Check: No Evidence Defunding Police to Blame for Homicide Increases, Experts Say,” USA TODAY , January 28, 2022, available at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/01/28/fact-check-police-funding-not-linked-homicide-spikes-experts-say/9054639002/ .

17 See, for example, Brian Bell, Rui Costa, and Stephen Machin, “Why Does Education Reduce Crime?” Journal of Political Economy 130, no. 3 (2022): 732-65.

18 David J. Deming, “Better Schools, Less Crime?” Quarterly Journal of Economics 126 (2011): 2063-115; See also, E. Jason Baron, Joshua M. Hyman, and Brittany N. Vasquez, “Public School Funding, School Quality, and Adult Crime,” National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 29855, available at http://www.nber.org/papers/w29855 .

19 FBI, “Trend of Violent Crime from 1985 to 2020.”

20 FBI, “Trend of Homicide from 1985-2020,” Crime Data Explorer, available at https://crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend .

21 Charles Oberg, H.R. Hodges, Sarah Gander, Rita Nathawad, and Diana Cutts. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Children’s Lives in the United States: Amplified Inequities and a Just Path to Recovery,” Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care 52, no. 7 (2022): 1-17.

22 Sabrina Tavernise, “An Arms Race in America: Gun Buying Spiked during the Pandemic. It’s Still Up,” New York Times , May 29, 2021, updated May 30, 2021, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/29/us/gun-purchases-ownership-pandemic.html .

23 Tavernise, “An Arms Race in America.”

24 Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig, “Gun Violence Is THE Crime Problem,” Vital City . March 2, 2022, available at https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/gun-violence-is-the-crime-problem .

25 Carrega and Krishnakumar, “Hate Crime Reports in US Surge”; FBI, “Hate Crime in the United States Incident Analysis, 1995-2020,” Crime Data Explorer,” accessed October 6, 2022, https://crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/crime/hate-crime .

26 Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, “Report to the Nation: Anti-Asian Prejudice & Hate Crime 2021,” (2021), available at https://www.csusb.edu/sites/default/files/Report%20to%20the%20Nation%20-%20Anti-Asian%20Hate%202020%20Final%20Draft%20-%20As%20of%20Apr%2028%202021%2010%20AM%20corrected.pdf .

27 Chelsea Hansen, “Slave Patrols: An Early Form of American Policing,” National Law Enforcement Museum , July 10, 2019, available at https://lawenforcementmuseum.org/2019/07/10/slave-patrols-an-early-form-of-american-policing/ ; See also, Jill Lepore, “The Invention of the Police: Why Did American Policing Get so Big, so Fast? The Answer, Mainly, Is Slavery,” The New Yorker , July 13, 2020, available at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/20/the-invention-of-the-police .

28 Library of Congress, “The Fugitive Slave Clause,” Constitution Annotated, available at https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artIV-S2-C3-1/ALDE_00013571/ [“clause”].

29 Hansen, “Slave Patrols.”

30 Zinn Education Project, “Massacres in U.S. History,” available at https://www.zinnedproject.org/collection/massacres-us/ .

31 Gary Potter, “The History of Policing in the United States, Part 3,” EKU Online . Eastern Kentucky University. July 9, 2013, available at https://ekuonline.eku.edu/blog/police-studies/the-history-of-policing-in-the-united-states-part-3/ ; See also, Paul A. Shackel, “How a 1897 Massacre of Pennsylvania Coal Miners Morphed from a Galvanizing Crisis to Forgotten History,” Smithsonian Magazine , March 13, 2019, available at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-1897-massacre-pennsylvania-coal-miners-morphed-galvanizing-crisis-forgotten-history-180971695/ .

32 Radley Balko, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces , (New York: Public Affairs, 2021).

33 American Civil Liberties Union, “War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing” (2014), available at https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/jus14-warcomeshome-report-web-rel1.pdf .

34 The Marshall Project, “How Policing Has—and Hasn’t—Changed since George Floyd,” August 6, 2022, available at https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/08/06/how-policing-has-and-hasn-t-changed-since-george-floyd .

35 See, for example, Alex S. Vitale, The End of Policing (London: Verso Books, 2017), 4-11.

36 Vitale, The End of Policing , 11-13; See also, “Does Diversifying Police Forces Reduce Brutality against Minorities?” NPR , June 22, 2020, available at https://www.npr.org/2020/06/22/881559659/does-diversifying-police-forces-reduce-brutality-against-minorities .

37 Vitale, The End of Policing ; See also, José Luis Morín, Latino/a Rights and Justice in the United States: Perspectives and Approaches , 2nd edition (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2009), 106-15; Balko, Rise of the Warrior Cop .

38 Weihua Li and Jamiles Lartey, “As Murders Spiked, Police Solved about Half in 2020,” The Marshall Project , January 12, 2022, available at https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/01/12/as-murders-spiked-police-solved-about-half-in-2020 .

39 Frank Edwards, Hedwig Lee, and Michael Esposito, “Risk of being Killed by Police Use of Force in the United States by Age, Race–Ethnicity, and Sex,” PNAS 116, no. 34 (2019): 16793-8.

40 Leonardo Antenangeli and Matthew R. Durose, Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 24 States in 2008: A 10-Year Follow-up Period (2008–2018), Bureau of Justice Statistics NCJ Number 256094 September 2021, available at https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/recidivism-prisoners-released-24-states-2008-10-year-follow-period-2008-2018 .

41 See, for example, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Golden Gulag: Prisons Surplus, Crisis, and Oppression in Globalizing California (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007); Vitale, The End of Policing ; Derecka Purnell, Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom (New York: Astra House, 2021); Mariame Kaba, We Do This ’Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2021); Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth Richie. Abolition. Feminism. Now (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2022).

42 Yoav Gonen and Eileen Grench, “Five Days without Cops: Could Brooklyn Policing Experiment Be a ‘Model for the Future’?” The City , January 3, 2021, available at https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/1/3/22211709/nypd-cops-brooklyn-brownsville-experiment-defund-police .

43 Shaila Dewan. “‘Re-fund the Police’? Why It might Not Reduce Crime,” New York Times , November 8, 2021, updated November 11, 2021, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/08/us/police-crime.html .

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

America’s Suburban Crime Problem

A fter several years of rising crime, big city mayors and police chiefs across the country are breathing a sigh of relief. Statistics published by the Council of Criminal Justice and other recent analysis show the number of homicides and aggravated assaults fell by a respective 10% and 3% in big cities in 2023 compared to 2022, though the rates remain higher than in pre-pandemic years.

These are hopeful signals. If these trends persisted on a national scale, this could indicate violent crime markets have retracted. But declarations that violent crime is falling miss important—and disturbing—crime trends data that paint a much more complicated picture. While big city crime may be falling, suburban crime may be rising. More surprising still, crime in rural areas appears to be rising even faster—and a much higher share of this crime involves strangers and guns.

These startling findings come from an important but underappreciated nationally representative data source—the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)—that includes crimes not reported to police. Along with last year’s big city estimates, the latest figures from the FBI's 2022 UCR program gathered from police reports, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics' NCVS report drawn from interviews with households, present a complex narrative that does more than merely highlight differences in data collection methods but unveils a nuanced and evolving picture of violent crime in the U.S.

Besides a slight rise in robbery rates from 65.5 to 66.1 per 100,000 residents, the UCR program suggests a national decrease in both the rates of fatal (homicide) and non-fatal felony violence (rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) from 2021 to 2022.  In contrast, the NCVS shows an increase in non-fatal felony violence, with victimizations per 1,000 persons over the age of 12 increasing from 5.6 in 2021 to 9.8 in 2022, primarily due to a doubling of aggravated assault rates. NCVS estimates imply that a substantial portion of crime remains unreported, the so-called " dark figure " of crime that eludes the detection of law enforcement.

A clearer picture of who is at greatest risk for violent victimization emerges when analyzing crime rates by location. The NCVS shows that the traditional boundaries between urban and non-urban violence are dissolving. Suburban and rural areas, once considered safe havens, are now confronting a jump in non-fatal violent crime, fundamentally changing the geography of public safety.

The robbery rate in urban centers increased by 21% over the three years, driven largely by the 78% increase between 2021 and 2022. Looking at the suburbs, the 2022 increase in robbery rates hit 21%, contributing to the 40% increase through 2021. In the rural areas where the American dream of pastoral peace is most cherished, robbery rates rose by 44% in 2022 after a two-year decline.

This shift is further accentuated in the rates of aggravated assault, which have not only risen in urban areas but have skyrocketed in non-urban areas. In urban centers, these assaults have risen by 51% in a single year from 2021 to 2022. Looking back at the suburbs and rural areas, the respective increases were even more pronounced with rates over nearly three times and two times higher in 2022 than in 2021.

Gun violence also increased and spread across geographies. The gun-related victimization rate in urban centers increased by 1.3 per 1,000 in 2022 compared to the previous year, reaching 2019 levels after a decrease. This rate doubled over the past two years in the suburbs and is slightly higher than in 2019, while in rural areas, there was a surge in non-fatal gun violence rates, with approximately 66,000 more reported victimizations between 2021 and 2022, returning to rates last observed in 1997.

Research suggests most violent crimes are committed by someone the victim knows such as friends, acquaintances, and relatives. This remains the case, but estimates indicate strangers are responsible for more violent crimes, especially in non-urban centers. After decreases in the number of violent felony victimizations involving strangers from 2019 to 2021, all areas experienced large increases by 2022. For this one-year period, these types of victimizations climbed by 37% in urban areas, 73% in the suburbs, and more than doubled (102%) in rural locales.

Read More: If We Want to Reduce Deaths at Hands of Police, We Need to Reduce Traffic Stops

Breaking down the data by race adds a layer of complexity to the narrative. White Americans have seen a marked increase in victimization, particularly in urban areas, reversing previous declines. From 2021 to 2022, violent felony victimization for this group rose by 75% in urban areas, 93% in suburban areas, and 62% in America’s countryside.

For Black Americans, the pattern is more complex, with an initial rise in urban victimization rates followed by a 20% decrease from 2021 to 2022. However, the increase in violent felonies in suburban areas paints a troubling picture of the changing risks these communities face. For Black Americans residing in the suburbs, the rate of violent felonies spiked 74% over the three years, with a sharp leap of 172% from 2021 to 2022. Outside the metropolitan centers, the three-year increase is less dramatic (29%) but still alarming.

The rise in violent crime comes at a time of historic domestic migration . During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, people and families relocated from cities to the suburbs and rural locales, motivated by the flexibility of remote work and the desire for safer, more affordable, and more spacious living environments. Studies have found that violent victimization influences residential mobility, but it appears more factors are at play. As people migrate, they not only bring their dreams and aspirations but also create economic tensions and cultural integration challenges that can ferment crime and complicate public safety efforts. It's in this intersection of mobility and security that we must revisit our approach to crime prevention and intervention.

Although the Justice Department's Roadmap provides resources based on the Ten Essential Actions Cities Can Take to Reduce Violence Now , developed by the Council on Criminal Justice, the evidence is mostly from studies conducted in urban areas. Efforts to reduce violent crime in non-urban areas face challenges such as limited resources, large territories that inhibit community engagement and response times, despite initiatives like the BJA’s Rural and Small Department Violent Crime Reduction Program that collaborate with law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to develop strategies addressing these issues and Crime Analyst in Residence program intended to assist LEAs in enhancing their operational and procedural management through the utilization of data analysis and analytics.

This shift observed in the NCVS also calls for examination of the racial differences in victimization rates—particularly the heightened vulnerability of white Americans in urban settings and the complex pattern of rising and then decreasing rates for Black Americans.

Further research is needed to address gaps and uncertainties in the valuable insights provided by NCVS, particularly with regards to how victimization rates influence residential mobility within urban centers, the potential underestimation of victimization among Black people, and the variations within different areas. It is imperative to also examine the challenges posed by response rates to the NCVS, especially among hard-to-reach populations.

Meanwhile, NCVS estimates force us to seriously consider that criminal violence might be evolving rather than declining, necessitating the development and adoption of effective strategies like proven community violence reduction initiatives as well as housing, public health, and employment programs adapted to the particular needs and strengths of suburban and rural communities. Otherwise, there is a danger of resourcing and implementing urban-centric, pre-pandemic strategies in a post-pandemic world that misses the opportunity to improve community safety across racial and geographic divides.

While the recent data suggests a decrease in urban crime, many Americans still feel uneasy. It's conceivable that the pronounced changes in victimization, particularly in suburban and rural areas, have heightened this sense of vulnerability. The discrepancy between the actual numbers and public perception challenges us to consider the changing geography of crime and the impact it has on the nation's sense of security.

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Criminology Essay Examples

12+ Criminology Essay Examples to Inspire Your Writing

Published on: May 6, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 30, 2024

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Many students struggle to understand the complex world of criminology and may have difficulty finding essay examples to guide their writing. Without proper guidance, students may show subpar academic performance.

But fret not! Our blog post offers 12+ diverse and unique criminology essay examples to help students expand their understanding.

So let’s dive into these examples.

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Descriptive Essays about Criminology 

Read the following examples to learn more! 

Title: The Impact of the Death Penalty on Crime Rates - Criminology Essay 

The psychological effects of Incarceration on Inmates

The history of forensic science and its impact on modern criminal investigations

Expository Essays about Criminology 

Here is a top example of an expository essay about criminology. 

Title: The Role of Social Media in the Spread of Criminal Activity

The factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency

The Impact of community policing on crime prevention

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Persuasive Essays about Criminology 

Title: The Need for Criminal Justice Reform in the United States

The ethical implications of using facial recognition technology in Law enforcement

The effectiveness of restorative justice programs in reducing recidivism

Compare and Contrast Essays about Criminology 

Looking for a compare-and-contrast essay example on criminology? Read the following. 

Title: A Comparison of the Criminal Justice Systems in the United States and Europe

A comparison of the theories of crime causation of Cesare Beccaria and Emile Durkheim

A comparison of the effectiveness of prison sentences versus probation in reducing recidivism rates

Tips for Writing a Criminology Essay

Writing a criminology essay requires careful attention to detail and a clear understanding of the subject matter. Here are some tips to help you write a successful criminology essay:

• Conduct thorough research: Before writing your essay, make sure you have a solid understanding of the topic. This requires conducting thorough research using a variety of sources, including academic journals, books, and government reports.
• Develop a clear and concise thesis statement : Your thesis statement should clearly state the purpose of your essay and your position on the topic. Make sure your thesis statement is concise and easy to understand.
• Use relevant and credible sources: When researching your topic, make sure you use credible sources that are relevant to the subject matter. Avoid using sources that are biased or unreliable.
• Follow a logical structure: Your essay should have a clear structure that follows a logical sequence. Use headings and subheadings to organize your essay and make it easy for readers to follow your arguments.
• Edit and proofread carefully: After completing your essay, make sure you edit and proofread it carefully. Check for errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Make sure your essay is well-organized and flows smoothly.

In conclusion, criminology is a fascinating subject that requires in-depth research and analysis. Writing a criminology essay can be a challenging task, but it is an essential requirement for students studying in this field. 

By reviewing the examples of criminology essays provided in this blog, students can gain insights into the different approaches to writing a criminology essay and develop their skills in the subject.

However, if you are still struggling with your criminology essay or need help getting started, consider using our essay writing company . 

Our AI essay generator can help you craft a high-quality criminology essay that meets your requirements. 

Don't let the stress of writing a criminology essay overwhelm you - reach out to our criminology essay writing service today and take the first step toward academic success.

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What the data says about crime in the U.S.

A growing share of Americans say reducing crime should be a top priority for the president and Congress to address this year. Around six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) hold that view today, up from 47% at the beginning of Joe Biden’s presidency in 2021.

We conducted this analysis to learn more about U.S. crime patterns and how those patterns have changed over time.

The analysis relies on statistics published by the FBI, which we accessed through the Crime Data Explorer , and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), which we accessed through the  National Crime Victimization Survey data analysis tool .

To measure public attitudes about crime in the U.S., we relied on survey data from Pew Research Center and Gallup.

Additional details about each data source, including survey methodologies, are available by following the links in the text of this analysis.

With the issue likely to come up in this year’s presidential election, here’s what we know about crime in the United States, based on the latest available data from the federal government and other sources.

How much crime is there in the U.S.?

It’s difficult to say for certain. The  two primary sources of government crime statistics  – the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) – paint an incomplete picture.

The FBI publishes  annual data  on crimes that have been reported to law enforcement, but not crimes that haven’t been reported. Historically, the FBI has also only published statistics about a handful of specific violent and property crimes, but not many other types of crime, such as drug crime. And while the FBI’s data is based on information from thousands of federal, state, county, city and other police departments, not all law enforcement agencies participate every year. In 2022, the most recent full year with available statistics, the FBI received data from 83% of participating agencies .

BJS, for its part, tracks crime by fielding a  large annual survey of Americans ages 12 and older and asking them whether they were the victim of certain types of crime in the past six months. One advantage of this approach is that it captures both reported and unreported crimes. But the BJS survey has limitations of its own. Like the FBI, it focuses mainly on a handful of violent and property crimes. And since the BJS data is based on after-the-fact interviews with crime victims, it cannot provide information about one especially high-profile type of offense: murder.

All those caveats aside, looking at the FBI and BJS statistics side-by-side  does  give researchers a good picture of U.S. violent and property crime rates and how they have changed over time. In addition, the FBI is transitioning to a new data collection system – known as the National Incident-Based Reporting System – that eventually will provide national information on a much larger set of crimes , as well as details such as the time and place they occur and the types of weapons involved, if applicable.

Which kinds of crime are most and least common?

Property crime in the U.S. is much more common than violent crime. In 2022, the FBI reported a total of 1,954.4 property crimes per 100,000 people, compared with 380.7 violent crimes per 100,000 people.  

By far the most common form of property crime in 2022 was larceny/theft, followed by motor vehicle theft and burglary. Among violent crimes, aggravated assault was the most common offense, followed by robbery, rape, and murder/nonnegligent manslaughter.

BJS tracks a slightly different set of offenses from the FBI, but it finds the same overall patterns, with theft the most common form of property crime in 2022 and assault the most common form of violent crime.

How have crime rates in the U.S. changed over time?

Both the FBI and BJS data show dramatic declines in U.S. violent and property crime rates since the early 1990s, when crime spiked across much of the nation.

Using the FBI data, the violent crime rate fell 49% between 1993 and 2022, with large decreases in the rates of robbery (-74%), aggravated assault (-39%) and murder/nonnegligent manslaughter (-34%). It’s not possible to calculate the change in the rape rate during this period because the FBI  revised its definition of the offense in 2013 .

The FBI data also shows a 59% reduction in the U.S. property crime rate between 1993 and 2022, with big declines in the rates of burglary (-75%), larceny/theft (-54%) and motor vehicle theft (-53%).

Using the BJS statistics, the declines in the violent and property crime rates are even steeper than those captured in the FBI data. Per BJS, the U.S. violent and property crime rates each fell 71% between 1993 and 2022.

While crime rates have fallen sharply over the long term, the decline hasn’t always been steady. There have been notable increases in certain kinds of crime in some years, including recently.

In 2020, for example, the U.S. murder rate saw its largest single-year increase on record – and by 2022, it remained considerably higher than before the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary data for 2023, however, suggests that the murder rate fell substantially last year .

How do Americans perceive crime in their country?

Americans tend to believe crime is up, even when official data shows it is down.

In 23 of 27 Gallup surveys conducted since 1993 , at least 60% of U.S. adults have said there is more crime nationally than there was the year before, despite the downward trend in crime rates during most of that period.

While perceptions of rising crime at the national level are common, fewer Americans believe crime is up in their own communities. In every Gallup crime survey since the 1990s, Americans have been much less likely to say crime is up in their area than to say the same about crime nationally.

Public attitudes about crime differ widely by Americans’ party affiliation, race and ethnicity, and other factors . For example, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are much more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say reducing crime should be a top priority for the president and Congress this year (68% vs. 47%), according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

How does crime in the U.S. differ by demographic characteristics?

Some groups of Americans are more likely than others to be victims of crime. In the  2022 BJS survey , for example, younger people and those with lower incomes were far more likely to report being the victim of a violent crime than older and higher-income people.

There were no major differences in violent crime victimization rates between male and female respondents or between those who identified as White, Black or Hispanic. But the victimization rate among Asian Americans (a category that includes Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders) was substantially lower than among other racial and ethnic groups.

The same BJS survey asks victims about the demographic characteristics of the offenders in the incidents they experienced.

In 2022, those who are male, younger people and those who are Black accounted for considerably larger shares of perceived offenders in violent incidents than their respective shares of the U.S. population. Men, for instance, accounted for 79% of perceived offenders in violent incidents, compared with 49% of the nation’s 12-and-older population that year. Black Americans accounted for 25% of perceived offenders in violent incidents, about twice their share of the 12-and-older population (12%).

As with all surveys, however, there are several potential sources of error, including the possibility that crime victims’ perceptions about offenders are incorrect.

How does crime in the U.S. differ geographically?

There are big geographic differences in violent and property crime rates.

For example, in 2022, there were more than 700 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in New Mexico and Alaska. That compares with fewer than 200 per 100,000 people in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine, according to the FBI.

The FBI notes that various factors might influence an area’s crime rate, including its population density and economic conditions.

What percentage of crimes are reported to police? What percentage are solved?

Most violent and property crimes in the U.S. are not reported to police, and most of the crimes that  are  reported are not solved.

In its annual survey, BJS asks crime victims whether they reported their crime to police. It found that in 2022, only 41.5% of violent crimes and 31.8% of household property crimes were reported to authorities. BJS notes that there are many reasons why crime might not be reported, including fear of reprisal or of “getting the offender in trouble,” a feeling that police “would not or could not do anything to help,” or a belief that the crime is “a personal issue or too trivial to report.”

Most of the crimes that are reported to police, meanwhile,  are not solved , at least based on an FBI measure known as the clearance rate . That’s the share of cases each year that are closed, or “cleared,” through the arrest, charging and referral of a suspect for prosecution, or due to “exceptional” circumstances such as the death of a suspect or a victim’s refusal to cooperate with a prosecution. In 2022, police nationwide cleared 36.7% of violent crimes that were reported to them and 12.1% of the property crimes that came to their attention.

Which crimes are most likely to be reported to police? Which are most likely to be solved?

Around eight-in-ten motor vehicle thefts (80.9%) were reported to police in 2022, making them by far the most commonly reported property crime tracked by BJS. Household burglaries and trespassing offenses were reported to police at much lower rates (44.9% and 41.2%, respectively), while personal theft/larceny and other types of theft were only reported around a quarter of the time.

Among violent crimes – excluding homicide, which BJS doesn’t track – robbery was the most likely to be reported to law enforcement in 2022 (64.0%). It was followed by aggravated assault (49.9%), simple assault (36.8%) and rape/sexual assault (21.4%).

The list of crimes  cleared  by police in 2022 looks different from the list of crimes reported. Law enforcement officers were generally much more likely to solve violent crimes than property crimes, according to the FBI.

The most frequently solved violent crime tends to be homicide. Police cleared around half of murders and nonnegligent manslaughters (52.3%) in 2022. The clearance rates were lower for aggravated assault (41.4%), rape (26.1%) and robbery (23.2%).

When it comes to property crime, law enforcement agencies cleared 13.0% of burglaries, 12.4% of larcenies/thefts and 9.3% of motor vehicle thefts in 2022.

Are police solving more or fewer crimes than they used to?

Nationwide clearance rates for both violent and property crime are at their lowest levels since at least 1993, the FBI data shows.

Police cleared a little over a third (36.7%) of the violent crimes that came to their attention in 2022, down from nearly half (48.1%) as recently as 2013. During the same period, there were decreases for each of the four types of violent crime the FBI tracks:

• Police cleared 52.3% of reported murders and nonnegligent homicides in 2022, down from 64.1% in 2013.
• They cleared 41.4% of aggravated assaults, down from 57.7%.
• They cleared 26.1% of rapes, down from 40.6%.
• They cleared 23.2% of robberies, down from 29.4%.

The pattern is less pronounced for property crime. Overall, law enforcement agencies cleared 12.1% of reported property crimes in 2022, down from 19.7% in 2013. The clearance rate for burglary didn’t change much, but it fell for larceny/theft (to 12.4% in 2022 from 22.4% in 2013) and motor vehicle theft (to 9.3% from 14.2%).

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on Nov. 20, 2020.

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John Gramlich is an associate director at Pew Research Center .

Fewer than 1% of federal criminal defendants were acquitted in 2022

Before release of video showing tyre nichols’ beating, public views of police conduct had improved modestly, violent crime is a key midterm voting issue, but what does the data say, u.s. public divided over whether people convicted of crimes spend too much or too little time in prison, what we know about the increase in u.s. murders in 2020, most popular.

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State of Crime in California Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Factors influencing state of crime in California

In 2005 the state of California had a population of 36,154,147. This population has been rising steadily. The sharpest increase in population was between 2008 and 2009. The population increased by over 350,000 people. With the increase in population there was an increase in the rate of crime in California.

Crime is rooted in economic, social and cultural backgrounds within a society or a certain group of population. This paper will discuss the state of crime in California with relation to its population demographics. It will also look into how environmental, social and economic issues affect the prevalence of crime within the state of California. All of the issues will be based on the crime research data on the State of California within the years 2005-2009. Below is a table of California crime index rates per 100,000 inhabitants.

For a crime to occur there are five conditions that should be present; space or the area of crime, time, law, offender and the victim (Ross, 2005).

There were several factors affecting crime within the state of California.

Population density

California has been having a population of about 36,154,147 from the year 2005. The state has witnessed a steady rise in population since 2005 to 2009. In 2005 to 2006 the population rose by 303,402 persons. The highest growth of population in California was witnessed in 2008 going to 2009. It rose by a massive 381,293 persons.

With an increasing population crime is prone to occur as many people compete for scarce resources. Those who feel disadvantaged to access the scarce resource resort into crime as a way of asserting their power in the midst of other people. California has managed to ensure that the rate of crime decreases. Within the year 2008-2009 California witnessed its highest growth in population. Over those years, there was also the sharpest decrease in the rate of crime, though still high all the numbers have seen a steady reduction. Within that year the crime index rate per 100,000 persons of violent crimes dropped from 506.2 in the year 2008 to 472 in the year 2009.

Composition of the population

California being a border state has a high level of immigrants searching for greener pastures in the United States. The rise in population in California is largely attributed the increase of immigrants within the state. This is why since 2005- 2009 the number of violent crimes has always been on a higher level (Iceland, 2008). From 2005, index rate for violent crimes has been 3,846.2 in 2005 to 3,203.5 in the year 2009.

Gary (2008) establishes that minorities seek to be heard in the society through a number of ways including engaging in crime to assert their presence in the society. These lead to the development of gangs, (Gary, 2008). These gangs have made the figures to reach such high levels. Worth noting is that the crime index for murder has always been decreasing over time. In 2005 it was at 6.9. This figure dropped to 5.3 by the year 2009.

According to Cohen, youths are more prone to influence from their colleagues due to the fact that they are unstable in making of firm decisions and thus when the influence is negative, a majority of youths engage in criminal activities, (Cohen, 2005). They are more prone to engage in petty crime like burglary, robbery and vehicle theft. The crime index for burglary has been 692.9 from 2005 and has dropped to 622.6 in 2009.

Economic conditions

Generally, it is believed that poverty is the first root cause of crime because people who live in lack struggle to achieve that which they do not have using all the means they have including committing crimes (Short, 2007).Thus, poverty results into lack and lack drives people into committing crime with an aim of satisfying their basic needs

From the economic perspective, unemployment is traditionally thought to be one of the causes of crime. The reason is that many young able-bodied men and women who graduate from colleges often desire to remain independent from their parents and in so doing find themselves at cross-roads when they lack financial resources to sustain themselves. They therefore resort into committing crimes as escape routes for their survival (Federal Bureau of Investigations, 2010). However, new learning in the economic view has also revealed that a part from unemployment, underemployment is also another major cause of crime. Under employment occur when graduates are paid less than they anticipate to be paid due to educational achievements.

In anger and abject dissatisfaction, such graduates resort into stealing from their bosses in order to top up their salaries with the objective of living high class lives as educated colleagues of their levels. In my workplace, this has been the case where many young and freshly employed employees have been sacked and convicted for stealing from their employer. The major cause for this is due to the low salaries paid to fresh employees in the firm which fails to sustain their anticipated basic needs. Thus, the source of crime can be explained from the social, cultural and economic perspective (Cohen, 2005).

Such people tend to engage in violent crimes, murder, aggravated assault and larceny theft, (Lyman, 2008). Violent crimes had the highest crime index level of 3,846.2 in 2005 compared to robbery which had 176.1 in the same year.

Cultural factors

Culturally, children are supposed to be taught moral values from their childhood by their parents as well as other members of the society. However, new learning in the cultural sources of crime has revealed that families and the society at large have neglected their cultural obligations of being role models to their children and have become unfavorable grounds from where children learn criminal behaviors. Broken homes and single parenthood have become common phenomenon in the society from where children grow. As a result, children grow without moral values which make them vulnerable or at risk of engaging in criminal behaviors. They tend to engage first in petty crime before graduating into higher or more violent levels of crime. This is why the crime index for burglary, vehicle theft, larceny-theft and robbery has been relatively high.

Strength of law enforcement agencies

Law enforcement agencies have ensured that there is a reduction in crime. This is because all the crime rate indexes have seen a steady decline over the years. The crime index for property in 2005 was 3,320.6 and it dropped to 2,731.5 by 2009. The crime index for aggravated assault dropped from 317.3 in 2005 to 269.7 in 2009.

California has been ranked as the most populous state in the US. These means that its prevalence in rate of crime is always high compared to other states. There are certain cities within California that are ranked as the most dangerous places in the States. Compton is ranked 4 th , Oakland is ranked 8 th , Richmond 11 th and San Bernardino 24 th . There are also places in California that are also ranked the safest. Mission Viejo is ranked 3 rd , Irvine 7 th , Thousand Oaks 11 th , Lake Forest 15 th , Simi Valley 17 th and Chino hills 21 st . This is the safest places in the United States and the six are found in California.

Cohen, M. (2005). The Cost of Crime and Justice . New York: Routledge Publishers.

Federal Bureau of Investigations (2010). Crime in the United States by Metropolitan Statistical Area. Web.

Gary, B. (2008). Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach. Journal of Political Economy. 76:2: 169-217.

Iceland, J. (2008). Poverty in America: A Handbook . California: University of California Press.

Lyman, M. (2008). The Police: An Introduction , New Jersey. Longman publishers.

Ross, L. (2005). Civil Liability in Criminal Justice Third Edition . New York: Anderson Publishing Co.

Short, J. (2007). Poverty Ethnicity and Violent Crime. Boulder: West view Press.

• The Classical School of Thought and Strain Theory in Criminology
• Why Do Women Kill? The Causations of Women Who Murder
• Classification of Burglary Criminal
• The Federal Bureau Investigation Crime Statistics
• The Current Statute on Robbery
• Somali Fishermen vs. The European Union and the US
• Prison Facilities and Certified Mental Facilities
• Crime Analysis Data Sources
• Deciphering the Wounds of the Victim
• Forensic Information and Evidence
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, March 20). State of Crime in California. https://ivypanda.com/essays/state-of-crime-in-california/

"State of Crime in California." IvyPanda , 20 Mar. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/state-of-crime-in-california/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'State of Crime in California'. 20 March.

IvyPanda . 2022. "State of Crime in California." March 20, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/state-of-crime-in-california/.

1. IvyPanda . "State of Crime in California." March 20, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/state-of-crime-in-california/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "State of Crime in California." March 20, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/state-of-crime-in-california/.

An Essay on Crimes and Punishments

• Cesare Bonesana di Beccaria (author)
• Voltaire (author)

An extremely influential Enlightenment treatise on legal reform in which Beccaria advocates the ending of torture and the death penalty. The book also contains a lengthy commentary by Voltaire which is an indication of high highly French enlightened thinkers regarded the work.

• EBook PDF This text-based PDF or EBook was created from the HTML version of this book and is part of the Portable Library of Liberty.
• ePub ePub standard file for your iPad or any e-reader compatible with that format
• Facsimile PDF This is a facsimile or image-based PDF made from scans of the original book.
• Kindle This is an E-book formatted for Amazon Kindle devices.

An Essay on Crimes and Punishments. By the Marquis Beccaria of Milan. With a Commentary by M. de Voltaire. A New Edition Corrected. (Albany: W.C. Little & Co., 1872).

The text is in the public domain.

• United States

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State crime and green crime – possible short answer exam questions

Last Updated on May 2, 2019 by Karl Thompson

State crime and green crime are two of the most difficult topics within Crime and Deviance for students, below are two possible short answer questions (with answers) which could come up on A-level sociology paper 3

Outline two sociological explanations of state crime (4)

Outline two reasons why people who commit ‘green crimes’ often do not get punished (4)


I’ll be covering both state and green crime as part of my upcoming ‘last minute sociology webinar series’….

For more information on Revision Webinars, please click the above gif, or check out this blog post .

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Melaka police opens four investigation papers over murder of youth at Jasin Hospital

Monday, 26 Aug 2024

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MELAKA: Melaka police have opened four investigation papers concerning the murder of a 24-year-old man at the Jasin Hospital here.

Jasin OCPD Deputy Supt Ahmad Jamil Radzi said the case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.

He also said that his team is probing the attack under Section 148 of the Penal Code for rioting and Section 427 for committing mischief.

DSP Ahmad Jamil said another investigation paper is opened under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation based on an incident at the victim's house at Taman Sin Ban Bee in Jasin.

"An ambulance parked at the hospital was also damaged due to the altercation," he said on Monday (Aug 26).

ALSO READ: Youth hacked to death by masked men with machetes at hospital, says Jasin police

He said the victim was first attacked by a group of masked men armed with machetes at a barber shop in Taman Rim Baru here at about 8.40pm on Sunday (Aug 25).

"The injured victim then managed to get his 22-year-old brother to drive him to the Jasin Hospital to seek medical attention.

“However, upon arriving at the emergency department of the hospital, the assailants returned and attacked the victim again. They even smashed the windscreen of the car driven by his brother,” said DSP Ahmad Jamal, adding that the incident happened at the entrance of Jasin Hospital and was witnessed by medical staff and patients who were there.

He said the terrified victim's brother fled the scene and sought shelter at the Jasin police headquarters, where he also lodged a police report.

The victim succumbed to injuries at about 10.15pm on the same day (Aug 25).

Three suspects aged 21 to 31 were detained on Monday (Aug 26), and police have launched a manhunt to track the remaining suspects, who are still at large.

Tags / Keywords: Murder , Jasin Hospital , Ahmad Jamil Radzi , Investigation Papers , Manhunt

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