If I imagine asking 100 people to describe a criminal, the likely description would focus on street criminals rather than the crimes described in the video the “crimes of the powerful.” Examples of crimes of the powerful include state crime, corporate crime, white-collar crime, organized crime, financial crime, and environmental crime (Rothe & Kauzlarich, 2016). In most cases, these crimes remain obscure or are framed as “rare mistakes” or “bad decisions.” In reality, they are the crime that cause more damage, promote more inequality, and lead to more victimization compared to street crime. When most people think about crime, they often focus on street crimes such as mugging, homicide, drug pushing, rape, burglary, terrorism, and organized crime. The focus on street crimes can be explained by factors such as actual crime because it is expected that people who experience more crime also have more fear about the crime. Most people have been victims of street crimes than the crimes of the powerful described in the video; therefore, they are more likely to focus on street crime in their description of a criminal. On the other hand, the crimes of the powerful are less visible to the public and often reframed to look like lesser crimes.
Society’s definition of crime is influenced by several factors. One of these factors is immigration because immigrants have historically been represented as denying citizens jobs, criminals, or as welfare seekers. For example, Hispanic and especially Mexican immigrants have been stereotyped as criminals. Though some naturalized immigrants and permanent resident non-citizens do take part in crime, social research shows that they are generally law-abiding. However, the term “immigrant” is strongly associated with the creation and setup of democracy in the United States, while “illegal aliens” are maligned. Normal activities undertaken by citizens and permanent resident non-citizens such as use of social welfare and job seeking are criminalized for illegal immigrants and those who overstay their visas. Political attacks on illegal immigrants also play a role in the definition of crime by citizens because they emphasize law breaking. According to Collica & Furst (2012), another factor that help citizens in their definition of crime is the medias’ portrays of immigrants. The media plays a role in creating moral panic and indignation by accentuating that citizens are wary that immigrants would take their jobs, put pressure on social services, and engages in crime. Furthermore, media stereotyping has focused gangs and drug traffickers, and has also portrayed Muslim Americans or Arabs as terrorists.
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Therefore, the social creation of immigrants as “criminal foreigners” is due to the outlawing of immigration. The criminalization of immigration entails the integration of social control of immigrants with criminals by unifying deportation with the criminal justice system. By deporting unauthorized residents and legally permanent residents for certain misdemeanors and felonies, the notion that border crossers are criminals is strengthened. Illegal entry is a violation of order and authority and is considered a federal offence, which has helped society reach its definition of crime.
Home burglary is a common crime that affects many people in the United States. A clear statement about home burglary that is absolutely true is “most home burglaries take place between 10.00 a.m. and 3 p.m.” This is an accurate statement because this period is a prime timeframe where many home are unoccupied. During this period, many people are at the work place, while children are at school, making homes prime targets for burglars. Since burglars just want to break into properties and take anything of value as quickly as possible and seldom use weapons or violence, targeting empty home is appropriate.
A widely-held myth and misconception about crime and society is the belief that immigration increase criminality. Among the public, there is a consistent relationship between certain immigrant populations and organized crime. Though this belief is a myth, it is difficult to dispel due to the alternate ladder to social mobility in groups in economic hardship, which is organized crime. Examples include the Chinese triads, Jewish gangsters, Central American and Mexican drug carte4sl, Italian mafia, and most recently the Russian mafia (Warner, 2005). Nonetheless, research studies have shown a lower crime rate among immigrants groups. This myth is difficult to dispel because of media accounts and statistics. These two sources of information have failed to distinguish between crimes committed by lawful permanent residents and illegal residents, and crime committed that are connected to illegal immigration and not by the immigrants.
Therefore, immigrant crime patterns are caused by victimization instead of the commission of the offenses. For example, the association between Hispanic immigration and crime is caused by several factors that inflate that data and create the mythology of the criminality. Warner (2005) argues that since Hispanic immigrants are mainly male and young, demographic characteristics that make more vulnerable to crime. However, the reality is that the general population is more prone to crime that Hispanic immigrants. This myth is deeply entrenched in the public because immigration and criminality has been a concern from the colonial period. The fact that the U.S government is taking active measures to control illegal immigration from its southern borders continues to entrench this myth.
References
Collica, K. & Furst, G. (2012). Crime & society. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu .
Rothe, D., and Kauzlarich, D. (2016). Crimes of the Powerful: An Introduction . New York: Routledge.
Warner, J. (2005). The Social Construction of the Criminal Alien in Immigration Law, Enforcement Practice and Statistical Enumeration: Consequences for Immigrant Stereotyping. Journal of Social and Ecological Boundaries, 1( 2).
