Unit 8: Social Problems in the United States

Crime

President Nixon

Crime is one of the most serious social problems facing the nation. Former President Nixon remarked on several occasions that crime is the "number one enemy" and that "we must declare war against it." (Ironically, President Nixon and many of his top administrative officials later faced criminal charges—with some being imprisoned—in connection with the Watergate Affair.)

It is generally agreed that serious, violent crime has reached alarming proportions in the United States. A survey by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) found that 61% of all women feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods at night; that 45% of the population is afraid to walk alone at night near their own homes; and that 47% own guns, largely for self-protection.

Those arrested for crimes are disproportionately likely to be male, young, a member of a racial minority, and a city resident. Males are arrested about four times as often as females. Only in juvenile runaway cases and prostitution are females arrested more often than males. There are two major reasons why males are more often arrested. One is the sex role stereotyping which encourages males to be more aggressive and daring, while females are encouraged to be more passive and conforming to rules and norms. The second reason is the tendency of police officers and the courts to deal more leniently with female offenders. However, it should be noted, in the past decade, crime among females has been increasing at much faster rate than among males, a negative side effect which has been attributed to women challenging the traditional sex roles of passivity and conformity.

Young people appear to commit far more than their share of crime, including the crimes that are classified by the FBI as most serious—rape,

The FBI Headquarter in Washington D.C.

murder, robbery, arson, burglary, aggravated assault, auto theft, and larceny. In 1985, 31% of all arrests were of persons under the age of 21, and 50% of all arrests were of persons under 25. A partial explanation of the high arrest rate among juveniles and young adults is that they may be less skillful than older adults in avoiding being arrested. Another reason is that they tend to commit crimes, such as auto theft, which are highly visible to the police. Even when all these factors are taken into account, it is still the case that the young commit more crimes than the old.

Members of racial minority groups have a disproportionately higher rate of arrests. The arrest rate for the black population is three times higher than for whites. One reason for this higher rate is that a higher proportion of the black population is poor or unemployed; and there are high correlations between poverty (and unemployment) and the types of crime classified by the FBI as most serious. An additional reason for the higher arrest rates among minority groups may be racial prejudice. A number of studies have shown that the probability of arrest, prosecution, conviction, and incarceration for an offense that is committed decreases as the social status of the offender increases. In one study, 36 judges were given fact sheets on a hypothetical case and asked to recommend an appropriate sentence. The fact sheets contained the following information:

　　"Joe Cut", 27, pleaded guilty to battery. He slashed his common-law wife on the arms with a switchblade. His record showed conviction for disturbing the peace, drunkenness, and hit-run driving. He told a probation officer that he acted in self-defense after his wife attacked him with a broom handle. The prosecutor recommended not more than 5 days in jail or a $100 fine.

Half the fact sheets identified "Joe Cut" as white, and the other half identified him as black. The judges who thought he was white recommended a sentence of 3 to 10 days, while those who thought he was black recommended a sentence from 5 to 30 days.

It must be noted that the Serious Crime Index of UCR focuses on crimes which are more apt to be committed by persons of lower social and economic status. It does not contain the types of crimes typically committed by higher income groups; fraud, false advertising, corporate price fixing, bribery, embezzlement, industrial pollution, tax evasion, and so on. If white-collar crimes were included in the Crime Index, and if authorities were more vigorous in their enforcement, the profile of a typical criminal would be very likely older, wealthier, whiter, and more suburban than suggested by the Crime Index.

In summary, the Serious Crime Index of the FBI provides an indication of the rates and trends of certain crimes in the United States. Yet these statistics that overlook white-collar crimes are affected by police reporting practices and have to be viewed against the fact that many crimes are unreported. It further appears that the poor, the undereducated, and minorities have been the victims not only of selective law enforcement, but also of misleading statistics on crime. Some sociologists have contended that, since higher-income classes are far more involved in white-collar crime (which is often ignored by law enforcement agencies), the higher classes may actually have a higher rate of crime than the lower classes.

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