Chapter 11 Crimes of Violence
Chapter Summary
 Chapter Eleven is an overview of the most
prominent violent crimes in the United States and
world wide.
 The chapter begins with an explanation of homicide
and a comparison of homicide rates in the United
States compared with the rest of the world.
 Chapter Eleven then discusses the crime of rape, and
the main theories associated with the crime of rape.
Chapter Summary
 This is followed with a discussion of robbery and
aggravated assault.
 The Chapter concludes with different theoretical
explanations of crimes of violence.
 After reading this chapter, students should be able
to:
 Explain homicide
 Understand the various theories of rape
 Evaluating the theories of rape
Chapter Summary
 Discuss robbery
 Explain aggravated assault
 Understand the theories regarding crimes of
violence
 Discuss the implications of violence
Murder
 The FBI defines murder as: “The willful (nonnegligent) killings of one human being by
another.”
Table 11.1 Violent Crime Rates and State Rank in 2004
State
Rank
Total Violent
Murder
Rape
Robbery
Aggravated
Assault
(22)
426.6
5.6
38.5
133.4
249.1
Alaska
(7)
634.5
5.6
85.1
68.2
475.6
Arizona
(13)
504.1
7.2
33.0
134.4
329.4
Arkansas
(15)
499.1
6.4
42.4
86.2
364.1
California
(9)
551.8
6.7
26.8
172.1
346.3
Colorado
(25)
373.5
4.4
42.5
81.5
245.1
Connecticut
(34)
286.3
2.6
20.7
120.5
142.6
Delaware
(12)
568.4
2.0
41.5
146.7
378.1
35.8
40.1
578.5
716.9
Alabama
District of Columbia
1,371.2
Florida
(2)
711.3
5.4
38.0
172.4
495.5
Georgia
(19)
455.5
6.9
27.0
154.7
266.8
Hawaii
(39)
254.4
2.6
26.4
74.8
150.7
Idaho
(42)
244.9
2.2
40.9
17.2
184.6
Illinois
(10)
542.9
6.1
33.2
177.2
326.4
Indiana
(29)
325.4
5.1
28.9
102.2
189.2
Iowa
(37)
270.9
1.6
26.7
38.0
204.5
Kansas
(24)
374.5
4.5
40.4
66.3
263.4
Kentucky
(41)
244.9
5.7
29.9
78.8
130.5
State
Total Violent
Murder
Rape
Robbery
Aggravated
Assault
(6)
638.7
12.7
35.8
145.4
444.9
(49)
103.5
1.4
23.9
21.9
56.3
(3)
700.5
9.4
23.7
229.6
437.8
Massachusetts
(18)
458.8
2.6
28.0
116.4
311.7
Michigan
(17)
490.2
6.4
54.2
111.9
317.7
Minnesota
(38)
269.6
2.2
41.6
79.8
146.0
Mississippi
(32)
295.1
7.8
40.0
86.2
161.1
Missouri
(16)
490.5
6.2
25.7
115.2
343.4
Montana
(33)
293.8
3.2
29.5
25.1
236.0
Nebraska
(30)
308.7
2.3
35.5
65.1
205.8
(8)
615.9
7.4
40.9
210.1
357.6
New Hampshire
(47)
167.0
1.4
35.3
38.5
91.8
New Jersey
(26)
355.7
4.5
15.3
150.3
185.6
(5)
687.3
8.9
54.6
108.3
515.5
New York
(21)
441.6
4.6
18.8
174.3
244.0
North Carolina
(20)
447.8
6.2
27.4
137.9
276.2
North Dakota
(50)
79.4
1.4
25.1
6.1
46.8
Ohio
(28)
341.8
4.5
40.5
153.1
143.6
Oklahoma
(14)
500.5
5.3
44.2
87.7
363.3
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Nevada
New Mexico
Rank
State
Rank
Total Violent
Murder
Rape
Robbery
Aggravated
Assault
Oregon
(31)
298.3
2.5
35.7
76.5
183.6
Pennsylvania
(23)
411.1
5.2
28.5
148.9
288.4
Rhode Island
(40)
247.4
2.4
29.6
67.6
147.7
South Carolina
(1)
784.2
6.9
40.9
129.7
606.7
South Dakota
(46)
171.5
2.3
43.8
14.8
110.5
Tennessee
(4)
695.2
5.9
37.6
149.8
501.8
Texas
(11)
540.5
6.1
37.3
159.3
339.9
Utah
(43)
236.0
1.9
39.1
51.7
143.3
Vermont
(48)
112.0
2.6
24.4
12.2
72.7
Virginia
(35)
275.6
5.2
23.7
92.6
154.1
Washington
(27)
343.8
3.1
46.1
94.6
200.2
West Virginia
(36)
271.2
3.7
17.6
42.3
207.6
Wisconsin
(45)
209.6
2.8
20.6
73.8
112.4
Wyoming
(44)
229.6
2.2
22.1
13.2
192.1
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (2005). Crime in the United States, 2004: Uniform
Crime Reports. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Note: We did not include District of Columbia for ranking purposes.
Homicide Trends in the United States in the
Twentieth Century
 We should never take national statistics at face
value unless we are very sure of their quality.
 The homicide statistics of individual cities are more
reliable.
 With the advent of the UCR in 1930, national data
became somewhat more reliable.
Homicide Trends in the United States in the
Twentieth Century
 The decrease in the homicide rate in the early 1990s
can be attributed to several factors including a large
decrease in the crack market and in gang warfare as
territories became consolidated by the strong
pushing out the weak.
 Perhaps the biggest factor in the homicide drop has
been the medical and technological improvements.
Figure 11.1
Homicide Rates in the United States in the 20th Century
Source: National Center for Health Statistics. (2002). Vital statistics.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Categories of Murder
 First degree murder is defined today as the intentional
unlawful killing of one human being by another with
premeditation and deliberation.
 Felony murder does not require the intention to kill,
bit rather the intention to commit some other felony
during the commission of which a victim was killed.
 Voluntary manslaughter: The intentional killing of
another human being without premeditation and
deliberation.
Categories of Murder
 Involuntary manslaughter:
Criminal homicide where an
unintentional killing results
from a reckless act.
 Negligent manslaughter:
An unintentional homicide
that is charged when a death
or deaths arise from some
negligent act that carries a
substantial risk of death to
others.
Stranger, Acquaintance, Family Member:
Who Kills Whom?
 The typical homicide victim and perpetrator is a
young black male living in a large urban center.
 When females kill males, it is typically a spouse,
ex-spouse, or boyfriend in a self-defense situation.
Stranger, Acquaintance, Family Member:
Who Kills Whom?
 The typical explanation for intrafamily homicide is
that family members are in danger of being assaulted
by other family members simply because they are
frequently in “social distance” of one another.
 Non-genetically related family members such as
spouses, stepchildren, and stepparents are at elevated
risk for victimization.
Figure 11.2
Homicide Victimization for Years 1976-2002
by Age, Gender & Race
Source: Homicide trends in the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2004). Homicide trends in the
U.S. Retrieved from http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/homicide/tables/varstab.htm
Other Violent Crimes
 Although murder is the most serious of the
violent crimes, it is the rarest.
Figure 11.3
Violent Crime Victimization Rates per 1,000
Persons Age 12 or Older From 1973 to 2003
Note: Data collected before the National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS)
redesign was implemented during 1992 (the lightly shaded area) have been made
comparable to the postdesign NCVS. Data were reestimated to account for the
effects of the redesign. Rape does not include sexual assault for this trend
analysis.
Rape and Rapists
 Forcible rape: The carnal knowledge of a female
forcibly and against her will.
 Rapes of males are classified as either assault or other
sex offenses.
Rape and Rapists
 The 16-24 age groups were most likely to be
victimized; women with household incomes less
than $7500 per year were most likely to be
victimized; Women who were divorced or separated
were most likely to be victimized.
Rape Internationally
 The reported rape rate in the United States is
typically four times higher than that of Germany, 13
times higher than Britain’s, and 20 times higher than
Japan’s.
 Determining true rape rates is extremely difficult,
and comparing international rape rates is more
difficult yet.
Theories of Rape
 The three main theories of rape are the feminist,
social learning, and evolutionary.
Feminist Theory of
Rape
 Rape is motivated by power not sexual
desire.
 Males are indirectly socialized to rape via
gender role messages asserting male
authority and dominance over women.
 Rape “is nothing more or less than a
conscious process of intimidation by which
all men keep all women in a state of fear.”
Social Learning Theory of Rape
 Social learning places less emphasis on sexual
politics and is generally agnostic about what the
ultimate purpose of rape is.
 Social learning theorists agree with feminists that the
negative images of women as the sexual playthings
of men promulgated in advertising and pornography
play a critical role in the rape causation.
 Social learning theory attempts to explain rape at the
individual level.
Evolutionary Theory of Rape
 Some evolutionary theories of rape hold the view that
coercive sexuality is a normal male strategy designed by
natural selection.
 Forced copulation is observed in many animal species and
that the key is to understanding rape is the wide disparity in
parental investment between the sexes.
 All men are potential rapists and men who employ coercive
tactics do so because of environmental factors.
Evaluation of the Theories
 The main contribution of feminist theory is political
and legal.
 The major problem area of feminist and social
learning theories is the insistence that rape is a
pseudo-sexual act.
 Critics argue that rape is a sexual act.
 Evolutionary theories receives the most criticism,
especially since the theory cannot explain instances
of rape in which there is no possibility of
reproduction.
Biosocial Theory of Rape
 The sex drive and the drive to possess and
control motivates rape.
 The average sex drive of men is stronger than
the average sex drive of women.
 Although the motivation for rape is unlearned,
the specific behavior surrounding it is learned.
 Because of the neurohormonal factors, people
will differ in the strength of their sex drives and
in their sensitivity to threats of punishment.
Robbery and Robbers
 The UCR defines robbery as: “The taking or
attempted taking of anything of value from the
care, custody, or control of a person or persons by
force or threat of force or violence and/or putting
the victim in fear.”
The Robbers
 Interviews of active street robbers show them to be
the least educated, least conscientious, most fearless,
most impulsive, and most hedonistic of criminals.
 Robbery is the perfect crime for those with a
pressing and constant need for fast cash to feed a
hedonistic lifestyle and who enjoy the rush that the
crime affords them.
 With the exception of rape, robbery is the most
“male” of all crimes.
Aggravated Assault
 The FBI defines aggravated
assault as : “An unlawful
attack by one person upon
another for the purpose of
inflicting severe or
aggravated bodily injury.”
 Aggravated assault is the
most common felony violent
crime.
Explaining Violence Sociologically: The
Subculture of Violence Thesis
 Subculture of violence: A subculture in which the
norms, values, and attitudes of its members
legitimize the use of violence to resolve conflicts.
 Subcultural practices cannot be properly examined or
understood without reference to the structural
factors present in the larger society that led to their
formation.
 Many African American scholars attribute the
subculture of violence to slavery; this situation
generated a tradition of settling differences without
involving authorities.
Explaining Violence Sociologically: The
Subculture of Violence Thesis
 The successful application of aggression is a source
of pride.
 Other social scientists may attribute the extraordinary
level of violence in the inner cities to a culture of
poverty.
 Honor subcultures: Communities in which young
men are hypersensitive to insult, rushing to defend
their reputation in dominance contests.
Part UCR
I ViolentViolent
Crimes by Crime
Race*
Figure 11.4 2001
Rates by Race
14
12
14
10
10.7
Asian
White
Black
10.2
8.4
8
6
Black
4
2.96
2.5
1.8
1.66
White
2
1
1
1
1
0
Murder
Rape
Robbery
Agg. Assault
* White and black rates are multiples of Asian rate: Asian rates set at 1
Asian
Hormones, Brains, Violence
 Testosterone facilitates criminal or status striving
behaviors.
 Testosterone levels fluctuate up and down in
response to environmental circumstances.
 Variation in testosterone levels is often the
consequence of successful or failed aggression.
Hormones, Brains, Violence
 Abused and neglected children raised in honor
subcultures are likely to experience both elevated
levels of testosterone and lowered levels of
serotonin, a combination especially likely to result in
violence.
 Impulsiveness is the proximate behavioral
expression of a brain wired by consistent exposure
to violence.
Evolutionary Considerations: What is
Violence For?
 Evolutionary biologists assume that violence evolved
to solve some set of adaptive problems.
 Natural selection has provided us with the ability to
switch to a violence mode quickly when we have
reason to believe that things we value may be taken
from us.
 Violence may be in the nature of human males, but it
is not the nature of human males.