Violent Crime

(noun)

A violent crime, or crime of violence, is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, (including criminal ends) such as robbery. Violent crimes include crimes committed with and without weapons.

Related Terms

Examples of Violent Crime in the following topics:

  • Violent Crime

    • A violent crime is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim.
    • A violent crime is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim.
    • Violent crimes include crimes committed with and without weapons.
    • With the exception of rape (which accounts for 6% of all reported violent crimes), males are the primary victims of all forms of violent crime.
    • By contrast, there is a widespread belief that violent crime is on the rise, due largely to a mass media, which disproportionately reports violent crime.

  • Types of Crime

    • A violent crime is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim.
    • Violent crimes include crimes committed with and without weapons.
    • They also include both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, such as robbery.
    • The United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) counts five categories of crime as violent crimes: murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault.
    • On September 30, 2009, 7.9% of sentenced prisoners in federal prisons were in for violent crimes; 52.4% of sentenced prisoners in state prisons at yearend 2008 were in for violent crimes; and 21.6% of convicted inmates in jails in 2002 were in for violent crimes.

  • Property Crime

    • The peak age for property crime arrests in the United States is 16, compared to 18 for violent crime arrests.
    • Property crimes are high-volume crimes, with cash, electronics, power tools, cameras, and jewelry often targeted.
    • Some crime prevention programs, such as Neighborhood Watch, have shown little effectiveness in reducing burglary and other crime.
    • Statistics for violent crimes are accessible and available to the public.
    • The peak age for property crime arrests in the United States is 16, compared to 18 for violent crime arrests.

  • Crime Statistics

    • It is important to understand that crime statistics do not provide a perfect view of crime.
    • Government statistics on crime only show data for crimes that have been reported to authorities.
    • However, it should also be noted that television presents an unrealistic picture of the frequency of crime, particularly violent crime.
    • One difference in criminal activity is seen in the number of violent crimes committed by gender (see chart).
    • While the difference has narrowed in recent years, men are still more likely to commit violent crimes than are women.

  • Crime Statistics

    • Crime statistics attempt to provide statistical measures of the crime in societies.
    • Crime statistics attempt to provide statistical measures of the crime in societies.
    • Crime can generally be broken down into 2 categories - violent and nonviolent.
    • Violent crimes involve harm to another person, generally done intentionally.
    • Because of the difficulties in quantifying how much crime actually occurs, researchers generally take two approaches to gathering statistics about crime.

  • Violence in Schools

    • In 2001, students between the ages of 12 and 18 were the victims of 2 million crimes at school, and 62% of those crimes were thefts.
    • While these numbers are alarming, data also shows that most crimes at school are not violent.
    • In 2001, students between the ages of 12 and 18 were the victims of two million crimes at school, but 62% of those crimes were thefts.
    • For example, school shootings account for less than 1% of violent crimes in public schools, yet nearly every school shooting makes national headlines.
    • Social risk factors include an unstable home environment, violent neighborhoods, and certain characteristics of a school environment.

  • Theories of Deviance

    • Examples of white-collar crimes include:
    • As of 2009, the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics do not provide clear statistics on white-collar crime, like they do with other types of crime.
    • unclear amount of money lost from corporate crime, but totalling in the billions
    • That such crimes are not tracked more clearly suggests that there is less of an emphasis placed on prosecuting white collar crime than there is on prosecuting other types of crime (property and violent crime) in the U.S.
    • It may also be the case that it is difficult to collect such statistics, but that is also likely due to the fact that a system for tracking such crimes has not been put into place because such crimes are not seen as warranting the same amount of attention as exists for other types of crimes.

  • Global Crime

    • Global crime, such as Transnational Organized Crime, refers to any crime that is coordinated across national borders.
    • Global crime can refer to any organized crime that occurs at an international or transnational level.
    • Like national and local organized crime, global crime includes highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit.
    • Transnational organized crime (TOC or transnational crime) is organized crime coordinated across national borders, involving groups or networks of individuals working in more than one country to plan and execute illegal business ventures.
    • While the International Criminal Court can prosecute individuals for crimes against humanity, it has no jurisdiction over other global crimes.

  • Nature vs. Nurture: A False Debate

    • In some cases, lawyers for violent offenders have argued that criminal activity is caused by nature -that is, by genes, rather than rational decision-making processes.
    • Such arguments may suggest that the accused are less culpable for their crimes.
    • A "genetic predisposition to violence" could be a mitigating factor in crime if the science behind genetic determinants can be found conclusive.

  • Crime

    • Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction.
    • Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction.
    • Crimes may also result in cautions, rehabilitation, or be unenforced.
    • Individual human societies may each define crime and crimes differently, in different localities, and at different time stages of the crime.
    • Similarly, changes in the collection and calculation of data on crime may affect the public perceptions of the extent of any given "crime problem."