Vimtimless crimes- as defined by sociologist is

the willing excahnge among adults of

widelyndesired, but illegal goods and services.
Examples are such prostitution, drug abuse,
gambling.
Objection: There is no victim other than the
offender in such crimes like excessive drinking,
compulsive driving, and illegal drugs use to
contribute to an enomous amount of personal
and property damage.
According to critics of discrimination: society
must not give approval to conduct that has
such harmful consequences .
Who has the power to label such beahviors as
vimtimless crimes?
The answer is generally the state legislatures, and in
some cases, the police and the courts.
Criminal law is not simply as universal standard of
behaviors agreed on by all members of society. Rather
is reflects a struggle among competing individuals and
groups to gain governmental support for moral and
social values.
Ex. MADD- Mothers Against Drunk Driving, SADD-
Students Against Drunk Driving
Crime statistics- are not accurate as social scientist
would like but since they deal with an issue of grave
concern to the people of USA they are frequently cited
as if they were completely reliable.

Understanding Crime Statitistics:
A booming economy and falling unemployment
rates through most of the 1990s
Community oriented policing and crime
prevention programs
New gun control laws
A massive increase in the prison population, which
at least prevents inmates from committing crimes
outside prison.
Feminist scholars draw our attention to one
significant variation: the proportion of major crimes
committed by women has increased. Female
arrest rate have remain the same while men arrest
have decline to 6 percent..
Victimization Surveys question ordinary people,
not police officers, to determine whether they
have victims of crime..
Unfortunately they have particular limitations
for they require victim understand what has
happened to them.
International crime rates: during the 198os and
1990s, violent crimes were much more
common in the USA than in western Europe.
Murders, rape and robberies were reported to
police at much higher rates in the USA. Yet the
incidence of certain types of crime appears to
be higher elsewhere.
Over the past 10 years 2/3 of all murders
were committed with firearms.
In 1994 Congress passed the Brady
Handgun Violence Prevention Act named
after White House press secretary Jim Brady.
It mandates that firearms dealer run
criminal history background checks on
people who wish to purchase handguns.
The setting: Guns and ammunitions are big
business in the USA where the second
amendment to the Constitution guarantees
the right of the people to keep and bear
arms.
Powerful and formal organizations promote
gun ownership, clearly owning a gun is not a
deviant act in our society.
Sociological Insights; Since the Brady act
went into effect, support for stricter
measures has actually declined.
National Rifle Association (NRA) has been
able to use its impressive power to block or
dilute such measures.
Conflict theorist contend that powerful
powerful groups like NRA can dominate
legislative process because of their ability to
mobilize resources in opposition to majority
will.
Policy implications:
Advocates for stricter laws identify a
series of measures they like enacted:
A total ban on assault weapons
Tight restrictions on permits to carry
concealed weapons
Regulation of gun shows where private
sellers often trade in firearms unrestricted
by the Brady act
Increased penalties for leaving firearms
where they are easily accessible to
children and others who could misuse
them.