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Dimensions of Crime
as a Social Problem
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Dimensions of Crime
as a Social Problem

Edited by
Robert Hartmann McNamara
and
Keith J. Bell

Carolina Academic Press

Durham, North Carolina
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Copyright © 2012
Robert Harmann McNamara and Keith J. Bell
All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dimensions of crime as a social problem / [edited by] Robert Hartmann Mc-

Namara and Keith Bell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61163-082-4 (alk. paper)
1. Crime--Sociological aspects. I. McNamara, Robert Hartmann. II. Bell,
Keith J.

HV6025.D55 2012
364--dc23

2012015401

Carolina Academic Press

700 Kent Street
Durham, North Carolina 27701
Telephone (919) 489-7486
Fax (919) 493-5668
www.cap-press.com

Printed in the United States of America

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To the extraordinary students at Furman University who en-

rolled in my classes— you remain some of the finest people
I know.
RHM

To my wife, Jessica, without whom I would accomplish very

little; my son, Jackson, who keeps me motivated to succeed
in order to make him proud; and to my family who has sac-
rificed so much to get me to where I am in life. To my won-
derful students over the years; and finally, this is dedicated
to all those people who were told they “never could.”
KJB
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Contents

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction: The Study of Sociology and Social Problems— A First Look

Robert Hartmann McNamara 3
The Sociologist 4
The Sociological Perspective 4
Social Problems 6

I. Crime

Chapter 1 • Crime Prevention — What Works?

Keith J. Bell 11
Program Overview 12
Is Crime a Problem? 13
Evaluation of What Works 15
What Works! versus What Works? 15
Lighting 16
Street Design 18
Educational and Awareness Programs 19
Community Approaches 21
Discussion 22
Conclusion 25

Chapter 2 • Juvenile Fire Starters

Carrie Coward Bucher and Robert Hartmann McNamara 27
The Nature of the Problem 27
Sociological Factors to Explain Fire Starting 29
Psychological Factors to Explain Fire Starting 32
A Profile of Fire Setters 33
Curiosity Fire Setters 33
Crisis Fire Setters 34

vii
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viii CONTENTS

Delinquent Fire Setters 35

Intervention and Treatment Programs 38
Community-Based Treatment and Education Programs 39
Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment 41
Residential Treatment 41
Conclusion 42

Chapter 3 • The Police in Society

Ronald G. Burns and Katherine Polzer 43
Drugs and Crime 45
The Drugs-Crime Relationships 47
Extent of Drug Use 50
Drug Laws and Drug Control Policy 52
The Effects of Drugs and the Drug War 54
Police Tools in the War on Drugs 56
Source Control 57
Interdiction 58
Prosecution and Legislation 58
Street-Level Law Enforcement 60
Drug Task Forces 62
Modern Goals of Drug Use Prevention 63
Drug Use Prevention Programs 64
Drug Use Prevention and the Police 66
Deterring Drug Use 68
Harms Reduction 69
Summary 70

II. Poverty and Inequalities

Chapter 4 • The Criminalization of Welfare: A Historical and

Contemporary Analysis of Social Control for the
Crime of Poverty
Michael D. Gillespie 75
Modern Social Welfare in the United States 76
Welfare Reform: Ending Welfare as We Know It 79
TANF and Criminal Justice: Declaring War on the Poor 81
Patterns in the Criminalization of Welfare 81
Blurring the Line between Welfare and Crime 82
Summary 84
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CONTENTS ix

Chapter 5 • Single Parent Families, Poverty, and Delinquency

Lisa T. Briggs 85
A Historical Perspective on Single Parenthood 86
Challenges of Single Parenthood 88
Consequences of Single Parenthood 89
The Divorced Parent 89
The Step-Parent Family 90
The Cohabitating Family 91
The Never Married Parent 91
Crime, Deviance, and Single Parenthood 92
Teenage Parents 94
Why Teens Have Babies 95
Summary 96

Chapter 6 • First American Rip-Off: The Price of Fringe

Banking Convenience
Erin Lyttle Do 99
Society’s Poor 100
Bank Deregulation and the Rise of Fringe Banking 101
The Secondary Labor Market 103
Does Minimum Wage Meet Minimum Needs? 104
Title Loans 105
Check Cashing Outlets 105
Electronic Banking: Equal Opportunity or Digital Divide? 107
Rent-to-Own 109
Discussion 109

III. Racial Inequalities

Chapter 7 • African Americans and the Criminal Justice System

Charles Crawford 115
African Americans and Crime 115
Explaining Race, Crime, and Victimization 117
African Americans and the Police 118
Excessive Stopping and Racial Profiling 118
Excessive and Deadly Force 120
The Courts, Sentencing, and Punishment 122
Presentencing 122
Sentencing 123
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x CONTENTS

The War on Drugs 124

Capital Punishment 126
Summary 129

Chapter 8 • Criminalization and Controversy: Arizona’s

New Immigration Law
Jacquelynn A. Doyon 131
Immigration as “Historical” 131
Immigration as “Problematic” 133
The “Criminal” Immigrant 134
Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070: A Case Study 137
Key Sections of SB 1070 138
State and Federal Positions on SB 1070 139
Criminalization and SB 1070 142
Public Opinion and SB 1070 143
Conclusion 146

Chapter 9 • Racial Profiling: Good Police Work or Racism?

John Van Swearingen and Robert H. McNamara 149
Defining Profiling 150
The History of Racial Profiling in Policing 151
Organizational and Cultural Influences to Profiling 152
The Evidence about Racial Profiling by Police 153
Explaining Profiling Sociologically 155
Theory to Practice 158
Recruitment and Selection as Solutions to Racial Profiling 159
The “New” Police Officer 160
Education, Policing and Profiling 161
Conclusion 163

IV. Education

Chapter 10 • The Relationship between Dropping Out of School

and Incarceration
Mary Lou Yeatts and R. Kent Murray 167
Defining the Dropout Rate 168
School Dropout Statistics 169
Why Are They Dropping Out? 172
The Consequences of Dropping Out 173
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CONTENTS xi

School Dropouts and Incarceration 174

Other Factors Affect the School Dropout Crisis 175
Potential Solutions for the Dropout Crisis 176
Summary 178

Chapter 11 • Bullying and Ostracism in School-Aged Youth

Conway Saylor, Melissa-Miles Dunn, and James Carpenter 181
Defining Bullying 181
Traditional Types of Bullying 182
Roles Students Play in Bullying 182
Prevalence and Impact of Traditional Bullying 183
Impact of Bullying 184
Cyberbullying 184
Prevalence of Cyberbullying 185
Sexting 186
Prevalence of Sexting 186
Ostracism: A Step beyond Bullying 186
Impact of Ostracism 187
Risk Factors Associated with Bullying and Ostracism 189
Disabilities and Special Needs 189
Chronic Medical Conditions 189
Sexual Orientation 190
Bullying, Ostracism and the Legal System 190
The Challenge of Intervention 191
Conclusion 193

Chapter 12 • Higher Education and Crime in South Carolina

Robert Hartmann McNamara and Maria Shelley 195
Employment, Education, and Crime 196
South Carolina and Higher Education 197
Increase the Number of High School Graduates Who Are
Well-Prepared for College 200
Strengthen the Transition from High School to College 201
Increase Higher Education Graduation Rates 202
Increase Adult Participation in Higher Education 203
Attract and Retain More Graduates 205
Summary 206
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xii CONTENTS

V. Gender and Crime

Chapter 13 • Have Nice Girls Gone Bad? Social Constructionist

Approach to the Rise in Female Violent Offenders
Gregory A. Lukasik 211
Women, Crime, and the Media 212
Trends in Female Crime 212
Theoretical Explanations 213
Normative Approach 213
Constructionist Approach 214
The Social Construction of Female Violence 215
Institutional Change and the Rise of Violent Female Offender 218
Domestic Violence: From Victim to Offender 219
Gender and Violent Offending 220
Gender and Robbery 221
Female Gangs 222
Conclusion 223

Chapter 14 • Intimate Partner Violence: Gender and Violence

Keith J. Bell and Paul M. Klenowski 225
Gender Literature Debate 226
Trends in Traditional Domestic Violence 228
Traditional Theories of Domestic Violence 229
Power Control Theory 230
Social Learning Theory 231
Male Victimization 232
Gender, Attributes, and Statistics 234
Recent Literature: A Look at Gender and Violence 237
Physical Violence 238
Psychological Perpetration 240
Discussion 240
Implications for Practice, Policy, and Research 242

Chapter 15 • Female Gangs

Robert Hartmann McNamara and Lesleigh Patton 243
Defining Gang 244
The Public’s Definition 244
The Law Enforcement Definition 245
The Research Community’s Definition 245
The Social Distortion of Gangs 246
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CONTENTS xiii

Female Gangs 247

Reasons for Joining Gangs 249
Risk Factors and Female Gangs 250
Child Maltreatment 250
Poor Academic Performance 251
Substance Abuse 251
Peer Groups as Risk Factors 251
Structural Factors 252
Deindustrialization and the Job Market 253
The Housing Crunch 253
Public Education 253
Poverty 254
Criminal Activities of Female Gangs 255
Conclusion 256

VI. Sexuality and Crime

Chapter 16 • An Overview of Hate Crimes

Gina Carreno 259
Overview of Hate Crimes 260
Definition 260
How Hate Crimes Differ from Non-Bias Crimes 260
Statistics 261
Uniform Crime Reports 261
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs 263
Self-Report Surveys and Needs Assessments 264
Causes of Hate Crimes 265
Individual Characteristics 265
Heterosexist Culture 266
Experiences of Hate Crimes 268
Who Is at Risk? 268
Gender 268
Location 269
How Do Victims Determine if the Incident Was Motivated
by Hate? 269
Why Do Many Victims Not Report the Incident to
Law Enforcement Authorities? 271
Victim-Blame 271
Secondary Victimization 272
How Do Hate Crimes Affect Victims? 272
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xiv CONTENTS

How Do Hate Crimes Affect Society? 273

Conclusion 273

Chapter 17 • Human Trafficking

Michael Bachmann and Brittany A. Smith 275
Scope and Scale of the Problem 276
Global Extent, Awareness and Response 279
Sex Trafficking 281
Child Labor, Forced Labor and Bonded Labor 285
What Can Be Done? 286

Chapter 18 • Registry Laws and Sex Offenders: A Review

of the Literature
Amanda Gibbs Wagner 289
Defining a Sex Offender 289
Extent of Sex Offending in the United States 290
Profile of Sex Offenders 291
Addressing Sex Offenders through Legislation 292
Consequences for Registered Sex Offenders 293
Community Violence 293
Incorrect Labeling 293
Housing 294
Commission of Additional Crimes 295
Do Registry Laws Really Work? 295
Discussion 295

About the Authors 297

Notes 305

Index 359
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Acknowledgments

As with any project, there are many people to thank for their efforts in bring-
ing this manuscript to publication. Specifically we would like to thank Rhonda
Stefanini, a former student at Western Carolina University for her help with col-
lecting literature for the domestic violence project. Additionally, Lesleigh Pat-
ton deserves mention for her help in organizing the project and keeping track
of deadlines and participants. We would also like to thank each contributor
for their insightful and thoughtful articles that comprise this reader. Finally, thanks
goes to Beth Hall and the staff at Carolina Academic Press for their encour-
agement, support, and expertise.

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