NCJ Number: 49287
Title: REAL AND PERCEIVED CHANGES OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Journal: DAEDALUS Volume:107 Issue:1 Dated:(WINTER 1978) Pages:143-157
Author(s): M E WOLFGANG
Corporate Author: American Acad of Arts and Sciences
Date Published: 1978
Page Count: 14
Sponsoring Agency: American Acad of Arts and Sciences
Format: Article
Language: English
Country: United States of America
Annotation: FACTORS AFFECTING CRIME RATES AND PERCEIVED SERIOUSNESS OF CRIMES ARE EXAMINED, AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED CRIME AND SANCTIONS ESPOUSED ARE DISCUSSED WITHIN A HISTORICAL CONTEXT.
Abstract: BOTH THE DEFINITION OF CRIME AND SOCIETY'S RESPONSE TO CRIME ARE CULTURALLY SUBJECTIVE, AND THE DEGREES OF ENFORCEMENT AND SANCTION SEVERITY ARE CORRELATED WITH THE INTENSITY AND DEGREE OF COMMITMENT TO COLLECTIVE MORAL SENTIMENTS. IF MORAL SENTIMENTS WEAKEN, THEN FORMERLY SERIOUS OFFENSES BECOME LESS SERIOUS; IF THEY STRENGTHEN, THEN LESS SERIOUS OFFENSES COME TO BE CONSIDERED MORE SERIOUS. FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THE INCIDENCE OF VIOLENT CRIME, A CRIME CATEGORY WHICH HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY CONDEMNED BY MORAL SENTIMENT, INCLUDE THE PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION IN THE CRIMINOGENIC AGE GROUP (15 TO 24 YEARS OLD) AND THE BREAKDOWN OF TRADITIONAL CONTROLS ON CRIME RESULTING FROM DECREASING RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION OF THE 'CRIMINAL CLASSES.' THUS, THE REDUCTION OF THE CRIMINOGENIC POPULATION FORESEEN FOR 1970 THROUGH 1990 SHOULD RESULT IN A DECREASE IN VIOLENT CRIMES. MOREOVER, THE CROSSING OF SOCIOECONOMIC BARRIERS DUE TO THE BREAKDOWN OF RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION BOTH THROUGH GREATER SOCIAL MOBILITY AND THE GREATER MOBILITY DUE TO TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES, WILL HAVE TWO EFFECTS: CRIMES OF VIOLENCE WILL BE PERPETRATED AGAINST THOSE WHO HAVE GREATER POWER OVER SANCTIONS, RESULTING IN GREATER PERCEIVED SERIOUSNESS OF CRIMES OF VIOLENCE; AND SOCIAL MOBILITY WILL RESULT IN A SUBSTITUTION OF ECONOMIC CRIMES FOR WHITE COLLAR CRIMES. IN ADDITION, PUBLIC ATTENTION WILL BE MORE FOCUSED ON WHITE COLLAR CRIMES AS THEY BECOME MORE COMMON AND VIOLENT CRIMES BECOME LESS COMMON, AND GREATER SERIOUSNESS WILL BE ATTRIBUTED TO THEM. THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL SUBJECTIVITY CAN BE SEEN IN THE THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO CRIME CAUSATION AND THE SANCTIONS WHICH ACCOMPANIED THEM. FOR INSTANCE, PRIOR TO THE 18TH CENTURY EMPHASIS WAS PLACED ON INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY AND CHARACTERISTICS; CONSEQUENTLY, SANCTIONS OF A HIGHLY PUNITIVE AND RETRIBUTIVE NATURE WERE IMPOSED. AS GREATER EMPHASIS WAS PLACED ON THE SOCIAL CAUSES OF CRIME, SANCTIONS HEAVILY STRESSED THE REHABILITATION OF THE OFFENDER. MOST RECENTLY, CULTURAL CAUSES OF CRIME IN THE FORM OF LABELING AND ANOMIE THEORIES HAVE BEEN PROPOSED. GIVEN THESE THEORETICAL POSITIONS WHICH TEND TO IMPLY THAT LITTLE CAN BE DONE TO CHANGE THE BASIC CAUSES OF CRIME, AND COUPLED WITH THE RELATIVELY STABLE ATTITUDINAL CONCEPTIONS OF CRIME AND JUSTICE HELD BY THE PUBLIC, A JUST DESERTS/PROPORTIONAL SENTENCING POSITION ON SANCTIONS IS BEGINNING TO EMERGE WHICH EMPHASIZES RESTITUTION TO THE VICTIM, JUSTIFIES PUNISHMENT, EMPHASIZES FAIR AND HUMANE TREATMENT, AND PLACES REHABILITATION ON A VOLUNTARY AND NONPRIORITY BASIS. SUBSTANTIAL REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (JAP)
Index Term(s): Crime patterns; Crime seriousness measures; Criminology; Environmental influences; Policy analysis; Public Attitudes/Opinion; Punishment; Rehabilitation; Social change; Socioculture; Victim attitudes; Violent crimes
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