Top stories
CATEGORIES OF CRIME
WIKIPEDIA | 2014-05-23 17:00
Five broad categories that comprise the primary criminal offenses in the United States today are conventional, economic, syndicated, political, and consensual.
Conventional Crimes
Property crimes make up the lion's share of the 31.3 million conventional crimes committed annually in the United States. Property crimes are distinguished by the government from crimes of violence, although the two often go hand in glove. For example, the thief who breaks into a house and inadvertently confronts a resistant owner may harm the owner and thus be involved in more than just the property crime of burglary.
The less numerous, but more feared, conventional crimes are those against the person. These crimes of violence include murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Economic Crimes
There are four broad categories of economic crimes:
• Personal crimes consist of nonviolent criminal activity that one person inflicts on another with the hope of monetary gain. Examples include intentionally writing a bad check, cheating on one's income tax, and committing welfare fraud.
• Abuse of trust occurs when business or government employees violate their fidelity to their employer or clients and engage in practices such as commercial bribery, theft and embezzlement from the workplace, and filling out false expense accounts.
• Business crimes are crimes that are not part of the central purpose of the business enterprise but are incidental to (or in furtherance of) it. Misleading advertising, violations of the antitrust laws, and false depreciation figures computed for corporate income tax purposes are all business crimes.
• Con games are white-collar criminal activities committed under the guise of a business.
Syndicated, or Organized, Crimes
Syndicated crime is engaged in by groups of people and is often directed on some type of hierarchical basis. It represents an ongoing activity that is inexorably entwined with fear and corruption. Organized crime tends to focus on areas that are particularly lucrative, such as trafficking in illegal drugs, gambling, prostitution, and loan-sharking (money-lending at exorbitant interest rates and high repayment rates).
Political Crimes
Political crime usually constitutes an offense against the government: treason, armed rebellion, assassination of public officials, and sedition. However, the term has come to include crimes committed by the government against individual citizens, dissident groups, and foreign governments or nationals – for example, illegal wiretaps conducted by the government of politically dissident groups or the refusal of the military to investigate incidents of sexual harassment.
Consensual Crimes
So-called victimless crime, such as prostitution, gambling, illegal drug use, and unlawful sexual practices between consenting adults, is called consensual because both perpetrator and client desire the forbidden activity.
Conventional Crimes
Property crimes make up the lion's share of the 31.3 million conventional crimes committed annually in the United States. Property crimes are distinguished by the government from crimes of violence, although the two often go hand in glove. For example, the thief who breaks into a house and inadvertently confronts a resistant owner may harm the owner and thus be involved in more than just the property crime of burglary.
The less numerous, but more feared, conventional crimes are those against the person. These crimes of violence include murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Economic Crimes
There are four broad categories of economic crimes:
• Personal crimes consist of nonviolent criminal activity that one person inflicts on another with the hope of monetary gain. Examples include intentionally writing a bad check, cheating on one's income tax, and committing welfare fraud.
• Abuse of trust occurs when business or government employees violate their fidelity to their employer or clients and engage in practices such as commercial bribery, theft and embezzlement from the workplace, and filling out false expense accounts.
• Business crimes are crimes that are not part of the central purpose of the business enterprise but are incidental to (or in furtherance of) it. Misleading advertising, violations of the antitrust laws, and false depreciation figures computed for corporate income tax purposes are all business crimes.
• Con games are white-collar criminal activities committed under the guise of a business.
Syndicated, or Organized, Crimes
Syndicated crime is engaged in by groups of people and is often directed on some type of hierarchical basis. It represents an ongoing activity that is inexorably entwined with fear and corruption. Organized crime tends to focus on areas that are particularly lucrative, such as trafficking in illegal drugs, gambling, prostitution, and loan-sharking (money-lending at exorbitant interest rates and high repayment rates).
Political Crimes
Political crime usually constitutes an offense against the government: treason, armed rebellion, assassination of public officials, and sedition. However, the term has come to include crimes committed by the government against individual citizens, dissident groups, and foreign governments or nationals – for example, illegal wiretaps conducted by the government of politically dissident groups or the refusal of the military to investigate incidents of sexual harassment.
Consensual Crimes
So-called victimless crime, such as prostitution, gambling, illegal drug use, and unlawful sexual practices between consenting adults, is called consensual because both perpetrator and client desire the forbidden activity.
