REAL AND PERCEIVED CHANGES IN CRIME (FROM CRIMINOLOGY IN PERSPECTIVE - ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ISRAEL DRAPKIN, 1977 BY SIMHA LANDAU AND LESLIE SEBBA - SEE NCJ-45543)

• NCJ Number: 45545
• Author(s): M E WOLFGANG
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 12 pages
• Corporate Author: Lexington Books
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

CHANGE IN DEFINITIONS OF DEVIANT AND CRIMINAL ACTS IS EXAMINED THROUGH A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND CRIME STATISTICS; DEVIANCE IS SEEN EXPANDING, WHILE CRIME IS CONTRACTING.

Abstract

THE AUTHOR CONTENDS THAT AMERICAN CULTURE, AND PERHAPS WESTERN SOCIETY IN GENERAL, IS EXPERIENCING AN EXPANSION OF ACCEPTABILITY OF DEVIANCE AND A CORRESPONDING CONTRACTION OF WHAT IS DEFINED AS CRIME. ALTHOUGH THE TOTAL QUANTITY OF CRIMINAL AND NONCRIMINAL DEVIANCE MAY BE CONSTANT, THE LINE OF DEMARCATION BETWEEN CRIMINAL AND NONCRIMINAL DEVIANCE IS BEING POSITIONED AT A DIFFERENT POINT IN THE TOTAL LINE SEGMENT CALLED DEVIANCE. THE NOTION OF RAPID SOCIAL CHANGE IMPLIES NOT ONLY INSTITUTIONAL VARIATIONS STEMMING FROM TECHNOLOGY BUT ALSO CHANGES IN THE MORES, I.E., IN WHAT CONDUCT IS CONSIDERED ACCEPTABLE OR OBJECTIONABLE. SUCH ACTS AS HOMOSEXUALITY BETWEEN CONSENTING ADULTS, PUBLIC DRUNKENNESS, ABORTION, AND CERTAIN DRUG USE WILL STILL BE CONSIDERED DEVIANT FROM DOMINANT BEHAVIOR PRESCRIPTIONS, BUT WILL BE REMOVED FROM CRIMINAL CODES. BY A CONTRACTION OF WHAT IS DEEMED DEVIANT, THE CRIMINAL LAW WILL BE MADE MORE ENFORCEABLE. THE NARROWER RANGE OF BEHAVIOR CONSIDERED CRIMINAL WILL MEAN A STRONGER LINK OF CONSISTENCY WITH HISTORY, FOR THE PERSISTENTLY SERIOUS OFFENSES LIKE HOMICIDE, RAPE, AND THEFTS, WHICH HAVE ALMOST EVERYWHERE AND ALWAYS BEEN VIEWED AS CRIMINAL, WILL CONSTITUTE THE HARD CORE OF CRIMINALITY, AND THE ACTORS WILL CONTINUE TO BE VIEWED AS CRIMINALS. STUDIES APPEAR TO SUPPORT THE FURTHER EXPANSION OF CULTURAL TOLERANCE OF DEVIANCE AND THE CONTRACTION OF WHAT IS DEEMED SERIOUS CRIMINALITY. A REVIEW OF UNIFORM CRIME REPORT DATA SHOWS THAT CRIMES OF VIOLENCE HAVE INCREASED 180 PERCENT SINCE 1960. THE AUTHOR PREDICTS THAT DECLINE OR STABILIZATION IN THE AMOUNT OF CRIMES OF VIOLENCE WILL BE WITNESSED FROM THE TIME OF WRITING THROUGH THE MID-1980'S. WITH THE REDUCTION OF CRIMES OF VIOLENCE, PUBLIC CONCERN WITH CRIME WILL PROBABLY SHIFT TO ORGANIZED AND WHITE-COLLAR VARIETIES. PART OF THIS CHANGE IS ALREADY BEING REFLECTED IN A NEW FORM OF INFORMATION OR KNOWLEDGE THEFT. COMPUTER TAPE THEFT, COMPUTER PROGRAM THEFT, AND CORPORATE INFORMATION BURGLARY, COMBINED WITH CONSUMER FRAUD, SECURITIES THEFTS, AND POLITICAL CORRUPTIONS, CONSTITUTE A GROWING MAJOR FORM OF CRIME IN THIS POSTINDUSTRIAL ERA. NOTES ARE PROVIDED. (DAS)