Stankiewicz
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What are the elements of crime?
What are legal defenses/legal excuses for
criminal responsibility?
Explains some types and definitions of
selected crimes?
Explain how crime is measured and why
crime statistics are unreliable.
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Identify the costs of crime
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Fear of Crime
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Characteristics of victims of crime
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Crime
From the Latin meaning “accusation” or “fault”
Legal Definition
 An intentional violation of the criminal law or
penal code, committed without defense or excuse
and penalized by the state
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Over-criminalization
Non-enforcement
Under-criminalization
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______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
“Victimless” crimes
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______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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Kissing may last for no longer than five
minutes in Indiana
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In Michigan a woman isn’t allowed to cut her
own hair without her husband’s permission
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The failure to routinely enforce prohibitions
against certain behavior
 Authorities – “__________________________”
 Common for some “white collar” crimes and “blue
laws”
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Causes disrespect for law
 _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
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______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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Technically a crime has
not been committed
unless all of the
following elements are
present:
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___________________
Legality
___________________
Mens Rea
___________________
Concurrence
Punishment
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The external consequence – an action
______________________________________
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___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
__________________
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A threat to do
something violent to
someone
 _____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
Writing something
false about another
person that injures
him/her is called
“_____________”
 Spoken equivalent is
called
“__________________”
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A mental or emotional
state is not sufficient
 ____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
to commit a crime is not
sufficient
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Legality has two
elements
___________________
___________________
___________________
 Law must not be
retroactive or
“___________________
___________________”
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______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Increases the punishment for an act after it
was committed
Changes the rules of evidence
___________________________________
prohibits ex post facto laws
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Criminal conduct –
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
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Latin for “Criminal Intent”
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___________________________________
 Intentional or inaction
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Not _________________________________
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___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
________________
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______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
– or Actus reus
Criminal act must directly lead to harm
without a long delay
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For any behavior to considered a crime there
must be a
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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For something to be a crime there must be
some statutory provision for punishment or
at least the threat of punishment
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Without this fact the law is
___________________________________
and therefore not a criminal law
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In US, offender is not considered responsible
(or less responsible) for an offense if he/she
has:
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_____________________________
_____________________________
Was insane
Acted in self defense or to save another
_________________________________
Acted out of necessity
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_____________________________________
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______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
 18 and older an adult
 Special circumstances
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In Us under ____________ it is assumed
person does not have capacity to form
criminal intent
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Category of offense for young offenders
between the ages __________________
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Mental or psychological
__________________ that or _____________
as a defense against a criminal charge
Sanity or insanity determined by
______________________________________
______________________________________
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Insane: if at time of offense the perpetrator:
 Did not know the nature and quality of the act
 Did not know that the act was wrong
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______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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Not nearly as common as portrayed in the
movies/tv or in myth
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______________________________________
______________________________________
Use only _________________________
necessary to defend
In case of property
Deadly force not authorized; non-deadly
sometimes authorized
_____________________________________
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A legal defense against criminal responsibility
when a person, who was not readily
predisposed to it
______________________________________
______________________________________
_____________________________________
Common defense used
 Usually ___________________________
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A legal defense against criminal responsibility
used when
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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Violent Crimes
 Crimes that involve _______________________
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Murder
 The crime of
_______________
_______person
especially with
_______________
aforethought
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Manslaughter
 __________________________________________
_________________________________________,
either express or implied; distinguished from
murder, which requires
__________________________________________
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Aggravated Assault
 The crime of physically attacking another person
which results in ______________________ and/or
is made with a deadly or _________________
weapon such as a gun, knife, sword, ax or blunt
instrument
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Robbery
 The taking of money or goods in the possession of
another, from his or her person or immediate
presence, _________________________________
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Kidnapping
 ______________________________________
with intent to hold him for ransom or reward; or
use him as a ____________________ ; or
accomplish or aid the commission of any felony or
flight therefrom; or inflict physical injury upon
him, or to violate or abuse him sexually; or
terrorize him or a third person
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Larceny
 __________________________________________
__________________________________________
___________________________________ with
the intent to deprive him or her of its possession
permanently
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Burglary
 The
__________________
breaking and entering of
the dwelling of another
at night with an intent to
commit a felony therein.
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Embezzlement
 The act of ____________________________ for
the purpose of ______________ of such assets by
one or more individuals to whom such assets have
been entrusted, to be held and/or used for other
purposes
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Arson
 The crime of maliciously, voluntarily, and willfully
____________________________ , buildings, or
other property of another or of burning one's own
property for an improper purpose, as to collect
__________
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Extortion (also called shakedown,
outwrestling, and exaction)
 A criminal offence
__________________________________________
_________________________________________,
through coercion
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Blackmail
 Extortion of money or
something else of value
from a person by the
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
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Fraud
In criminal law,
__________________________ made for
personal gain or to damage another
individual
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Counterfeiting
 The process of fraudulently
____________________________________ ,
altering, or distributing a product that is of lesser
value than the _______________________ .
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Treason
A
______________________________________
______________________________, make
war against, or seriously injure the [parent
nation]."
 In many nations, it is also often considered
treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the
government, even if no foreign country is aiding
or involved by such an endeavor.
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Sedition
 Is overt conduct, such as speech and organization,
that is deemed by the legal authority to tend
toward insurrection against the established order

__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
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Widespread group of professional criminals
who rely on illegal activities as a way of life
and whose activities
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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Hate Crimes occur when a perpetrator
______________________________________
______________________________________
Examples of such groups include but are not
limited to: racial group, religion, sexual
orientation, ethnicity or gender identity
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Financially motivated nonviolent crime
committed for illegal monetary gain
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Actions that have been ruled illegal but do
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Often involves consensual acts in which two
or more persons agree to commit a criminal
offence in which no other person is involved
Examples include prostitution, gambling,
and ____________________ .
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It is difficult to accurately measure the
amount of crime statistics
 “Behavior” is viewed as some as criminal and
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others as noncriminal
If behavior is not labeled as a crime it is not
counted
Large percentage of crimes are _______________
Large percentage of crimes go _______________
Some crimes are not documented by police
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Really only an index of crime known to the
police
A crime index
 Estimate of crimes committed
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Victims consider crime _________________
Victims avoid ___________________ an
offender
 Offender may be a family member
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Victim may ___________________________
 Gambling; prostitution
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Victim may wish to avoid the inconvenience
of calling the police
Victim may be __________________________
Victim may ____________________________
Victim may feel police are inept and can’t
catch the ____________________________
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A measure of the _____________________
expressed as the number of crimes per unit of
population
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Official data on crime in the United States,
published by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI)
UCR is a "a nationwide, cooperative statistical
effort of nearly 18,000 city, university and
college, county, state, tribal, and federal law
enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting
data on crimes brought to their attention
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Crime statistics are compiled from UCR data and
published annually by the FBI
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The FBI does not collect the data itself
 Law enforcement agencies across the United States
provide the data to the FBI, which then compiles UCR
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UCR program began in 1930, and since then has
become an important source of crime
information for law enforcement, policymakers,
scholars, and the media
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The UCR Program consists of four parts:
 Traditional Summary Reporting System (SRS) and
the National Incident Based Reporting System
(NIBRS) – Offense and arrest data
 Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted
(LEOKA) Program
 Hate Crime Statistics Program – hate crimes
 Cargo Theft Reporting Program – cargo theft
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Eight Index Crimes
 ____________________
Murder and
manslaughter
2. Forcible Rape
1.
____________________
 ____________________
____________________
____________________
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Robbery
Aggravated assault
Burglary
Larceny/theft
Motor vehicle theft
Arson
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An incident-based reporting system used by
law enforcement agencies in the United
States for collecting and reporting data on
crimes
Local, state and federal agencies generate
NIBRS data from their records management
systems
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Data is collected on every incident and arrest
in the Group A offense category
 These Group A offenses are 46 specific crimes
grouped in 22 offense categories
 Specific facts about these offenses are gathered
and reported in the NIBRS system
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In addition to the Group A offenses, eleven
Group B offenses are reported with only the
arrest information
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Administered by the
_____________________________________
A national survey of US households twice a
year in the United States
The survey focuses on gathering information
on the following crimes: assault, burglary,
larceny, motor vehicle theft, rape, and
robbery
The survey results are used for the purposes
of building a crime index
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According to National Crime Victimization
Surveys (NCVS) in 2005 cost to victims was
_____________________________________
Does not count the cost of the criminal justice
system
Other economists/criminologists (private)
have estimated the costs at _____________
US dollars (University of Chicago's Journal of
Law and Economics)
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A byproduct of crime is the fear of crime
Fear almost same if one experiences crime or
knows someone who experienced crime
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Gender: ____________ fear crime more than
males by over 2 to 1
Race: ___________________fear crime more
than whites (41%-30%)
Age: _________________fear crime more
than any other age group
Region: _________________ fear crime more
than any other region
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Education: High School graduates slightly
more fearful of crime than people with some
college
Politics:
______________________________________
______________________________________
Income: Fear declines with _______________
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The elements of crime
Legal defenses/legal excuses for criminal
conduct
Some types and definitions of selected
crimes
How crime is measured
Crime statistics are unreliable

The costs of crime

The Effects of the Fear of Crime

Characteristics of Likelihood of victims of
crime
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Bohn, Robert M. and Haley, Keith N.
Introduction to Criminal Justice, (Columbus
Ohio: The McGraw-Hill Companies) 2011,
Chapter 2