AC 1.1 - Analyse different types of crime
White-collar crimes
A White Collar crime is a non-violent crime committed for financial gain; examples of criminal
offences of such crime are tax evasion, computer and internet fraud, and protection rackets.
With regard to the likely victims, they tend to be the elderly, the poorly educated, or the
mentally disabled as they are usually unaware the crime is happening, but simply anyone can
be a victim. In addition, the typical offender is someone who is in a position of power and
authority, more specifically a middle-aged, middle class male. The level of public awareness is
considerably low as the crimes are difficult to prosecute due to the perpetrator performing
more complex acts, e.g. professional transactions, leading to a lack of suspicion raised.
Statistically, it is said that white-collar crime makes up just over 3% of overall federal
prosecutions yearly. Moreover, more violent, threatening crimes such as assault and murder
are more widely spread in the media resulting in white-collar crimes going unnoticed and
raising less concern to the public. Evidently, white-collar crimes are criminal as the offender
can be severely punished by the law, and they are also seen as deviant as they definitely go
against normalities within society.
An example of a well-known white-collar crime offence is the Bernie Madoff Scandal. Bernie
Madoff, who was a middle-class, authoritative man in the financial industry, performed the
largest ponzi scheme ever and gained trust in his victims due to him being known for his
knowledge in stock investment. He sent fake proof of him investing his victims’ money into
stocks and layed the money aside in multiple bank accounts for many years, with the amount
increasing gradually over time. Due to the professional, complex transactions and him paying
the victims back 12% of their money, they continued to invest in his scandal without any
suspicion being raised.
State crimes
State crimes are crimes perpetrated by, or ordered by, state agencies, such as governments.
The criminal offences of state crime include genocide, war crimes, tortue, imprisonment
without trial and the likely victims are citizens of a country or those of a different religion or
political view to the state. The offenders of such crimes are typically state agencies and/or
high ranking government officials; also the level of public awareness tends to be high as the
speed of the media is increasing and advancing resulting in quick media coverage, and there
is generally high reporting in society. Alternatively, in some cases, especially the more severe
offences, the state perpetrator conceals their actions because they want to keep a good
reputation due to their powerful, important status; this results in the public being unaware
that it is occuring. State crimes are additionally seen as both criminal and deviant because
they go against social norms, and certainly the law.
An example of a state crime is the genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany during the
Holocaust. In 1941. Over six million Jews were killed at the hands of German forces, their
military allies, and their civilian associates after being confined within concentration camps
where they were pressured to do work and tortured before death. Although the public were
,aware of the genocide between 1941 and 1945, there was nothing they could do to stop it
from happening due to the power and dominance of Nazi Germany.
Domestic Abuse
A domestic abuse crime is taking place within the brief as we see Mr Q has hit his wife on
multiple occasions at home. Domestic abuse is the use of violence, abuse, or threatening
behaviour against a partner, ex partner or a family member. Domestic abuse criminal
offences include: assault, murder, torture and verbal abuse. The typical victim is a woman
and they are most likely to suffer multiple types of abuse, threats, and abductions; in this
case Mrs Q would be the victim as she has been beaten by her husband several times.
Although the perpetrator can be any family member, the likely offender is usually a male and
they tend to keep their crimes hidden away from the public, in this case Mr Q is the offender.
The level of public awareness is low because domestic abuse mainly takes place behind
closed doors and victims are afraid to report the crime or press charges; Leslie Morgan
Steiner, a past victim of domestic abuse, states over 70% of domestic abuse victims are
killed when they leave the abuser. Furthermore, this type of crime is viewed as criminal as it
is punishable by law, and it is also seen as deviant as the violent and domineering acts go
against social norms.
One example of domestic violence is the case of Clare Wood, a mother from Manchester,
who entered into a relationship with George Appleton unaware of his previous abusive
history with women. She was eventually raped, strangled and even set alight in her own
home leading to her death.
Hate Crime
A hate crime is mentioned within the brief as we see Mrs Q had to put up with people making
hostile comments on her accent and background. A hate crime is any crime that is perceived
as being motivated by prejudice or hate based on a person’s race, religion, sexual
orientation, disability or if they are transgender. The typical victim of hate crimes is anyone
with anyone of the following protected characteristics: race, religion, sexual orientation,
disability or if they are transgender; in this case the victim would be the women receiving the
racial remark “Go home to where you came from”. On the other hand, the offenders of hate
crime are usually anyone holding some form of prejudicial view against someone who falls
under the 5 characteristics mentioned above, with the offender in the brief being the man
verbally harassing the women based on her race. Moreover, the level of awareness has
grown due to a high media focus in society and now hate crimes are viewed as being both
criminal, as it is punishable by law, and deviant, because society deem it to be against
accepted standards of behaviour.
An example of a hate crime incident was the case of Hanane Yakoubi, a 34 weeks pregnant,
Muslim woman, who was travelling on a bus in London when another passenger - Simone
Joseph - racially abused her. A video recording by another passenger on the bus proved that
Simone spouted remarks such as “ISIS bitches” and “go back to your f***ing country” and
even accused them of hiding bombs in their clothing. Later, after media coverage around the
video evidence, Simone pleaded guilty to and received a sentence of 16 weeks in prison for
causing racially aggravated distress.
,Moral Crime
A Moral crime is any crime that goes against morality within society and the criminal
offences include: illegal drug use, prostitution, underage drinking, vagrancy and assisted
suicide. Typically, moral crimes are often thought to be victimless, however the offender and
victim can be the same person. When it comes to the typical offender of moral crime, it can
be the victim who perpetrates the offence; usually, the reason a moral crime is committed
due to the victim/offender being in a difficult situation, e.g. someone who is financially
struggling may resort to prostitution to provide an income. Consequently, the level of public
awareness is low as the offences are normally hidden from the offenders’ families, e.g.
underage drinking, or the public may be aware and have sympathy for the victim but don’t
report it, e.g. homelessness. Moreover, moral crimes are against the law making them
criminal and for many of the offences society disagrees with the activities that are occurring
therefore they are deviant.
An example of a famous moral crime was the case of Cynthia Payne, a middle-aged
business woman and prostitute, who ran a brothel where prostitutes could trade. An
anonymous tip off alerted police over a 12 day period, whereby 250 men and 50 women
were observed entering Cynthia’s house by undercover cops; her party house was raided
December 1978 and she was successfully convicted of running a disorderly house.
Honour Crime
Honour crimes are violent crimes or other forms of abuse that are carried out in order to
punish an individual who is deemed to have brought shame on their family or community, to
protect the so-called 'honour' of it. Examples of honour based crimes are: physical abuse,
psychological pressure, abductions, murder. The typical victims of honour based crimes are
females, who are often young and from ethnic minorities, especially an Asian community; in
addition, the offence is usually perpetrated by the victim’s family, often male dominant and
typically a father, brother or uncle of the victim. The level of public awareness is low due to
the differences in culture; in some communities, it is viewed as an appropriate response to
‘shameful’ acts/behaviour resulting in it not being reported to authorities, thus the wider
community remains unaware of honour crime. Honour crimes are both criminal and deviant,
as it is socially frowned upon to harm someone based on their life choices and also, these
honour based violence offences are unlawful.
An example of an honour based crime is the case of Banaz Mahmod, a 20 year old Iraqi
kurd woman, who was strangled to death by her cousins, on orders of her father and uncle.
Banaz left an abusive relationship and found a new boyfriend who she was happy with, her
father and uncle deemed her to have brought shame on her family to which they decided
she should die “to restore the family honour”.
Technological Crime
Technological crimes are offences, such as downloading illegal materials, deploying
malware, viewing child pornography, identity theft and trespassing on a computer network,
committed using the Internet, Social Media or other information technologies. Generally, the
victim of cyber-crimes can be anyone who uses the Internet, either individuals or large
businesses/organisations, however the elderly or poorly educated tend to be most
vulnerable to offences like identity theft and scams. On the other hand, the perpetrators can
quite broadly be anyone with basic knowledge of the Internet, but for technological crimes
,such as deploying malware and trespassing on a computer network, they tend to require a
higher level of technical skill. Originally, the level of awareness was low due to people
lacking experience with advancing technology, however there has been an exposure of such
crimes which has increased publicity about how to stay safe online. Alternatively, in some
instances, for offences such as identity theft and fraud, the public are unaware that they are
actually a victim of it until they check bank accounts hinting a low public awareness. Some of
these crimes such as deploying malware and sending death threats are criminal acts as they
break the law and are deemed to be deviant as they go against social norms. Yet, crimes
such as illegally downloading materials, e.g. songs and videos, may not be viewed as
deviant behaviour or a ‘real crime’.
One example of a severe technological crime was by the computer hacker Alex Bessel who
committed many cyber crimes, such as: attacks on popular web platforms like Google, and
creating a business on the dark web revolving around selling malware products allowing and
encouraging people to spread computer viruses and commit other technological crimes.
After an investigation by the West Midlands Police, Bessel’s home was raided and he was
arrested.
AC 1.2 - Explain the reasons that some crimes go unreported
Personal reasons
Fear
A victim may fear future consequences for themselves or even their friends/families lives, if
they report a particular crime; crimes such as honour crime, hate crimes and domestic abuse
can go unreported as a result of fear. For example, victims of domestic abuse or common
assault may go unreported due to fear. Other crimes like honour based violence may also
not be reported due the victim fearing any future more life threatening punishments if their
family finds out about their reports to the police.
Shame
A victim may feel shameful or embarrassed to report a crime that has taken place because
they don’t want people to know their vulnerabilities and lack of control in a certain situation,
and don’t want to relive the incident when reporting/pushing for prosecution. Specifically,
crimes such as sexual assault, domestic violence and white-collar crimes go unreported due
to shame.
Disinterest
People may not report a crime due to having a lack of interest and care, for example
vagrancy; the homeless are ignored and dismissed in public due to people not caring about
them. Other crimes such as prostiution and drug-related crimes go unreported due to a lack
of interest.
,Unaffected
People may not report a crime if the incident doesn’t impact them in any way, such as it
doesn’t concern them and they feel it has nothing to do with them. Crimes such as
vandalism, thefts and vagrancy often go unreported due to people being unaffected.
Social and cultural reasons
Lack of knowledge
An individual may fail to report a crime due to them being unaware a crime is actually being
committed or they may not know how to go about reporting the crime. For instance, crimes
like cyber-bullying, which takes place often and lots of people don’t know how to report it.
Complexity
An individual might not realise and understand what crime has been committed due to the
incident being complex and results in it being too difficult to actually report. More specifically,
white-collar crimes usually go unreported due to the complex acts that take place to
perpetrate them; for example, the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme.
Lack of media interest
A crime may go unreported if a crime is not broadly publicised and reported on in the media
resulting in there being little public interest around the crime. Victims and witnesses may feel
that no one will care if there is no media interest to help push for prosecution on the offender
of the crime; for instance, the #MeToo campaign attracts lots of media interest to sexual
harassment victims helping to increase reporting and prosecution rates.
Lack of current public concern
Additionally, a crime may go unreported if the offence is not considered an actual crime by
the public and therefore people think that the offenders of such crimes cannot be punished.
For example, crimes such as the illegal downloading of materials, like songs and films, and
the smoking of cannabis in the UK usually go unreported due to society’s views and a lack of
concern.
Culture bound crimes
In some cultures, the crimes being committed may be traditionally accepted and not
considered to be a real crime by the perpetrators and wider community, which results in low
reporting rates of these crimes. Also, people outside of these cultures fail to report and
ignore the crimes taking place within these cultures as they don’t want to interfere. Crimes
like honour based violence, such as the murder of Banaz Mahmod, and occassionally
domestic abuse go unreported due to cultural normalities and traditions.
, Specific examples
Common Assault
A person is guilty of common assault if they either inflict violence on another person or make
that person think that they are about to be attacked. There are many different personal and
social reasons why common assault goes unreported each year. Generally, a victim of such
crime may feel their life, and/or their families lives, are at risk to future violence if they make
any reports to the police, or victims may feel shameful, embarrassed or blame themselves
for not trying to stop the offender who has harmed or threatened them, whereby the victim,
don’t want to be seen as weak and vulnerable. In addition, socially, victims, or even
witnesses, may think that no one will care due to a lack of media interest with more serious
crimes gaining a higher media coverage and interest, which normally helps when it comes to
pushing for prosecution of other crimes; consequently, the assault isn’t made aware of to the
authorities. Moreover, due to a lack of public concern, verbal (threatening) harassment,
although it is still a criminal offence associated with common assault, may not be seen as a
crime to the public therefore it goes unreported as they feel the police won’t take it seriously
and nothing will be done about it;
Domestic Abuse
Domestic abuse is the use of violence, abuse, or threatening behaviour against a partner, ex
partner or a family member, and there are several reasons, mainly personal, but also social
and cultural reasons, as to why the dark figure behind domestic abuse is relatively high.
Often, the victim may fear any future abuse because, statistically, 70% of domestic abuse
murders occur when the victims leave the abuser. Fear around not having somewhere else
to live, due to the offender perhaps owning their property, and victims may just put up with
and hide the abuse due to children being in the household can impact whether it is reported
too. Shame and embarrassment can also stop victims from reporting, especially the male
victims as they are stereotypically the more dominant person in a relationship and don’t want
to feel less masculine. In addition, due to the complexity behind successfully reporting an
offender where there is enough evidence for the perpetrator to be prosecuted, it makes the
victim feel like there is no point in reporting as they feel it won't be dealt with properly by
police. Alternatively, in some cultures, domestic abuse, especially whereby the offender is
the husband/father and the victim is the wife/child, is seen as an appropriate way to punish
someone who did something against their culture’s normalities; accordingly, the actions are
not reported as people feel it is not their place to interfere with a different culture.
Vandalism
Vandalism is the destruction or criminal damage to property belonging to another individual,
for example smashing the windows of someone’s car. An individual may not report
vandalism acts in public as they may be perceived as somebody else’s problem (they are
unaffected), unless it is their own property that has been damaged, so they lack interest or
care. Furthermore, there may be a lack of current public concern within society meaning the
public are unaware that it is an actual criminal offence and that the offender can receive a
fine or sentence. Due to more major crimes, e.g. murder and robberies, being widely spread
in the media and a lack of media interest for vandalism offences, people often feel it is not
