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Unit 2 Culture and Social Structures
Section 5
Crime and Punishment
Key Terms
• crime
• criminal justice system • deterrence
• retribution
• incarceration • rehabilitation • recidivism
Section
Section
Measurement of Crime
Most Americans think of crime—acts in violation of statute law—as including a narrow range of behavior. On the contrary, more than 2,800 acts are classified as federal crimes. Many more acts violate state and
local statutes.
How much crime is there in the United States today? Crime in- creased sharply between the 1960s and the 1990s. For example, the FBI Index of violent crime has increased from a big city offense rate per 100,000 of 860 in 1969 to 1207 in 1999. Violent crime rates are considerably higher in the U.S. than in most other industrialized countries.
Today the rate of homicide death for a young man is 23 times higher in the U.S. than in England. In 1995, handguns were used to kill 2 people in New Zealand, 15 in Japan, 30 in Great Britain, 106 in Canada, 213 in Germany, and 9,390 in the United States (To Establish Justice, 1999:iv).
Preview
Preview
Crime statistics in the U.S. come from two major sources: the FBI and the Census Bureau. Differences in statistics between the two agencies are due to differ- ences in methods of collect- ing data. Four approaches to crime control are deterrence, retribution, incarceration, and rehabilitation.
crime
acts committed in violation of the law
The job of this forensic scientist is to examine evidence—fingerprints, DNA, handwriting, firearms—for indications that a crime has occurred.