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
