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HSB4U Crime and Statistics Workshop
Remember that crime is a deviation from social norms. People who commit crimes are subject to social
control (external, formal social control) via formal penalties.
What is considered a crime varies from place to place.
Sociologists have defined the following terms:
o
o
Violent crimes=acts against people that cause death or physical injury (i.e. homicide, assault, rape,
robbery)
Property crimes=an act that damages property owned by individuals or the
government (i.e. theft, larceny, shoplifting, embezzlement, burglary)
1.
Review Figure 5 and Figure 6. What do these graphs tell us about the
relationship between age and crime?
2.
Review Figure 7A. At what age are people most likely to commit a crime? Why
might this be the case?
3.
a.
Review Table 1 and Table A2. What do these charts tell us...
About the relationship between age and crime?
b.
About the relationship between sex and crime?
c.
Hypothesize. Why aren’t girls committing crimes?
d.
When girls do commit, crimes, which crimes are they most likely to commit?
Why?
e.
4.
a.
Identify any one, single, interesting disparity or shift in the statistics. How can
this shift, perhaps, be explained?
Review Figure 11 and Figure 12.
What trend is depicted in Figure 11?
b.
What trend is depicted in Figure 12?
c.
Is unemployment more closely linked to property crime or violent crime?
5.
What do Figure 18 and Figure 18a tell us about the link between age and drug
use? Dot-jot two interesting observations
6.
What do Table 2 and Table 3 tell us about youth drug use? Dot-jot two
interesting observations.
7.
a.
Look at Figure 19.
Who is most likely to be a victim of spousal homicide?
b.
Why might the rate of spousal homicide be declining over time?
8.
Review Table 3. What is the relationship between income and perceptions of
social disorder in ones’ neighbourhood? Dot jot a few interesting observations.
9.
Review Chart 3. What is interesting about the relationship between household
income and ones’ fear of crime?
10.
11.
a.
Review Table 43, 49, and 67.
What crimes are white Americans most likely to commit? Hypothesize why.
b.
What crimes are black Americans most likely to commit? Hypothesize why.
Compare this information with “Incarceration Rates by Race and Ethnicity,
2010” and Figure 9 and Figure 10. What does this tell you about the link between race and
incarceration?
12.
REVIEW crime stats in general. What is the relationship between crime and...
-age
-gender
-class
-race/ethnicity
13.
Read page 192 of your text.
a.
Summarize the Conflict Perspective on deviance.
b.
How would conflict theorists explain some of the crime statistics you reviewed
today?