Unit 8: Law, Courts, and Procedure

The Concept of Crime

When the word crime is used, it usually evokes images such as a bank robbery or an assault.

Scholars have long attempted to define crime, rather than simply think of examples. There seem to be three distinct views on the subject, the first being called the Consensus View. According to this view, crimes are behaviors that are essentially harmful to a majority of citizens living in society, and have been controlled or prohibited by the existing criminal law. Thus the term “consensus view” means that most people agree that the behaviors prohibited by the criminal law are generally harmful to the well being of society.

The second view of crime is called the Interactionist View. Proponents of this viewpoint agree with the Consensus View that the criminal law defines crime, but challenge that the law represents the will and opinion of a majority of citizens. They instead believe that the law is influenced by people that hold social power and use it to mold the law to reflect their way of thinking. Examples include possession of handguns, use of drugs and alcohol, and the availability (or lack thereof) of abortions.

The third viewpoint is called the Conflict View. Those who hold this opinion believe that the law exists exclusively to protect the power of the upper classes at the expense of the poor.

The true definition of crime is probably a combination of all three viewpoints. It can be summarized as follows: Crime is a violation of societal rules of behavior as interpreted and expressed by a criminal code created by people holding social and political power. Its content may be influenced by prevailing public sentiments, historically developed moral beliefs and the need to promote public safety. Individuals who violate these rules may be eligible for sanctions administered by state authority, which include social stigma, and loss of status, freedom, and even on occasion one’s life.

This definition links criminal behavior to law violation and also to the beliefs and actions of political power groups. The legal code (the actual statutes or written law) represents the influence of a number of sources, including cultural taboos, traditionally proscribed types of behaviors, public opinion, the will and power ofthe state and its representatives, the influence of pressure groups, and lobbyists, private enterprise, and the clergy. Most of the time, the criminal law is in accord with the attitudes of the majority of the population. On some other occasions, however, lifestyles change so rapidly that the law seems to be out-of-step.