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Paper Abstract: Response of society to crime. Based on G. Nettler's book. Her analysis of different types of crime and explanations. Crime as a moral determination. Concept of no crime without intention or capacity. Issues affecting how society views crime. Concept of rational crime as purposeful. Events that can increase crime. Paper Introduction: Nettler (1984) offers an analysis of crime and the response of society to crime, beginning with definitions of crime and continuing through an analysis of different types of crime leading to a consideration of sociopsychological explanations for crime. She offers several possible explanations for crime and notes that we pay a different price when we choose one explanation over another. The analysis is extensive and opens a number of issues for further investigation and consideration concerning crime, its effect on society, and what society does to control the problem. Crime costs in various ways, so we also pay a price simply for the fact of crime. Crime is broadly defined here as "the wrongs we do ourselves and others" (Nettler, 1996, 1). This makes crime a moral determination, and the author says there is thus no essence of criminality to be observed in a situation because the definition is in some degree itself situational, based on the moral criteria used. In the legal sense the term "refers only to Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Crime is broadly defined here as "the wrongs we doourselves and others" (Nettler, 1996, 1). In legal terms, there is no crime without a law deeming acertain act to be a crime, and even then, an act might be justified and sonot be deemed a crime. Merton sees human beingsas having naturally insatiable appetites, and these appetites are stronglyinfluenced by the culture in which the individual resides. This is thus a counter to the medical image of crime andinstead sees crime as a rational choice, a balancing of possible punishmentagainst potential gain. A rational act is something doneconsciously, and crime is something done from volition and so consciously.Rational crime can also be seen to have some reason for existence, andNettler states that an "immediate implication of the conception of somecrime as rational is a challenge to the popular psychiatric assumption . Anomie is a state in which the norms of society areweak or lacking, and the belief is that the social structure produces astrain toward anomie and deviant behavior because the pressure of thesocial order is on outdoing one's competitors. In addition to the official counts of crime, there areunofficial counts by social institutions, news reports, observations, andsimply in terms of how safe the public does or does not feel at any giventime. No similar list ofevents which could lead to a reduction in crime is given, though presumablythe obverse of many of the above would lead to such a reduction. There is also no crime without intention--youcannot commit a crime by accident, in other words, so volition is requiredfor an act to be deemed criminal. Nettler tries to give some attention to most of the issues affectinghow society views crime and decides what to do about it. Nettler continues analyzing the definitions of crime and narrows thefield of wrongs that can be considered crimes. Understanding these correlates is a starttoward achieving causation and reducing crime. Concepts of victims also affect how crime isviewed and depends "on attributions of responsibility and conceptions ofharm" (Nettler, 1996, 4). Crime costs in various ways, so we also pay a price simply for thefact of crime. Morals changeover time, so the precise definitions even of generally accepted crimeslike theft and murder will vary at different times, as reflected in thecriminal code of a society. Explaining crime (third edition). Nettlerconcludes reasonably, "The best guarantor of relatively crime-free sociallife is a culture that, by its habits, inhibits the development of thesecrimogenic conditions" (Nettler, 1996, 316). Crime has been explainedby theorists using circumstances as the reason, as in Durkheim's theory ofanomie as applied to crime by Merton, or the opportunity-structure theoryof Cloward and Ohlin. Organized crime as it is usually envisioned would be arational choice balancing these competing interests, while a crime ofpassion would not fit into this mold. She addresses thequestion of crime statistics, both how crimes are counted and reported andhow society reacts to a rise and fall in numbers. This makes crime a moraldetermination, and the author says there is thus no essence of criminalityto be observed in a situation because the definition is in some degreeitself situational, based on the moral criteria used. The analysis is extensive and opens anumber of issues for further investigation and consideration concerningcrime, its effect on society, and what society does to control the problem. In the legal sensethe term "refers only to those injuries condemned by the criminal code of astate and prosecuted by a government" (Nettler, 1996, 1). (1984). Another explanation of crime is described under the heading"structures of opportunity," meaning that people's conduct is influenced bythe circumstances in which they find themselves. New York:McGraw-Hill. He describedaberrant behavior as a symptom of dissociation between aspirations definedby culture and socially structured means, and anomie can result when thedissociation between norms and means is pervasive and extensive. .. Crime is thus defined as rational because it has a purpose, eventhough that purpose may be immoral. Nettler (1984) offers an analysis of crime and the response ofsociety to crime, beginning with definitions of crime and continuingthrough an analysis of different types of crime leading to a considerationof sociopsychological explanations for crime. Certain kinds of crime more readily fit into thisview than others. Nettler notes that there is no crime withoutcapacity, meaning the ability to form the necessary intention. Nettler ties up much of what she has said earlier when she notes thatthere are a number of events which can be expected to be followed byincreased levels of criminal activity, including the mass movement ofpeople, social mobility, an increase in relative deprivation, an expansionof wealth, a proliferation of messages "advertising the delights of theftand violence" (Nettler, 1996, 315), and the increased use of alcohol andsimilar substances that anaesthetize the conscience. Other refinements have also beenintroduced in the law. The search for the causes of crime proceeds by countingthe correlates of crime: "'Correlation' refers simply to association,while 'causation' refers to power to effect a change in events orsituations" (Nettler, 1996, 98). One thing Nettler shows clearly is that there are different ways ofdefining crime based on one's view of causation and one's view of society.Leftist views of crime, for instance, have a political dimension that takesprecedence, though there is agreement from the left that there is noessence of criminality but that crime is crime because it is so defined.The left sees crime as a result of human nature, economics, and socialsituations. Nettler says that the public should have acritical attitude toward crime statistics and toward interpretations ofthese statistics. Reference Nettler, G. Some wrongs are universallydefined as such, while others are dependent on social and historicalcircumstances. Nettlerexamines a wide variety of explanations for crime as a structure ofopportunity, including explanations from psychology, sociology, andpolitical theory. Nettler divides the issue of crime into categories based on what shecalls the social location of serious crime, and she finds that crimecenters on three sets of social locations--age and sex, wealth, andethnicity and urbanism. The concept of rational crime is interesting as defined by Nettler--rational crime includes the wrongs we do one another in order to get whatwe want. Nettler is less interested indelineating ways of stopping crime in this book than in defining crime andits causes, however. These social locations are correlations that canbe used to describe criminal acts and actors and the social settings ofdifferent crimes. This is onereason why young people of a certain age are not considered to be culpablefor their actions--they lack the capacity to form the requisite intent andalso why insanity is a defense in certain cases. A medical symptom would not explainhigh crime in poverty areas, but a sociological view of a symptom as asocial lack that crime seems to fulfill would. Whether the reportednumbers are rising or falling, it is clear that the true rate of crime isalways somewhat higher than the reported rate because some crimes are notreported or are undiscovered. She offers several possibleexplanations for crime and notes that we pay a different price when wechoose one explanation over another. Just as society counts crimes, so does society count victims andemphasize the importance of victimization in allocating resources to fightcrime. that crime is a 'symptom' of social and personal sickness" (Nettler,1996, 167). If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.