Crime And Property
"Crime is the violation of statutes enacted
into criminal law by a
locality, state, or the federal government" (Macionis,
218). Crimes against
property include robbery of another's personal
belongings. Property crimes
include burglary, larceny, and auto theft.
Burglary consists of "the
unlawful entry of a structure to commit a [serious
crime] or a theft" (Macionis,
220). Larceny is "the unlawful taking,
carrying, leading, or riding away of
property from the possession of another"
(Macionis, 220). Auto theft is
"the theft or attempted theft of a motor
vehicle" (Macionis, 220).
Since the beginning of time there has been
crime and theft. In primitive
civilizations theft could have included
stealing essentials for life (food,
water, shelter), women, weapons, etc. In
more recent times theft has come to
include all material possessions a person
has. Only naming several which are
money, jewelry, pets, automobiles, etc.
For as long as people have legitimately
owned or made a legal claim to
objects there has been theft. Most criminals
steal in order to support
expensive habits in which excessive amounts of money
are crucial. Poverty is
also another significant influence of crime and theft.
As well as a lack
in morals and values contributes to crime and robbery. Another
influence of
crime and robbery is that certain crimes are committed to
experience a
thrill, adrenaline rush or whatever it may be called. No matter
what the
motive may be, crime and robbery are very frequent and rates are
increasing.
There is a direct and close correlation of poverty and crime. As the
years
have passed people have become more and more socially stratified.
Thus,
creating a feeling of inferiority among the poor and less fortunate.
With this
feeling people are more inclined to commit crimes, mainly in the
form of
robbery. The action of theft is a quick and effective way of gaining
what is
desired or what will theoretically make the feeling of inferiority go
away. For
example as studied by Robert Park and Ernest Burgess in Chicago,
the "zone
of transition" (ghetto) promotes and advocates criminal behavior
and
deviance. Through this case study it concluded that crime rates are
consistently
high in these areas in cities. Also, no matter what groups and
different
nationalities inhibited the area, there is no relation to the
rates.