Crime Rate Review

Graduate Level Writing Required. 

DUE: Friday, March 6, 2019. by 5pm Eastern Standard Time.

Review the attached response to Personal Crime Occurrence Evaluation attached. USE THE ATTACHED as Reference.

List the crime theory or theories you think best explain the occurrence of crime. 

Write a 500- to 700-word summary.

Provide theoretical support where needed, to include recommendations on crime control and crime reduction policies you would implement based on your crime occurrence explanation.

 

-Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

-Provide at least 3 Academic / Scholarly references.

-100% Original Work.

-Must Be Graduate Level Writing. 

Running head: CRIME RATE ASSESSMENT

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CRIME RATE ASSESSMENT

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Crime Rate Assessment

Crime Rate Assessment

The primary goal of criminological theory is to improve one’s understanding of crime and criminal justice. In simplest terms, crime is the violation of formal and informal laws that govern all people and enhance peace and unity within society. Crime can be outlined based on the main assumptions of the consensus view, conflict view, and interactionist view. The consensus view of crime outlines crime as a basic wrong behavior believed to be severely unacceptable or distasteful in many factors related to society. Besides, the conflict view of crime is a perception of crime as the result of social inequalities and economic approaches benefiting a section/segment of society (Zara & Farrington, 2015). Conflict theorists believe that a certain segment of society; for instance, the capitalist class makes laws designed for self-benefits at the expense of other populations.

Furthermore, the interactionist view of crime demonstrates society as the product of daily social interactions between people. People are capable of creating the meaning of life through their individual interactions with each other. Crime is one of the local and international problems that affect peace and unity amongst societies. Offense starts at the local levels where people conflict with each other for individual or group interests and extends to the international level where terrorist organizations fight against each other or the general public.

What are the current trends in the crime rate?

Crime has been reported in all states of the US and other regions across the world in different forms. For instance, the two current measures of wrongdoing include violent and property crimes. A violent crime occurs almost every day in the United States in the form of homicide, rape, assault, pickpocketing and purse snatching, and robbery. All these acts are not justified in the US constitution as they tamper with human peace, security, and safety. Besides, property crime includes burglary or trespassing, theft of property or cash, and motor vehicle theft. The homicide rate of crime in the US has been dropping for the past 2.5 decades and still keeps on dropping even today due to the enhanced interracial relations and security. The tracking of crime rates in the past two decades shows a drastic decrease in violent crime in the United States. However, the crime problem is still perceived in the US since the violent crime was recorded at a 50% decrease since 1990. A total of 1.2 million violent crime cases were reported in 2018, while 7.2 million cases of property crime were reported in the US (Grawert & Kimble, 2019).

What social and environmental factors do you believe influence the crime rate?

As stated by the interactionist view of crime, social relationships amongst people in society determine the rate of criminal incidents. Active free-play environment for children increases chances of homicide and rape incidences as well across regions. Social security determines the ability of individuals to interact freely and positively. Social and environmental factors are linked to the physical activity behavior of individuals and contribute to either low or high rates of crime (James, 2018). Security in the US states has contributed to low cases of crime over the past two decades. Cultural norms and globalization are social factors that also unite people and regions to avoid crime.

Identify any other factors you think may contribute to criminal behavior and the crime rate. 

Other factors contributing to criminal behavior include religious differences, drug abuse, and financial status. Religious differences in society tend to stir up violent crimes against the opposing sides and even lead to a homicide. As well, drug abuse creates negative social relationships amongst people leading to increase crime. Last but not least, financial status leads to property crime, whereby a particular segment of society passes laws that favor their financial endeavors at the expense of low-class citizens (James, 2018).

Explain how you would investigate the occurrence of crime through research and theory development.

The research and theory development is essential in investigating the occurrence of a violent or property crime. Research and theory development involves the relationship between research and criminology theory to come up with reliable evidence and assessment of crime laws (Zara & Farrington, 2015). For instance, I would use research to develop the interactionist theory of crime, whereby I would investigate the causal factors of criminal incidence and the possible solutions. Theories are grounded on the criminology laws and hence useful in crime investigation.

Describe the various sources of crime data along with the advantages and disadvantages of collecting data from each source. 

The main sources of crime data include the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), and lastly, the self-reported data. The UCR is useful practically in crime mapping, identification of the crime trends, and profiling of typical offenses. As well, NCVS has almost similar advantages starting from ease of theory testing, effective profiling characteristics of typical offenders, and mapping of crime. Lastly, self-reported data tends to be accurate, timely, original, and useful in identifying the crime and criminals first-hand.

The disadvantages of NCVS include inaccurate criminal data, provides only the national estimates and covers a limited population (Schwartz & Vega, 2017). On the other hand, UCR’s source of crime data relies on crime discovery terming it as accurate even though about forty percent of violent crimes in the US are unreported. Besides, Uniform Crime Reports do not record all crimes ad it only relies on voluntary data. Lastly, self-reported data have limitations like that they can only cover crime over a small area and not effective as they are not recorded for future references and statistics.

Briefly explain the importance of crime research in the development of recidivism reduction strategies or crime prevention policies.

Crime research is vital for the security department and police force because it helps in developing recidivism reduction approaches and crime prevention policies. Crime research involves understanding the root of the wrongdoing, the reason behind the action, and prevention strategies since it is necessary for societies to live peacefully (Zara & Farrington, 2015). When crime research is conducted, offenders are corrected or even punished to reduce the chances of recidivism. Understanding the root cause of crime helps in developing reduction strategies of crime reoccurrence at all costs.

References

Grawert, A. & Kimble, C. (Dec 18, 2019). Takeaways from 2019 Crime Data in Major American Cities. Brennan Center for Justice. Retrieved from 

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/takeaways-2019-crime-data-major-american-cities

James, N. (2018). Recent violent crime trends in the United States. Congressional Research Service, 1-38.

Schwartz, J., & Vega, A. (2017). Sources of crime data. In Preventing Crime and Violence (pp. 155-167). Springer, Cham.

Veitch, J., Salmon, J., & Ball, K. (2010). Individual, social, and physical environmental correlates of children’s active free-play: a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 7(1), 11.

Zara, G., & Farrington, D. P. (2015). Criminal recidivism: Explanation, prediction and prevention. Willan.