AC1.1 Analyse different types of crime
Learning Outcome 1: Understand how crime reporting affects the public perception of
criminality
Crime and Deviance
● Define crime - Crime is any action or behaviour that violates the law and is therefore
punishable by the court.
● Define deviance - Deviance is any action or behaviour that goes against social or
cultural norms and isn’t accepted by normal standards even though it doesn’t go
against the laws of the country.
Analyse each of the different types of crime that we’ve covered. Use the following as
subheadings:
White collar crime (including organised, corporate and professional)
● Definition - Typically non violent financially motivated crime committed usually
by businesses for personal gain like tax evasion or fraud (making up 63% of
white-collar crimes.)
● Provide a real life example. - An example of a white collar crime case is
Bernie Madoff . Bernie Maddoff was a businessman based in the US who was
known to have operated one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history. A ponzi
scheme is a type of fraud that gets investors to pay profits to earlier investors
from funds from recent investors. His scheme lasted 20 years and ended up
stealing $64 billion. He pleaded guilty in March 2009 and was given the
maximum sentence of 150 years for his crimes.
● Typical victims - elderly individuals aged 60+(average age of an individual
reporting a scam was 49) and small business owners as well as those who
typically fund these schemes without knowing.
● Typical offenders - middle aged men (35%) who are employed who have a
high education and high status/authority like directors and CEOs.
● Criminal or Deviant - White collar crime is criminal because it is against the
law to commit fraud, ponzi schemes etc and arguably isn't seen as deviant
because it's normalised in areas like wall street, however, the average person
would not see it as something normal.
, ● Level of Public Awareness - Public awareness is low as it is hard to prosecute
those involved in the crime as it is easily concealed with 90% of white-collar
crimes going unreported. Additionally the severity and different types isn’t
publicised much unless it is a large amount of money being stolen.
Moral crime
• Definition - Principles of right or wrong behaviour that is accepted by society.
Crimes that go against the societal norms of morality that are often personal
and therefore not motivated by money. They are often crimes that are
victimless.
• Provide a real life example. - Lindsay Lohan has committed several crimes
throughout the years with illegal drug use being the main factor. In 2007 she
was arrested for being in possession of cocaine and DUI after crashing her car
and had failed her sobriety test. She was given probation and violated it multiple
times by failing drug tests and missing rehab sessions issued by the court. In
2010 she violated her probation once more by failing a court ordered drug test.
Her drug use is an example of a moral crime as she is both the victim as well as
the offender. Furthermore, drug use, like cocaine, goes against societal norms.
• Typical victims -While moral crimes can be seen as victimless, the victim and
the offender are the same person.
• Typical offenders - situation dependent from crime to crime or by the same
person (drug use, illegal gambling, underage drinking, vagrancy or prostitution)
for example, assisted suicide (usually terminally ill/ severe life altering disability)
is vastly different to someone underage drinking. They can range from young
people to mentally ill/vulnerable or have financial difficulties. Usually, offenders
are in a difficult situation due to things like divorce, death, financial situations,
which forces them to commit these moral crimes.
• Criminal or Deviant -I think it is both criminal and deviant as it not only
breaks the law but some moral crimes are normalised by society, like
vagrancy, because it can be argued that the victim couldn’t help but be in
that situation. In addition to this, it is not prosecuted enough making it
much more deviant as people are less likely to report it.
• Level of Public Awareness - I think the level of public awareness is both
high and low. This is because, drug use and underage drinking is
publicised a lot in the media due to the consequences it may bring
however, crimes like vagrancy, assisted suicide and prostitution are not
talked about often or even seen as crimes that can be punishable
because the morality is questioned from person to person. In addition to
this, these crimes are committed in secret and very personal so it's not
talked about often.
Learning Outcome 1: Understand how crime reporting affects the public perception of
criminality
Crime and Deviance
● Define crime - Crime is any action or behaviour that violates the law and is therefore
punishable by the court.
● Define deviance - Deviance is any action or behaviour that goes against social or
cultural norms and isn’t accepted by normal standards even though it doesn’t go
against the laws of the country.
Analyse each of the different types of crime that we’ve covered. Use the following as
subheadings:
White collar crime (including organised, corporate and professional)
● Definition - Typically non violent financially motivated crime committed usually
by businesses for personal gain like tax evasion or fraud (making up 63% of
white-collar crimes.)
● Provide a real life example. - An example of a white collar crime case is
Bernie Madoff . Bernie Maddoff was a businessman based in the US who was
known to have operated one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history. A ponzi
scheme is a type of fraud that gets investors to pay profits to earlier investors
from funds from recent investors. His scheme lasted 20 years and ended up
stealing $64 billion. He pleaded guilty in March 2009 and was given the
maximum sentence of 150 years for his crimes.
● Typical victims - elderly individuals aged 60+(average age of an individual
reporting a scam was 49) and small business owners as well as those who
typically fund these schemes without knowing.
● Typical offenders - middle aged men (35%) who are employed who have a
high education and high status/authority like directors and CEOs.
● Criminal or Deviant - White collar crime is criminal because it is against the
law to commit fraud, ponzi schemes etc and arguably isn't seen as deviant
because it's normalised in areas like wall street, however, the average person
would not see it as something normal.
, ● Level of Public Awareness - Public awareness is low as it is hard to prosecute
those involved in the crime as it is easily concealed with 90% of white-collar
crimes going unreported. Additionally the severity and different types isn’t
publicised much unless it is a large amount of money being stolen.
Moral crime
• Definition - Principles of right or wrong behaviour that is accepted by society.
Crimes that go against the societal norms of morality that are often personal
and therefore not motivated by money. They are often crimes that are
victimless.
• Provide a real life example. - Lindsay Lohan has committed several crimes
throughout the years with illegal drug use being the main factor. In 2007 she
was arrested for being in possession of cocaine and DUI after crashing her car
and had failed her sobriety test. She was given probation and violated it multiple
times by failing drug tests and missing rehab sessions issued by the court. In
2010 she violated her probation once more by failing a court ordered drug test.
Her drug use is an example of a moral crime as she is both the victim as well as
the offender. Furthermore, drug use, like cocaine, goes against societal norms.
• Typical victims -While moral crimes can be seen as victimless, the victim and
the offender are the same person.
• Typical offenders - situation dependent from crime to crime or by the same
person (drug use, illegal gambling, underage drinking, vagrancy or prostitution)
for example, assisted suicide (usually terminally ill/ severe life altering disability)
is vastly different to someone underage drinking. They can range from young
people to mentally ill/vulnerable or have financial difficulties. Usually, offenders
are in a difficult situation due to things like divorce, death, financial situations,
which forces them to commit these moral crimes.
• Criminal or Deviant -I think it is both criminal and deviant as it not only
breaks the law but some moral crimes are normalised by society, like
vagrancy, because it can be argued that the victim couldn’t help but be in
that situation. In addition to this, it is not prosecuted enough making it
much more deviant as people are less likely to report it.
• Level of Public Awareness - I think the level of public awareness is both
high and low. This is because, drug use and underage drinking is
publicised a lot in the media due to the consequences it may bring
however, crimes like vagrancy, assisted suicide and prostitution are not
talked about often or even seen as crimes that can be punishable
because the morality is questioned from person to person. In addition to
this, these crimes are committed in secret and very personal so it's not
talked about often.
