Drug crimes.

The drug-crime category encompasses a range of offenses

connected with the use, transportation, purchase, and sale of illegal drugs.
Street crime. The most common forms of predatory crimerape, robbery,

assault, burglary, larceny, and auto theftoccur most frequently on urban streets. Racial minority citizens account for a disproportionately high number of the arrests for street crimes.
Organized crime. The term organized crime refers to the unlawful activities of

members of criminal organizations that supply illegal goods and services.

Political crime. The political-crime category contains both crimes by the

government and crimes against the government. Political goals motivate political criminals.
Victimless crime. Consensual acts (in which people are willing participants) and

violations in which only the perpetrator is hurt, such as the personal use of illegal drugs, are called victimless crimes.
White-collar crime. White-collar crimes are offenses that persons commit while

acting in their legitimate jobs and professions. White-collar criminals behave in unethical ways for self-gain (for example, embezzlement) or for the benefit of a business (for example, corporate price-fixing). Victims of white-collar crime include the economy, employers, consumers, and the environment.

Categorisation by type
The following classes of offences are used, or have been used, as legal terms of art:

Offence against the person[21] Violent offence[22] Sexual offence[23] Offence against property[24]

Researchers and commentators have classified crimes into the following categories, in addition to those above:

Forgery, personation and cheating[25] Firearms and offensive weapons[26] Offences against the State/Offences against the Crown and Government[27]/Political offences[28] Harmful or dangerous drugs[29] Offences against religion and public worship[30] Offences against public justice[31]/Offences against the administration of public justice[32] Public order offence[33] Commerce, financial markets and insolvency[34] Offences against public morals and public policy[35] Motor vehicle offences[36] Conspiracy, incitement and attempt to commit crime[37]

Categorisation by penalty
One can categorise crimes depending on the related punishment, with sentencing tariffs prescribed in line with the perceived seriousness of the offence. Thus fines and noncustodial sentences may address the crimes seen as least serious, with lengthy imprisonment or (in some jurisdictions) capital punishment reserved for the most serious.

Common law
Under the common law of England, crimes were classified as either treason, felony or misdemeanour, with treason sometimes being included with the felonies. This system was based on the perceived seriousness of the offence. It is still used in the United States but the distinction between felony and misdemeanour is abolished in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.

Classification by mode of trial

The following classes of offence are based on mode of trial:

Indictable-only offence Indictable offence Hybrid offence, aka either-way offence in England and Wales Summary offence, aka infraction in the US

Classification by origin
In common law countries, crimes may be categorised into those which are common law offences and those which are statutory. In the US, Australia and Canada (in particular), they are divided into federal crimes and those under state law.

U.S. classification
In the United States since 1930, the FBI has tabulated Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) annually from crime data submitted by law enforcement agencies across the United States.[38] Officials compile this data at the city, county, and state levels into the Uniform crime reports (UCR). They classify violations of laws which derive from common law as Part I (index) crimes in UCR data, further categorised as violent or property crimes. Part I violent crimes include murder and criminal homicide (voluntary manslaughter), forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery; while Part I property crimes include burglary, arson, larceny/theft, and motor-vehicle theft. All other crimes count come under Part II. For convenience, such lists usually include infractions although, in the U.S., they may come into the sphere not of the criminal law, but rather of the civil law. Compare tortfeasance. Booking-arrests require detention for a time-frame ranging 1 to 24 hours. .Crimes

in international law

Crimes defined by treaty as crimes against international law include:

crimes against peace crimes of apartheid

genocide piracy slavery sexual slavery forced disappearance waging a war of aggression war crimes

From the point of view of State-centric law, extraordinary procedures (usually international courts) may prosecute such crimes. Note the role of the International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands. Popular opinion in the Western World and Former Soviet Union often[when?] associates international law with the concept of opposing terrorism[citation needed] seen as a crime as distinct from warfare.

Religion and crime

Religious sentiment often becomes a contributory factor of crime. 1819 anti-Jewish riots in Frankfurt where rioters attacked Jewish businesses and destroyed property Different religious traditions may promote distinct norms of behaviour, and these in turn may clash or harmonise with the perceived interests of a state. Socially accepted or imposed religious morality has influenced secular jurisdictions on issues that may otherwise concern only an individual's conscience. Activities sometimes criminalized on religious grounds include (for example) alcohol-consumption (prohibition), abortion and stem-cell research. In various historical and present-day societies institutionalized religions have established systems of earthly justice which punish crimes against the divine will and against specific devotional, organizational and other rules under specific codes, such as Roman Catholic canon law.

Military jurisdictions and states of emergency

In the military sphere, authorities can prosecute both regular crimes and specific acts (such as mutiny or desertion) under martial-law codes that either supplant or extend civil codes in times of (for example) war. Many constitutions contain provisions to curtail freedoms and criminalize otherwise tolerated behaviors under a state of emergency in the event of war, natural disaster or civil unrest. Undesired activities at such times may include assembly in the streets, violation of curfew, or possession of firearms.

Employee crime
Main article: Occupational crime Two common types of employee crime exist: embezzlement and sabotage.[citation needed] The complexity and anonymity of computer systems may help criminal employees camouflage their operations. The victims of the most costly scams include banks, brokerage houses, insurance companies, and other large financial institutions.[39]

Most people guilty of embezzlement do not have criminal histories.[citation needed] Embezzlers tend to have a gripe against their employer, have financial problems, or simply an inability to resist the temptation of a loophole they have found.[citation needed] Screening and background checks on perspective employees can help in prevention; however, many laws make some types of screening difficult or even illegal. Fired or disgruntled employees sometimes sabotage their company's computer system as a form of "pay back".[39] This sabotage may take the form of a logic bomb, a computer virus, or creating general havoc. Some places of employment have developed measures in an attempt to combat and prevent employee crime. Places of employment sometimes implement security measures such as cameras, fingerprint records of employees, and background checks.[citation needed] Although privacy-advocates have questioned such methods, they appear to serve the interests of the organisations using them. Not only do these methods help prevent employee crime, but they protect the company from punishment and/or lawsuits for negligent hiring The causes of crime is one of the major research areas in criminology. The Handbook of Crime Correlates (2009) is a systematic review of worldwide studies on crime publicized in the academic literature. The results of a total of 5200 studies are summarized. In order to identify well-established crime correlates consistency scores were calculated for the factors which many studies have examined. The authors argue that the review summaries most of what is currently known of variables associated with criminality.[1]

Biological
[edit] Age
Crime is most frequent in second and third decades of life.[1]

[edit] Gender
Males commit more overall and violent crime. They also commit more property crime except shoplifting, which is about equally distributed between the genders. Males appear to be more likely to recidivate.[1]

[edit] Arousal
Measures related to arousal such as heart rate and skin conductance are low among criminals.[1]

[edit] Body type

Mesomorphic or muscular body type is positively correlated with criminality.[1]

[edit] Hormones
Testosterone is positively correlated to criminality.[1]

Race, ethnicity, and immigration

There is a relationship between race and crime. Many different theories have been proposed for the relationship between race and crime in the United States. Ethnically/racially diverse areas probably have higher crime rates compared to ethnically/racially homogeneous areas.[1] Most studies on immigrants have found higher rates of crime. However, this varies greatly depending on the country of origin with immigrants from some regions having lower crime rates than the indigenous population.[1]

Early life
Pregnancy
Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with later criminality. Low birth weight and perinatal trauma/birth complications may be more prevalent among criminals.[1] Children who's birth results from an unintended pregnancy are more likely to be delinquents or commit crimes.[2]

Family
Child maltreatment, low parent-child attachment, marital discord/family discord, alcoholism and drug use in the family, and low parental supervision/monitoring are associated with criminality. Larger family size and later birth order are also associated.[1]

School
School disciplinary problems, truancy, low grade point average, and dropping out of high school are associated with criminality.[1]

Adult behavior
Alcohol and illegal drug use
High alcohol use, alcohol abuse, and alcoholism, as well as high illegal drug use and dependence are positively related to criminality in general.[1]

Sex
Early age of first intercourse and more sexual partners are associated with criminality.[1]

Friends
Few friends, criminal friends, and gang membership correlate positively with criminality.[1]

Religion
High religious involvement, high importance of religion in one's life, membership in an organized religion, and orthodox religious beliefs are associated with less criminality. Areas with higher religious membership have lower crime rates.[1]

Physical health
General morbidity
Criminals probably suffer from more illnesses.[1]

Epilepsy
Epilepsy appears to have a positive correlation with criminality.[1]

Accidental injuries
Criminals are more frequently accidentally injured.[1]

Psychological traits
Conduct disorder and antisocial personality disorder
Childhood conduct disorder and adult antisocial personality disorder are associated with one another and criminal behavior.[3][1]

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder correlates positively with criminality.[1]

Depression and suicide

Minor depression and probably clinical depression is more likely among offenders. Depression in the family is associated with criminality. Criminals are more likely to be suicidal.[1]

Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia and criminality appear to be positively correlated.[1][4]

Personality traits
Several personality traits are associated with criminality: High impulsivity, high psychoticism, high sensation-seeking, low self control, high aggression in childhood, and low empathy and altruism.[1]

Socioeconomic factors
Higher total socioeconomic status (usually measured using the three variables income (or wealth), occupational level, and years of education) correlate with less crime. Longer eduction is associated with less crime. Higher income/wealth have a somewhat inconsistent correlation with less crime with the exception of self-report illegal drug use for which there is no relation. Higher parental socioeconomic status probably have an inverse relationship with crime.[1] High frequency of changing jobs and high frequency of unemployment for a person correlate with criminality.[1] Somewhat inconsistent evidence indicates that there is a relationship between low income, percentage under the poverty line, few years of education, and high income inequality in an area and more crime in the area.[1] The relationship between the state of the economy and crime rates is inconsistent among the studies. The same for differences in unemployment between different regions and crime rates. There is a slight tendency in the majority of the studies for higher unemployment rate to be positively associated with crime rates.[1]

Other geographic factors

Cities or counties with larger populations have higher crime rates. Poorly maintained neighborhoods correlate with higher crime rates. High residential mobility is associated with a higher crime rate. More taverns and alcohol stores, as well as more gambling and tourist establishments, in an area are positively related to criminality.[1] There appears to be higher crime rates in the geographic regions of a country that are closer to the equator.[1]

Weather, season and climate

Crime rates vary with temperature depending on both short-term weather and season. The relationship between the hotter months of summer and a peak in rape and assault seems to be almost universal. For other crimes there are also seasonal or monthly patterns but they are more inconsistent across nations. One explanation for this is that heat affects the body which may cause effects such as discomfort; another is that temperature changes to way people socially interact. On the other hand for climate, there is a higher crime rate in the southern US but this largely disappears after non-climatic factors are controlled for.[5]

Victims and fear or crime

Risk of being a crime victim is highest for teens through mid 30s and lowest for the elderly. Fear of crime shows the opposite pattern. Criminals are more often crime victims. Females fear crimes more than males. Blacks appear to fear crime more. Blacks are more often victims, especially of murder.[1]

Being an unwanted child

Children who's parents did not want to have a child are more likely to grow to be delinquents or commit crimes.[2] Such children are also less likely to succeed in school, and are more likely to live in poverty.[2] They also tend to have lower mother-child relationship quality.[6] Children who's births were unintended are likely to be less mentally and physically healthy during childhood.[7]