Crime occurs almost every day in the United States. Many crimes that occur have motives and there are countless types of crimes such as armed robbery, murder, and embezzlement. Crimes can be categorized as street crime or as white-collar crime. Street crime does more harm than white-collar crime. Street crime is more harmful than white-collar crime due to the amount of violence that possibly takes place. No matter what monetary amount might be taken from a person, nothing is more harmful than taking a person’s life.
There are multiple ways in which either street crime or white-collar crime can cause harm to people. There are multitudinous ways in which street crime can cause harm those include violence, as well as losing money or other valuable possessions. There are multiple ways in which white-collar crime can cause harm, those include embezzlement, fraud, copyright infringement, identity theft, bribery, and forgery. While both forms of crime are devastating, street crime tends to lead to more violence, causing more harm than white-collar crime. Street crime occurs more often than white-collar crime does.
Street crime is any criminal action that occurs in a public area. Mugging can also be called street crime. Mugging is the act of stealing any type of personal possession or property from another person. Mugging can happen as a result of urgency mainly for money. Several people are truly desperate and will sometimes take desperate measures just to glean some money. Other than being desperate, another motive that could serve as a reason for committing a street crime could be that a person may want personal revenge or are jealous of another person and their successful situation.
With motives being the root of most street crime, there are many other crimes that fall under the categorization of street crime. Crimes include arson, battery, driving under the influence (DUI),multiple degrees of murder charges, rape, sexual assault, stalking, vandalism and many others. Not only are the people who commit these crimes responsible, the national government in recent years has also been responsible for some crimes. The national government is responsible for any criminal activity committed by an alien that was released from prison by the government itself.
The national government is equally responsible because they completely failed at the task of keeping the alien out of trouble in the first place. Washington then becomes responsible for any criminal activity that occurs after a city releases an alien criminal because they did not lay down the law when it comes to nullifying rogue jurisdictions which goes against federal law. When the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released some aliens from prison that had criminal history, many homicides took place not too long after being released. Krikorian).
As with many crimes there are costs that are involved with each one committed. The costs in some cases may involve extreme, devastating losses, while other costs may be less severe. Street crime in terms of severity may have extreme costs involving different amounts of violence. However white-collar crime can also be severe in terms of losing either everything an individual has or losing a large amount of their possessions. Both white-collar crime and organized crime, both evince a very long process of trying to redefine the term crime.
Professor Edwin Sutherland, who was a sociologist is credited with creating the term white-collar crime (Baker). In 1939 the term white-collar crime became official as it was then deemed as part of the English language. It became official when Edwin Sutherland gave his Presidential Address to the A. S. S (American Sociological Society). The address was titled “The White Collar Criminal” and it went against many theories about crime. Theories that the speech went against include some that placed blame on poverty, unstable homes, and distraught character.
White-collar crime was defined by Sutherland as a crime that was committed by an individual of properness and had a high social class position where they worked. There was controversy over this definition. The controversy was that a crime could not be classified as a white-collar crime, unless the individual that committed the crime was in a high social class. The controversy has placed blame on Sutherland for his inability to distinguish between definition and explanation in his definition of white-collar crime (Braithwaite 2-3).
There are many types of white-collar crimes. Some include, bank fraud, cell phone fraud, credit card fraud, counterfeiting, embezzlement, and money laundering. Embezzlement appears to be the most common that is heard about either on the local evening news or if it is severe embezzlement on the national evening news. Embezzlement can be described as a crime that an individual commits with a specific motive that fraudulently takes a possession that is consigned to a specific person but instead is “accidentally” put into another’s care.
This action of switching who owns what can be termed as usurping the original owner’s control over the possession. With any property, which can include money, pets, and trading secrets that can be embezzled, in some cases, it becomes hard to determine what actually makes it embezzlement (Green 96). While some people who thoroughly plan out their white-collar crimes may be social and active within the business to give the impression of not appearing sneaky or suspicious, others are not.
Some people that remain very bottled up and do not show that they love thrilling experiences at their job may express themselves somewhere else outside. However there are people who are antisocial or act in a antisocial way and do not truly wish to adapt to the rules or standards of the modern world find pleasure in criminal actions (Andrews 55). As with any crime, just like street crime, white-collar crimes have costs. In comparison street crime may have more violent costs, but white-collar crime can wipe out an entire family in terms of money.
White-collar crimes can leave some people with absolutely nothing and some with very little. Either way the costs can make a single individual or multiple individuals penniless. There are ways that the national government helps protect its citizens from both types of crime. Over many years the national government has changed and added new ways of protecting its citizens from both street crime and white-collar crime. Laws as well as the 2nd Amendment enable the citizens of the United States to protect themselves as well as others from the dangers of crime in today’s society.
Not only does the national government protect citizens from these crimes, but the state and local governments do as well. Guaranteed by the 10th Amendment powers that are not given to the national government are reserved for the states, which makes it possible for the state government to provide protection through the local police department. If the police is not able to provide protection, then by the guaranteed right to bear arms people are able to use firearms to protect themselves.
The United States in comparison with many other cultural societies has a large number of people who own firearms. Nearly half of the American households have at least one firearm if not more. The main reason many people have firearms in their possession is that they fear for their life and want protection for themselves. They may also have a firearm not only for their safety but for family members or loved ones. These people want to have their own protection in case a criminal activity happens and they need to defend themselves (Bankston 288).
The use of a handgun is to provide protection to an individual who may be violated and is intended to cause pain and hopefully stop the other person that is threatening the individual. Because men are generally larger than women, women can become equal to men with the addition of a hand gun. While there is a conditional right to use a hand gun there is also a conditional right to use the correct technology. While it may seem as punishment to some, shooting someone in an act of self-defense is definitely not a punishment, if anything it can be a life saver (Wheeler 433).
