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Criminology For Dummies

2. Aufl.

von: Steven Briggs
19,99 €
Verlag:	Wiley
Format:	PDF
Veröffentl.:	21.04.2021
ISBN/EAN:	9781119773207
Sprache:	englisch
Anzahl Seiten:	416

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Titelbeschreibung

Explore the world of crime and punishment Police, forensics, and detective stories dominate our TV screens and bookshelves—from fictional portrayals such as Silence of the Lambs and Law and Order to lurid accounts of real-life super-criminals like Pablo Escobar and Al Capone. As well as being horribly fascinating, knowledge of what makes criminals tick is crucial to governments, who spend billions of dollars each year trying to keep their people safe. Criminology brings disciplines like psychology, biology, and economics together to help police and society solve crimes—and to prevent them before they even happen. The new edition of Criminology For Dummies shines a light into the dark recesses of the criminal mind and goes behind-the-scenes with society’s response to crime, putting you right on the mean streets with cops and criminals alike. Along the way, you’ll learn everything a rookie needs to survive, including basic definitions of what a crime is and how it’s measured; common criminal motivations, thinking, and traits; elementary crime-solving techniques; the effects on and rights of victims; and more. <ul> <li>Understand types of crime, from white-collar to organized to terror attacks</li> <li>Follow law-enforcement officials and agencies as they hunt the bad guys</li> <li>Meet key players in criminal justice and see how and why the guilty are punished</li> <li>Check out jobs in the field</li> </ul> Whether you plan to enter the criminal justice field or just want to know more about what turns some people to the dark side—and how the thin blue line fights back—this is your perfect guide to criminology basics.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 3 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 4 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Defining and Measuring Crime 5 Chapter 1: Entering the World of Crime 7 Defining the Terms: What Crime Is and How You Measure It 7 Identifying elements of criminal behavior 8 Gathering crime statistics 9 Recognizing the Various Costs of Crime 9 Noting the financial impact 9 Respecting the price a victim pays 10 Considering Categories of Crime 11 Studying individual crimes 11 Focusing on organized crime 12 Spotlighting terrorism 13 Figuring Out What Makes Someone Commit a Crime 14 Making a rational decision 14 Pointing the finger at society 14 Blaming mental and physical defects 15 Waging a War against Crime 16 Policing the streets 16 Getting the feds involved 16 Working together in task forces 17 Bringing Criminals to Justice 17 Prosecuting crime 18 Determining punishment 18 Giving juveniles special attention 19 Chapter 2: What Is Crime? 21 Understanding the Two Categories of Criminal Activity 22 Violating natural laws: Acts that are inherently bad 22 Violating manmade laws: Acts that aren’t inherently bad 22 Identifying Elements of a Criminal Law 24 Distinguishing civil from criminal law 24 Defining felonies and misdemeanors 25 Requiring a physical act 26 Having a guilty mind 27 Linking Criminal Behavior to Cultural Mores 28 Understanding that crimes change over time 28 Recognizing the impact of location 29 Realizing that politics play a role 30 Chapter 3: How Crime Is Measured and Why It Matters 33 Gathering Crime Stats: How Much Crime Is There? 34 Relying on crime reports 34 Tallying the number of arrests 35 Spotlighting unreported crime: Victimization surveys 37 Accepting the shortcomings of crime statistics 38 Putting Crime Stats to Use 38 Considering the Costs of Crime 40 Funding the justice system 40 Measuring the costs to society and victims 42 Chapter 4: Helping Those in the Wake of Crime: Victims 45 Looking at the Historical Treatment of Victims 46 Identifying the Impact of Crime on Victims 46 Physical scars 47 Emotional effects 47 Economic loss 48 Pinpointing Who Is Likely to Be Victimized 48 Considering personal characteristics 48 Taking a look at theories of victimization 49 Expanding Victim Services in the 21st Century 50 Crime victim compensation 51 Support of victim advocates 52 Direct help from private, nonprofit groups 53 Observing the Laws That Protect Victims’ Rights 54 Invoking victims’ rights 54 Enforcing victims’ rights 55 Part 2: Identifying Types of Crime 57 Chapter 5: Getting Violent: Crimes of Force 59 Identifying Types of Violent Crimes 59 Defining Homicide 60 Murder 60 Manslaughter 62 Negligent homicide 63 Assisting a suicide 63 Attacking or Threatening Someone: Assault and Battery 64 Vehicular assault 65 Spousal assault 65 Child abuse 67 Forcing Sexual Contact: Rape, Sodomy, and Child Molestation 68 Rape and sodomy 68 Child molestation 69 Taking Property under the Threat of Violence: Robbery 71 Kidnapping 72 Pinpointing Causes of Violence 73 Struggling with drugs and alcohol 74 Feeling the lasting effects of family troubles 75 Suffering from mental problems 76 Being influenced by society 77 Making a personal choice 77 Chapter 6: Hitting You in the Pocketbook: Property Crimes 79 Categorizing Types of Theft 80 Shoplifting 80 Scamming people out of their money 81 Taking personal and credit card information: Identity theft 83 Stealing autos 85 Breaking and entering: Burglary 86 Defining Property Damage 88 Sending up smoke signals: Committing arson 88 Leaving your mark: Vandalizing property 89 Looking at the Causes of Property Crime 89 Wrestling with addiction 89 Making a career choice 91 Being drawn to bright and shiny objects 92 Battling kleptomania 92 Chapter 7: Dressing Sharp and Stealing Big: White-Collar Crimes 93 Identifying Types of White-Collar Crime 94 Stealing from the boss: Embezzlement 94 Evading taxes 95 Selling phony investments: Securities fraud 96 Dumping waste and endangering employees: Environmental crime 97 Cheating business and service clients 98 Cheating consumers: False advertising and price fixing 99 Mixing politics and crime 100 The Challenges of Investigating White-Collar Crime 101 Measuring the costs (in time and money) 101 Facing a dearth of financial investigators 102 Prosecuting and Punishing White-Collar Crime 103 Equating good suits with good verdicts 103 Testing the limits of corporate liability 104 Making punishments fit the crimes 105 Chapter 8: A Group Effort: Organized Crime and Gangs 107 Grasping the Basics of Organized Crime 107 Obsessing over the Italian Mafia 108 Tracing the growth and decline of the Sicilian mob 108 Recognizing the Mafia’s impact on public policy 110 Identifying Other Ethnic-Based Organized Crime Groups 111 Looking at What Organized Crime Groups Do 112 Selling narcotics 112 Marketing counterfeit and pirated products 113 Committing fraud 114 Loan sharking 116 Extorting money 116 Committing violence to support the “business” 117 Laundering money 117 Fighting Organized Crime 118 Overcoming jurisdictional boundaries: Task forces 119 Proving conspiracy 119 Setting up wiretaps 120 Relying on informants 121 Going undercover 123 Taking back the money: Forfeiture 123 Getting an Inside Scoop on Criminal Gangs 124 Youth and street gangs 124 Motorcycle gangs 127 Prison gangs 129 Chapter 9: Tackling a Worldwide Problem: The Narcotics Trade 131 The Global Workings of Dealing Drugs 132 Making drugs illegal 132 Growing plants for the drug trade 133 Mixing chemicals for the drug trade 136 Moving dope to your neighborhood 139 Treating Drug Users 142 Examining types of treatment 143 Using drug courts 144 Shifting treatment goals 144 Working to Prevent Drug Abuse 145 Educating in school 145 Testing for drugs 146 Monitoring prescription drugs 146 Chapter 10: Front-Page News: Terrorism 147 Structuring Terrorist Threats 148 Striking as an organization 148 Acting alone 149 Recognizing Types of Terrorist Threats in the U.S. 149 Right-wing threats 149 Left-wing threats 151 Religious threats 152 Acting Out of Hate: Distinguishing Hate Crimes 155 Fighting Back against Terrorism 156 Reducing terrorist motivation 156 Eliminating operational capability: Defunding terrorists 157 Joining forces to combat terrorism 158 Part 3: Figuring Out Who Commits Crimes and Why 161 Chapter 11: What Factors Lead to Crime? 163 Noting Personal Characteristics That Many Criminals Share 163 Age: Is crime a young person’s game? 164 Gender: Why do men take first place in crime? 166 Income: Does less money in your pocket lead to more crime? 166 Race: Does skin color influence criminality, or is racism to blame? 168 Education: Do higher degrees equal lower crime rates? 172 Religious affiliation: Are there benefits of practicing a faith? 172 Looking at the Impact of Societal Conditions on Crime 173 Pop culture: Is violence inspired through entertainment and games? 173 A bad economy: Does recession lead to crime? 173 Your Zip code: Do regional differences affect crime rates? 174 Studying the Impact of Atmospheric Changes 177 Chapter 12: Regarding Crime as a Rational Decision: Rational Choice Theory 179 Taking a Quick Tour through Classical Theory 180 Calculating the Benefits and Drawbacks of Crime 181 Analyzing risks and rewards 181 Choosing the type and place of crime 183 Factoring in personality and skills 183 Meeting the offender’s needs 184 Creating Rational Deterrents to Crime 184 Running the risk of being caught (and punished) 185 Increasing the severity of punishment 186 Aiming for speedy punishment 187 Preventing the rewards 188 Examining the Limits of Rational Choice Theory 189 Considering humans who behave irrationally 189 Seeing how crime often pays 191 Dealing with the values gap 191 Chapter 13: Looking at Society’s Role in Crime 193 Introducing Social Disorganization Theory 194 Studying Strain Theory 194 Anomie theory 195 General strain theory 195 Institutional anomie theory 196 Subculture theories 197 Considering Social Learning Theories 198 Differential association theory 198 Techniques of neutralization theory 199 Delving into Social Control Theories 200 Containment theory 200 Social bond theory 201 Chapter 14: Can Your Mind or Body Make You a Criminal? 203 Biological Positivism: Trying to Link Appearance to Crime 203 Wrestling with the Influence of Genetics 204 Figuring out how parents influence criminal behavior 205 Creating criminals through evolution 206 Blaming the Brain 206 Eating a poor diet 207 Grappling with the wrong brain chemistry 207 Having a low IQ 207 Struggling with Mental Illness 209 Dealing with a Personality Disorder 209 Focusing on antisocial personality disorder 210 Distinguishing psychopaths 210 Chapter 15: Critical Criminology: Theories off the Beaten Path 213 Considering Someone a Criminal: Labeling Theory 214 Changing someone’s self-image 214 Erasing the criminal label 215 Finding the theory’s weakness 216 Exploring Feminist Theory 217 Examining Leftist Realism: A Response to Law and Order 218 Making Peace with Peacemaking Theory 220 Seeking Healing through Restorative Justice 221 Encouraging justice within a community 221 Debating treatment versus incarceration 222 Part 4: Fighting Crime 223 Chapter 16: Battling Crime at the Local Level 225 Keeping the Streets Clean: The Players at the Local Level 225 Distinguishing sheriffs from police chiefs 226 Driving the streets: Patrol officers 227 Focusing on neighborhoods: Community officers 228 Supervising patrol officers: Sergeants 229 Investigating crimes: Detectives 229 Police officers with special assignments 230 Counting on civilian employees 231 Greater than the sum of their parts: Task forces 232 Bringing in citizen cops: Reserves 232 Thinking about Theories of Policing 233 Policing at the community level 233 Following the broken windows theory 235 Adopting intelligence-led policing 237 Chapter 17: Tackling Crime at the Federal Level 241 Sorting through the Alphabet Soup of Federal Agencies 242 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 242 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) 244 Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) 245 Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) 246 Secret Service 248 U.S Marshals Service 248 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 249 Other federal law enforcement agencies 249 Coordinating Federal and Local Efforts 251 Working with local law enforcement 251 Federal funding: Tapping federal resources to maximize effect 252 Chapter 18: Solving Crimes: The Process 253 Responding to a Crime Scene 254 Interviewing witnesses 254 Interrogating suspects 255 Gathering physical evidence 256 Writing a report 258 Using Special Crime-Fighting Tools and Techniques 259 Conducting crime scene investigations 259 Applying for search warrants 262 Analyzing computers, cellphones, and other electronic evidence 263 Administering lie detector tests 263 Looking for fingerprints 264 Testing DNA 265 Comparing handwriting 268 Studying blood stain patterns 269 Collecting cell tower evidence 270 Reconstructing an accident 271 Part 5: Prosecuting and Punishing Crime 273 Chapter 19: Seeking Justice in Court: The Players and Their Roles 275 Prosecutors: Guardians of Safety 275 Charging crimes 276 Helping with investigations 278 Weighing ethical responsibilities 279 Fulfilling additional duties 279 Defense Attorneys: Guardians of Liberty 280 Hiring a public or private defender 281 Facing ethical dilemmas 283 Trial Judges: Overseeing the Justice Process 283 Authorizing cops to search 283 Keeping cases moving 284 Presiding over a trial 285 Sentencing the defendant 287 Appellate Judges: Setting Legal Precedents 288 Looking for procedural errors 289 Wading through the final layers of appeal 290 Chapter 20: Finding the Truth: Pleading Guilty or Going to Trial 293 Keeping It Local: Municipal Courts 293 Movin’ On Up: State Court Systems 294 Affecting the Whole Nation: The Federal Court System 295 Negotiating a Plea Agreement 296 Determining the strength of the evidence 297 Figuring out time in custody 298 Considering victim compensation 298 Working out probation conditions 299 Suppressing Evidence (or Not): The Pretrial Hearing 299 Determining whether a search was legal 300 Looking at a defendant’s confession 300 Facing a Jury (or a Judge): The Process 301 Choosing trial by jury or by judge 301 Selecting a jury 302 Making opening statements 302 Proving the state’s case 303 Conducting direct examinations 304 Displaying physical exhibits 304 Cross-examining witnesses 305 Putting on a defense 305 Hearing closing arguments 308 Reaching a verdict 309 Chapter 21: Punishing the Guilty: Why and How Society Does It 313 Understanding Theories of Punishment and Incarceration 314 Seeking retribution, not personal revenge 314 Deterring future crimes 314 Protecting society: Incapacitation 315 Aiming for rehabilitation and restoration 315 Combining the theories 316 Placing Defendants in Custody 316 Going to a local jail 317 Heading to state prison 318 Facing federal prison 321 Serving time in Private Prison, Inc. 322 Facing Challenges in the Prison System 323 Controlling contraband 323 Dealing with inmate violence 324 Implementing treatment and education programs 327 Covering the cost of imprisonment 328 Placing Defendants on Probation 329 The probation officer’s role 329 Probation violations and their effects 330 Debating the Death Penalty 331 The crimes you can die for 331 The rules of a capital case 332 The execution process 334 Arguments for or against the death penalty 335 Chapter 22: Examining the Juvenile Justice System 339 Looking Back: The Historical Treatment of Juveniles 339 Why Juveniles Are Treated Differently 341 Walking through the Juvenile Justice Process 342 Speaking the language of the juvenile justice system 343 Introducing the key players 344 Arresting and detaining a juvenile 345 Filing a petition — or not 346 Adjudicating a case 347 Proceeding to disposition 348 Facing probation 348 Treating a Juvenile like an Adult 349 Eyeing Modern Trends in Juvenile Justice 350 Part 6: The Part of Tens 351 Chapter 23: Ten Jobs to Consider in Criminal Justice 353 Police Officer 353 Corrections Officer 356 Forensic Scientist 357 Computer Forensic Specialist 358 Crime and Intelligence Analysts 359 Probation Officer 360 Juvenile Counselor 361 Crime Victim Advocate 362 Legal or Law Enforcement Administrative Assistant 362 Court Reporter 363 Chapter 24: Ten Notorious, Unsolved Crimes 365 The JonBenet Ramsey Murder 365 The Sam Sheppard Case 366 The Zodiac Killer 367 The Murder of Robert Blake’s Wife 369 The Murder of Seattle Prosecutor Tom Wales 369 The D B Cooper Hijacking 371 The Black Dahlia Murder 372 The Jack the Ripper Killings 373 The Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa 373 The Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G 374 Index 377

Autorenportrait

Steven Briggs is a nationally recognized expert on crime. He has worked in the judicial and executive branches of government, prosecuted cases at the local, state, and federal level, and run a statewide law enforcement agency. He has lectured internationally on a variety of criminal justice topics, and in his spare time is an award-winning writer of crime fiction.

Back cover copy

Sleuth your way through the world of crimeAre you fascinated by detective work, police forensics, and the dark recesses of the criminal mind? Have you considered a career in criminal justice? This book will take you on a tour of crime and society’s response to it. You’ll follow along with law enforcement to identify, prosecute, and prevent crimes of all types—including today’s internet crime, drug crime, and race issues. Criminology For Dummies is a no-nonsense guide that puts you in the middle of the action, so you can find the truth and seek justice.Inside. . .<ul><li>Define and measure criminal behavior, from violence to white-collar crime</li><li>Learn the personal and societal factors that lead to crime</li><li>Explore criminal justice and the prison system</li><li>Dig into special topics – juvenile justice, terrorism, and more</li></ul>