THEME 1: CRIME TAXONOMY
Multiple choice question:
Introduction:
Countries all over the world have their own crime taxonomies, as
well as special crime categories, perceived as serious and/or priority
crimes.
Legal classifications of crime and criminal codes are established by a
society, depending on what it perceives as socially damaging, and to
serve as a threat to members of that society.
Every society has a different and changing set of values, and what is
judged a criminal act in one country may not meet the crime criteria
in another country or even in the same society later.
In South Africa legislation determines what constitutes a criminal
act.
However, specific crime categories (e.g. contact versus property-
related crimes) are stipulated by the South African Police Service
Crime statistics are interpreted and recorded nationally.
Most South African offenders are violent and aggressive, as opposed
to America where most of the offences are neither serious nor
violent
The identification of crime as the most important social problem in
the study of social sciences.
For example, in South Africa there are many cases of murder and
attempted murder. Therefore, knowledge and understanding of
crime concepts is very important in order to combat and prevent
crime.
Definition of key concepts:
Crime:
From a juridical approach, crime is a transgression of the law and if
the transgressor is found guilty by the court, the state may impose
punishment.
Crime patterns:
Crime patterns describe the incidence of the different types of crime
in a specific year.
Crime trends:
Crime trends are the increases and decreases in the different types
of crime in a specific year.
Crime statistics:
, Crime statistics are numbers that consist all the information
regarding crime
Scientifically arranged and tabulated in order to give a total picture
of the crime problem.
Crime classification:
In Criminology, crime classification refers to the division or
arrangement of crime data into specific classes.
Classification is based on the fact that data on certain crimes show
definite underlying similarities (such as property taken without
permission, i.e. property-related crimes)
Crime classification:
Crime classification is necessary to determine
o common factors shared by certain crimes (e.g. the use of
violence and weapons);
o a data record of types of crimes (i.e. to develop crime database
used for statistical analysis of crime trends and crime patterns);
o activities that constitute crimes (i.e. outline and stipulate acts
that are considered criminal and against the law);
o answers as to why people commit crimes (i.e. to establish the
motives for involvement in criminality), and
o crime prediction (i.e. to determine risk factors in respect of
future involvement in crime and/or to predict crime trends
according to geographical areas).
The purpose and function of crime classification are to
o gain an impression of various types of crime,
o Allow crime to be broken down into groups to reveal primary
commonalities and
o ensure a richer understanding of crime typologies.
Familiarity with crimes is vital for detecting, combating and
preventing them.
This means that the facts about certain crimes must be ordered into
classes based on similarities or common features.
Contemporary crime categories:
Different methods for and approaches to crime classification: –
Bonger’s classification: economic, violent, sexual and political
crimes
Stumpfl’s classification: heavy and light criminality, crimes
committed at an early and late age, conflict and habitual crimes
Multiple choice question:
Introduction:
Countries all over the world have their own crime taxonomies, as
well as special crime categories, perceived as serious and/or priority
crimes.
Legal classifications of crime and criminal codes are established by a
society, depending on what it perceives as socially damaging, and to
serve as a threat to members of that society.
Every society has a different and changing set of values, and what is
judged a criminal act in one country may not meet the crime criteria
in another country or even in the same society later.
In South Africa legislation determines what constitutes a criminal
act.
However, specific crime categories (e.g. contact versus property-
related crimes) are stipulated by the South African Police Service
Crime statistics are interpreted and recorded nationally.
Most South African offenders are violent and aggressive, as opposed
to America where most of the offences are neither serious nor
violent
The identification of crime as the most important social problem in
the study of social sciences.
For example, in South Africa there are many cases of murder and
attempted murder. Therefore, knowledge and understanding of
crime concepts is very important in order to combat and prevent
crime.
Definition of key concepts:
Crime:
From a juridical approach, crime is a transgression of the law and if
the transgressor is found guilty by the court, the state may impose
punishment.
Crime patterns:
Crime patterns describe the incidence of the different types of crime
in a specific year.
Crime trends:
Crime trends are the increases and decreases in the different types
of crime in a specific year.
Crime statistics:
, Crime statistics are numbers that consist all the information
regarding crime
Scientifically arranged and tabulated in order to give a total picture
of the crime problem.
Crime classification:
In Criminology, crime classification refers to the division or
arrangement of crime data into specific classes.
Classification is based on the fact that data on certain crimes show
definite underlying similarities (such as property taken without
permission, i.e. property-related crimes)
Crime classification:
Crime classification is necessary to determine
o common factors shared by certain crimes (e.g. the use of
violence and weapons);
o a data record of types of crimes (i.e. to develop crime database
used for statistical analysis of crime trends and crime patterns);
o activities that constitute crimes (i.e. outline and stipulate acts
that are considered criminal and against the law);
o answers as to why people commit crimes (i.e. to establish the
motives for involvement in criminality), and
o crime prediction (i.e. to determine risk factors in respect of
future involvement in crime and/or to predict crime trends
according to geographical areas).
The purpose and function of crime classification are to
o gain an impression of various types of crime,
o Allow crime to be broken down into groups to reveal primary
commonalities and
o ensure a richer understanding of crime typologies.
Familiarity with crimes is vital for detecting, combating and
preventing them.
This means that the facts about certain crimes must be ordered into
classes based on similarities or common features.
Contemporary crime categories:
Different methods for and approaches to crime classification: –
Bonger’s classification: economic, violent, sexual and political
crimes
Stumpfl’s classification: heavy and light criminality, crimes
committed at an early and late age, conflict and habitual crimes
