Criminology A.C 1.1 - Types of Crime

Question 1

What is ‘white collar crime’?

Answer 1

non-violent crimes committed for financial gain

Question 2

What are some examples of white collar crimes?

Answer 2

computer/internet fraud, credit card fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement

Question 3

What are protection rackets?

Answer 3

taking money from people in exchange for agreeing not to hurt them or damage their property

Question 4

What is the definition of crime?

Answer 4

an illegal act carried out that is punishable by law

Question 5

What is the legal definition of crime?

Answer 5

an act which violates the laws of the land

Question 6

What is the social definition of crime?

Answer 6

an act that goes against the social code of a particular community

Question 7

What is deviance?

Answer 7

divergences from a society’s norms, values, and social expectations of behaviour (going against a community’s social code but not punishable by law)

Question 8

What are Ponzi schemes?

Answer 8

a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors

Question 9

Who are the Mafia (Italy, USA)?

Answer 9

a hierarchically structured group of criminals who make money from crime

Question 10

What do the Mafia do?

Answer 10

they make money from crimes like large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering, stealing and gambling

Question 11

Who are the Triads (China)?

Answer 11

a Chinese criminal organisation who engages in a variety of crimes to make money

Question 12

What do the Triads do?

Answer 12

they make money through crimes like fraud, extortion, money laundering, trafficking, prostitution, smuggling and counterfeiting goods

Question 13

Who are the Yakuza (Japan)?

Answer 13

a Japanese organised crime group who engage in criminal activities to make money

Question 14

What do the Yakuza do?

Answer 14

they controlled businesses, engaged in gambling and loan sharking, invested heavily in sports and other entertainment, became involved with drugs, money lending, smuggling and pornography

Question 15

Who was Bernie Madoff?

Answer 15

an American financier who executed the largest Ponzi scheme ever

Question 16

What did Bernie Madoff do?

Answer 16

he defrauded thousands of investors out of billions of dollars for over 17 years

Question 17

Why were people involved in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme?

Answer 17

investors put their trust in Madoff because he was seen as a respectable individual, his returns were high but not eccentric or unrealistic and he claimed to use a legitimate strategy

Question 18

What are moral crimes?

Answer 18

crimes that are open to much legal debate, like euthanasia or prostitution - often seen as “victimless” crimes

Question 19

What is the definition of law?

Answer 19

law is a system of rules that individuals within society must obey

Question 20

What is the definition of a moral?

Answer 20

a set of beliefs, values, principles and standards of behaviour

Question 21

What is the level of public awareness of white collar crimes?

Answer 21

• many are difficult to prosecute due to sophisticated concealment of the crimes
• it is usually a respectable person and so suspicion is not aroused

Question 22

What are state crimes?

Answer 22

crimes committed on behalf of or with state agencies, like governments

Question 23

What are some examples of state crimes?

Answer 23

genocide, war crimes, torture, imprisonment without trial, terrorism, police crimes

Question 24

Who are the types of victims of state crimes?

Answer 24

citizens of the country, sometimes of a different religion or political view than the government

Question 25

Who are the types of offenders of state crimes?

Answer 25

usually high-ranking government officials

Question 26

What are some historical examples of genocide?

Answer 26

• Nazi Germany during the Holocaust
• Idi Amin’s Uganda in the 1970s
• Bosnia in the early 1990s

Question 27

What is the level of public awareness of state crimes?

Answer 27

usually high as the crimes are so extreme and given the speed of media and reporting in society

Question 28

What did Idi Amin do in Uganda?

Answer 28

he forced tens of thousands of people to leave Uganda in 1972 - Asians in the country were given just 90 days to leave

Question 29

What was the Bosnian genocide?

Answer 29

• Bosnian Serbs campaigned to “cleanse” Bosnia of its Muslim population
• during the subsequent war, around 100,000 people were killed, 80% of whom were Bosniaks
• Bosnian Serb forces killed 8,000 Bosniak men and boys from the town, Srebrenica

Question 30

What is technological crime?

Answer 30

a criminal offence committed using the internet or other technologies

Question 31

What are some examples of common technological crimes?

Answer 31

• internet-enabled fraud
• downloading illegal materials like songs and movies
• the use of social media to promote hate crimes

Question 32

Who are the most common types of victim of technological crimes?

Answer 32

any individual or large organisation who uses the internet, often vulnerable are victims of phishing scams and are persuaded to provide personal details

Question 33

Who are the main types of offender of technological crimes?

Answer 33

anyone with access to and a basic knowledge of the internet

Question 34

Are technological crimes criminal or deviant?

Answer 34

some, e.g internet fraud, are considered criminal and deviant as they break the law and go against the norms and values of society, but others like downloading songs is very common and may not be seen as a “real crime” to some

Question 35

Why are women more likely to be victims of cybercrime?

Answer 35

• the unequal distribution of power and resources between men and women
• stereotypical gender roles/identities (e.g. what it means to be masculine and feminine)

Question 36

What is a hate crime?

Answer 36

crime that is perceived by the victim as being motivated by prejudice based on their race, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability or if they’re transgender