Trends in Crime, Research Paper Example

There are a variety of things that link certain crimes to other types of crimes. For example, often times, being a teenage girl in a certain environment means having to be exposed to rape, misuse, and sexual violence. On the other hand, an individual who is in an environment that is constantly being exposed to a number of drugs means that this certain individual might eventually resort to the use of certain kinds of drugs. Therefore, age is not only the contributing factor to rates of crime, but also the environment in which the crime takes place is a vital factor that must be accounted for. Often, the people who are most affected by certain types of crimes are those who are most easily affected, such as the young.

Nowadays, the crimes that juveniles are most arrested for include manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The individuals who most often commit these kinds of crimes have been know to be men. The reason as to why things are this way is because men in specific geographical locations often find themselves in situations in which they do not have a choice but to commit these crimes. These kinds of people find themselves in these situations because they might have to feed their families or they are just trying got get through another day (this is most commonly linked to robbery). Despite the fact that research has indicated that men commit more crime than women, it should also be considered that women have been known to commit a number of crimes throughout their life as well. Therefore, humanity as a whole is at fault, not just one gender in specific.

According to the Bureau of Justice Studies (BJS) in 2003, the breakdown of the kinds of victims to certain kinds of crime per 1,000 persons ranges vastly from what kind of crime is being committed. For example, the study indicates that when it comes down to murder victims, about half of the victim were white, white the other half were black. This kind of information helps in the understanding that all individuals are just as susceptible to certain kinds of crime wherever they may be, at any time. Research has indicated that murder and rape and crimes that are most commonly committed by men when compared to women. This is not to say that men as completely at fault in the involvement of all of these crimes, but according to the data, they are most often at fault. Of course, there have been many circumstances in which women have committed the same crimes that men have, but not quite to the extent that men have.

Something interesting that must be taken note of is that sometimes there is absolutely no link between victims and the crime suspects. For example, an African American man might do something unexpected and rape a young white girl. Because of situations like these, there is nothing that indicates that a specific age, race, or gender will go after a similar age, race, or gender. This can make things difficult for authorities who are looking for links between the kind of subjects that criminals go after. On another note, employment status definitely contributes to being a victim of crime, most notably robbery. For example, a CEO of a business might be the target of a number of criminals simply due to how much money that individual might have. Marital status is also something that should be considered. There are some criminals who place a specific interest in only hurting other people who are in a specific marital state.

4 in 5 rapes happen to individuals who know the perpetrator of the rape. What this means is that most individuals are familiar with the person who is committing the crime to them. By the same note, it is more likely that one would be murdered by someone one knows due to internal factors that might be taking place in those individual’s life. Law enforcement use advancements in the investigative process to counter these trends by quickly drawing links between the kind of criminals that are present within a given area and what kind of crimes they commit.

References

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2015, October 11). Retrieved from www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=922

Catalano, S. M. (2003). National Crime Victimization Survey. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv03.pdf

The Rapist isn’t a Masked Stranger. (n.d.). The Offenders | RAINN | Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. Retrieved from https://rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-offenders