Gender and Crime
Men commit an overwhelming percentage of violent crime and the majority of property crime in the United States.
How would each of the three critical feminist perspectives—Radical, Marxist, and Socialist—explain this phenomenon? Do different life experiences by men and women impact the overrepresentation of men in the criminal justice system? How do gender differences impact sentencing? Provide examples to support your answer.
How does allowing citizens to carry guns prevent crimes? Give relevant examples.
Some research studies have indicated that white-collar crime costs Americans from 8 to 25 times as much monetarily as blue-collar crime. If this is the case, white-collar crimes are overlooked in Uniformed Crime Reports (UCR) and are not as heavily policed as blue-collar crimes. Discuss the financial impact of white collar crimes. What can be done to refocus more on white collar crimes?
In the context of the theoretical postulation that criminals have careers, respond to the following:
What means are best suited to reduce crimes? Provide examples from researches conducted on the careers of criminals and attempts at rehabilitating these criminals.
Do you think researches on careers of criminals provide any support for rehabilitation programs? Which types of programs have the best success rates at reducing recidivism? Why?
Most criminologists believe that the environment has a significant impact on crime, yet most citizens in areas with the highest crime rates do not participate in crime.
Use theory to explain why most people refrain from crime even when they live in the highest crime areas. How do social control theories help to explain why?