Crime:

Crime is the violation of norms that are written into law. It is possible that an act approved in
one group may be a crime punishable by death in another group, which refers back to the
cultural relativity of crime. Look at honor killing, homosexuality, polygamy, and cousin
marriages; these are all examples of cultural relativity of crime. Acts of suicide bombers may
be considered as positive (acts of bravery) in one situation and negative in another. Deviance
and crime are not synonymous but these may overlap. In fact deviance is much broader than
crime because it can apply to all those acts, which violate the norms of society; norms may be
unwritten.

Explanations of crime:
Since norms are essential for society, then why do people violate norms? Why people commit
crime? There are biological, psychological, and sociological explanations for such behavior.
Psychologists and socio-biologists explain deviance by looking for answers within individuals.
They assume that something in the makeup of the people leads them to become deviant. They
focus on genetic predisposition of individuals toward deviance and crime. In contrast,
sociologists look for answers in factors outside the individual. They assume that something in
the environment influences people to become deviant.
Biological Explanation:
Biological explanations focus on genetic predisposition toward deviance. Biological
explanations include the following four theories:
1. Distinctive physical features; features taken together the criminals resemble apelike
ancestors of humans
2. Body type: People with 00000, muscular bodies are more likely to commit street crime
(mugging, rape, burglary).
3. ‘XYY’ theory. Extra Y chromosome in males leads to crime.
4. Intelligence: low intelligence leads to crime.
In 1876, Ceasare Lombroso, an Italian physician, compared 400 prisoners with 400 army
soldiers. He proposed that criminals had distinctive physical features -- low foreheads,
prominent jaws and cheekbones, protruding ears, excessive hairiness, and unusually long
arms. All these features taken together the criminals resemble apelike ancestors of humans.
They are genetically abnormal.
This theory has flaws. For example Lombroso’s study sample is not representative of the
general population. His focus was on comparing the declared criminals with the army soldiers.
How about those criminals who committed crime but have never been caught? Also, criminals
may have abnormality because of poverty and malnutrition. These are class based
characteristics and not criminal characteristics.
Sheldon (1949) suggested that body type may predict criminality. He crosschecked hundreds
of young men for body type and criminal history, and concluded that criminality was most
likely among boys with muscular, athletic build. There appears to be no conclusive evidence.
Despite such researches genetic researchers are still seeking links between biology and crime.
Regarding the chromosome theory, it has been found that most criminals have the normal
“XY” chromosome combination. So they are not different from those who do not commit
crime. Therefore this could not be the reason. Similarly, most men with “XYY” combination do
not commit crime. Hence having an extra “Y” does not necessarily lead to a person to criminal
activity. Furthermore, no women have this combination of genes, so there should be no
women criminals. But that is not true. Such an explanation based on “XYY” chromosome
combination is not acceptable.
The intelligence theory has its own flaws because some criminals are highly intelligent. Also
their intelligent acts may have been declared as crime. How about breaking a computer code
for national purposes? Will we call it a crime or a patriotic service to the nation? Furthermore,
most people with low intelligence do not commit crime. The biological explanations may
present some limited but not conclusive explanation for criminal behavior. Biological factors
may have to interact with other factors.
Psychological Explanations:
Psychological explanations of deviance focus on abnormalities within the individual, focusing
on what are called personality disorders. The supposition is that deviating individuals have
deviating personalities, that various unconscious devices drive people to deviance. The
emphasis is that personality disturbance of some sort causes individual to violate social norms.
Psychologists have shown that personality patterns have some connection to deviance. Recent
research shows that some serious criminals qualify for psychopaths, that is, they do not feel
guilt or shame, they have no fear of punishment, and they have little sympathy for the people
they harm. Even so, the fact is that the most serious crimes are committed by people who do
not have personality disorders, but by such individuals whose psychological profiles are
normal.
Sociological Explanations:
Sociologists are trying to find the explanatory factors for crime outside the individual deviant.
According to sociologists the act of deviance is relative; what is deviance in one group may not
be so in another group; what is deviancy today may not be considered as deviancy at another
time. With the change in circumstances and needs of time, the definitions of crime may
change. There is nothing constant within the society to account for behavior that is conforming
in one society and deviant in another. There is variation in social influences and there is the
resultant variation in behavior. The behavior of an individual, whether it is conformist or it is
deviant, is the product of external influences, which may come from the variations in
socialization patterns, subculture of the people, and the differences in social class. As part of
the sociological explanations, sociologists have proposed number of theories.
Different Types of Crimes
White Collar Crime:
The concept of white collar crime was first proposed by Sutherland, in 1949. It refers to the
crimes committed by those one who are more powerful position of the society. Crimes
committed by persons of high social status and respectability in the course of their occupation.
This term covers many types of criminal activities which include, tax fraud, illegal sale practice,
land frauds etc. Although the general public seems to think that the lower classes are more
prone to crime, but this is not the case, white collar workers also commit crimes. This
difference in perception is mainly because the crimes committed by the poor are given more
publicity whereas, the crimes committed by the more privileged classes go unnoticed mostly.
White collar crimes can be divided into two groups. Firstly, those crimes that mainly involve
the use of position to engage into criminal activities (indirect). Secondly, crimes of the
powerful are those in which authority given by a position is used in a criminal way, just like
when an officer accepts bribe to favor someone. The cost of the white collar crime is much
higher than that of the street crimes. In the US in 1986 it was calculated that the amount of
money involved in white collar crimes (tax fraud, insurance fraud) was forty times greater than
the money in street crimes (robberies, car theft)
Red collar crime is a subgroup of white collar crime in which the perpetrator uses violence to
avoid detection or prosecution. ... The crimes typically consist of forgery, insider trading, fraud,
or embezzlement

Organized crime:
Organized crime is a business of supplying illegal goods or services, sometimes criminal
organizations force people to do business with them, as when a gang extorts money from
shopkeepers for protection, organized crimes has flourished in US for more than a century.
When immigrants such as AL-CAPONE, realized that this society was not willing to share their
opportunities with them, they chose the wrong path and made their own success. The Italian
mafia is another very good example of organized crime.
Hate crime:
A hate crime is a criminal act against a person or person’s property on the basis of racial or
other bias. A hate crime may express hostility towards someone’s race, religion, ancestry or
physical disability. The federal government recorded around 7000+ hate crimes in 2007 alone.
(US DEPT. OF JUSTICE)
In 1998 the whole world was stunned by the brutal killing of Matthew Sheppard, a gay student
at the University of Wyoming by two men filled with hatred towards homosexuals.
Corporate Crime:
Corporate crime is the illegal actions of a corporation or people acting on its behalf. Such
people generally do not think of themselves as criminals, nor do they consider their activities
criminal.
For example; Rite Aid is one of the largest drugstore chains in the United States. There are over
4,600 Rite Aid stores spread out across 31 states. In 2014 alone, the drugstore chain estimated
its sales to be over $26 billion.
However, 2014 was also a year of trouble for Rite Aid. Rite Aid Corporation was required to
pay the United States 2.99 billion dollars for violating the False Claims Act by using gift cards as
illegal inducements to get individuals on Medicare and Medicaid to switch their prescriptions
to Rite Aid pharmacies. In other words, the United States government felt that Rite Aid was
using the gift cards improperly as a means to influence the healthcare decisions of Medicaid
and Medicare recipients. In this example, Rite Aid committed a corporate crime.
Slapper and Tombs (1999) have listed six types of violations by corporations:
• Administrative (non-compliance of rules).
• Environmental (pollution, permits violations resulting in disasters. Victims).
• Financial (tax violations, permits violations).
• Labor (working conditions, hiring practices).
• Manufacturing (product safety, labeling).
• Unfair trading practices (anti-competition, false advertising)
Ethnicity and Crime:
Ethnic minorities most likely to be both victims and suspects of crime due to Racial disparity.
The term racial disparity as it relates to crime can be defined as the proportion of a racial or
ethnic group within the criminal justice system exceeding the proportion of such a group
within the general population. People of color are more likely to be racially profiled, stopped,
and harassed by the police
Black, Asian and mixed-raced people more than one and a half times more likely to be arrested
than white people and considerably more likely to be victims of crime. Black and white family
patterns differ. In US 2/3rds of the black children (compared to one-fifth of white children) are
born to single mothers. They have less supervision and high risk of growing up in poverty,
hence more chances of criminality. Blacks mostly belong to working class (or under class). Poor
people living in midst of affluence come to perceive society as unjust. They are more likely to
suffer from the feeling of relative deprivation and are more likely to turn to crime.
Meanwhile, ethnic minority groups also emerged as being most likely to be victims of crime, at
19 per cent compared with 15 per cent of their white counterparts.
Pink-collar crime:

The term pink-collar crime was popularized by Dr. Kathleen Daly during the 1980s to describe
embezzlement type crimes that typically were committed by females based on limited
opportunity. According to Daly's definition it focuses on crime and deviant behavior, refers to
female office workers in low- to mid-level positions — bookkeepers, managers, clerks — who
steal money from their employers. Normally Pink-collar crimes consists of Cheque kiting, book
keeper embezzlements, teaming and lading and the like. Often Pink-collar criminal's “Victims”
fall prey to the woman's -gentle, soft, sensitive way of dealing and thus it becomes easy to
perpetrate crimes by women criminal
Black-collar crime: An action or omission committed by a religious or judicial figure that
constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law. Priest is
guilty of child molestation, which is black collar crime
Blue-collar crime: can refer to violent acts, such as murder, sexual assault and armed
robbery. It also includes non-violent crime such as prostitution, illegal gambling and more.
Blue-collar crime refers to crime that is most likely committed by people from a lower social
class, while white-collar crime refers to crime that is most likely committed by people from a
higher social class, examples include bribery, income tax evasion, and stock fraud
Green-collar crime: is a crime committed against nature. This term can refer to actual crime,
in the sense that the act is illegal by the country's law, or a moral crime that may not be illegal
Some examples of green-collar crime are apparent to all of us and are in the news more often
than others. For instance, deforestation and illegal logging, both of activities do harm the
surrounding environment, including the wildlife. For example, the illegal logging and
deforestation in Central Africa are threatening the survival of gorillas. These acts also threaten
entire ecosystems and the people that depend on these ecosystems for their survival.

Another good example of green-collar crime is the illegal export of wildlife. You'll be shocked at
how it happens. People sometimes put birds, snakes, or other small animals up and down their
bodies (under their clothing), while trying to sneak these animals into the country. Not only
does the illegal export of wildlife hurt local wildlife populations from where they are hunted, but
it also poses a danger to the new ecosystem into which they are brought. If the animals are
released, they may threaten the survival of local native species. But illegal export of wildlife is
more than just the export of livestock animals; it's also parts of animals, like shark fins,
rhinoceros’ horns, and elephant tusks. The list goes on and on