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What the data says about crime in the U.S.

A growing share of Americans say reducing crime should be a top priority for the president and Congress to address this year. Around six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) hold that view today, up from 47% at the beginning of Joe Biden’s presidency in 2021.

We conducted this analysis to learn more about U.S. crime patterns and how those patterns have changed over time.

The analysis relies on statistics published by the FBI, which we accessed through the Crime Data Explorer , and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), which we accessed through the  National Crime Victimization Survey data analysis tool .

To measure public attitudes about crime in the U.S., we relied on survey data from Pew Research Center and Gallup.

Additional details about each data source, including survey methodologies, are available by following the links in the text of this analysis.

With the issue likely to come up in this year’s presidential election, here’s what we know about crime in the United States, based on the latest available data from the federal government and other sources.

How much crime is there in the U.S.?

It’s difficult to say for certain. The  two primary sources of government crime statistics  – the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) – paint an incomplete picture.

The FBI publishes  annual data  on crimes that have been reported to law enforcement, but not crimes that haven’t been reported. Historically, the FBI has also only published statistics about a handful of specific violent and property crimes, but not many other types of crime, such as drug crime. And while the FBI’s data is based on information from thousands of federal, state, county, city and other police departments, not all law enforcement agencies participate every year. In 2022, the most recent full year with available statistics, the FBI received data from 83% of participating agencies .

BJS, for its part, tracks crime by fielding a  large annual survey of Americans ages 12 and older and asking them whether they were the victim of certain types of crime in the past six months. One advantage of this approach is that it captures both reported and unreported crimes. But the BJS survey has limitations of its own. Like the FBI, it focuses mainly on a handful of violent and property crimes. And since the BJS data is based on after-the-fact interviews with crime victims, it cannot provide information about one especially high-profile type of offense: murder.

All those caveats aside, looking at the FBI and BJS statistics side-by-side  does  give researchers a good picture of U.S. violent and property crime rates and how they have changed over time. In addition, the FBI is transitioning to a new data collection system – known as the National Incident-Based Reporting System – that eventually will provide national information on a much larger set of crimes , as well as details such as the time and place they occur and the types of weapons involved, if applicable.

Which kinds of crime are most and least common?

Property crime in the U.S. is much more common than violent crime. In 2022, the FBI reported a total of 1,954.4 property crimes per 100,000 people, compared with 380.7 violent crimes per 100,000 people.  

By far the most common form of property crime in 2022 was larceny/theft, followed by motor vehicle theft and burglary. Among violent crimes, aggravated assault was the most common offense, followed by robbery, rape, and murder/nonnegligent manslaughter.

BJS tracks a slightly different set of offenses from the FBI, but it finds the same overall patterns, with theft the most common form of property crime in 2022 and assault the most common form of violent crime.

How have crime rates in the U.S. changed over time?

Both the FBI and BJS data show dramatic declines in U.S. violent and property crime rates since the early 1990s, when crime spiked across much of the nation.

Using the FBI data, the violent crime rate fell 49% between 1993 and 2022, with large decreases in the rates of robbery (-74%), aggravated assault (-39%) and murder/nonnegligent manslaughter (-34%). It’s not possible to calculate the change in the rape rate during this period because the FBI  revised its definition of the offense in 2013 .

The FBI data also shows a 59% reduction in the U.S. property crime rate between 1993 and 2022, with big declines in the rates of burglary (-75%), larceny/theft (-54%) and motor vehicle theft (-53%).

Using the BJS statistics, the declines in the violent and property crime rates are even steeper than those captured in the FBI data. Per BJS, the U.S. violent and property crime rates each fell 71% between 1993 and 2022.

While crime rates have fallen sharply over the long term, the decline hasn’t always been steady. There have been notable increases in certain kinds of crime in some years, including recently.

In 2020, for example, the U.S. murder rate saw its largest single-year increase on record – and by 2022, it remained considerably higher than before the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary data for 2023, however, suggests that the murder rate fell substantially last year .

How do Americans perceive crime in their country?

Americans tend to believe crime is up, even when official data shows it is down.

In 23 of 27 Gallup surveys conducted since 1993 , at least 60% of U.S. adults have said there is more crime nationally than there was the year before, despite the downward trend in crime rates during most of that period.

While perceptions of rising crime at the national level are common, fewer Americans believe crime is up in their own communities. In every Gallup crime survey since the 1990s, Americans have been much less likely to say crime is up in their area than to say the same about crime nationally.

Public attitudes about crime differ widely by Americans’ party affiliation, race and ethnicity, and other factors . For example, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are much more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say reducing crime should be a top priority for the president and Congress this year (68% vs. 47%), according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

How does crime in the U.S. differ by demographic characteristics?

Some groups of Americans are more likely than others to be victims of crime. In the  2022 BJS survey , for example, younger people and those with lower incomes were far more likely to report being the victim of a violent crime than older and higher-income people.

There were no major differences in violent crime victimization rates between male and female respondents or between those who identified as White, Black or Hispanic. But the victimization rate among Asian Americans (a category that includes Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders) was substantially lower than among other racial and ethnic groups.

The same BJS survey asks victims about the demographic characteristics of the offenders in the incidents they experienced.

In 2022, those who are male, younger people and those who are Black accounted for considerably larger shares of perceived offenders in violent incidents than their respective shares of the U.S. population. Men, for instance, accounted for 79% of perceived offenders in violent incidents, compared with 49% of the nation’s 12-and-older population that year. Black Americans accounted for 25% of perceived offenders in violent incidents, about twice their share of the 12-and-older population (12%).

As with all surveys, however, there are several potential sources of error, including the possibility that crime victims’ perceptions about offenders are incorrect.

How does crime in the U.S. differ geographically?

There are big geographic differences in violent and property crime rates.

For example, in 2022, there were more than 700 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in New Mexico and Alaska. That compares with fewer than 200 per 100,000 people in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine, according to the FBI.

The FBI notes that various factors might influence an area’s crime rate, including its population density and economic conditions.

What percentage of crimes are reported to police? What percentage are solved?

Most violent and property crimes in the U.S. are not reported to police, and most of the crimes that  are  reported are not solved.

In its annual survey, BJS asks crime victims whether they reported their crime to police. It found that in 2022, only 41.5% of violent crimes and 31.8% of household property crimes were reported to authorities. BJS notes that there are many reasons why crime might not be reported, including fear of reprisal or of “getting the offender in trouble,” a feeling that police “would not or could not do anything to help,” or a belief that the crime is “a personal issue or too trivial to report.”

Most of the crimes that are reported to police, meanwhile,  are not solved , at least based on an FBI measure known as the clearance rate . That’s the share of cases each year that are closed, or “cleared,” through the arrest, charging and referral of a suspect for prosecution, or due to “exceptional” circumstances such as the death of a suspect or a victim’s refusal to cooperate with a prosecution. In 2022, police nationwide cleared 36.7% of violent crimes that were reported to them and 12.1% of the property crimes that came to their attention.

Which crimes are most likely to be reported to police? Which are most likely to be solved?

Around eight-in-ten motor vehicle thefts (80.9%) were reported to police in 2022, making them by far the most commonly reported property crime tracked by BJS. Household burglaries and trespassing offenses were reported to police at much lower rates (44.9% and 41.2%, respectively), while personal theft/larceny and other types of theft were only reported around a quarter of the time.

Among violent crimes – excluding homicide, which BJS doesn’t track – robbery was the most likely to be reported to law enforcement in 2022 (64.0%). It was followed by aggravated assault (49.9%), simple assault (36.8%) and rape/sexual assault (21.4%).

The list of crimes  cleared  by police in 2022 looks different from the list of crimes reported. Law enforcement officers were generally much more likely to solve violent crimes than property crimes, according to the FBI.

The most frequently solved violent crime tends to be homicide. Police cleared around half of murders and nonnegligent manslaughters (52.3%) in 2022. The clearance rates were lower for aggravated assault (41.4%), rape (26.1%) and robbery (23.2%).

When it comes to property crime, law enforcement agencies cleared 13.0% of burglaries, 12.4% of larcenies/thefts and 9.3% of motor vehicle thefts in 2022.

Are police solving more or fewer crimes than they used to?

Nationwide clearance rates for both violent and property crime are at their lowest levels since at least 1993, the FBI data shows.

Police cleared a little over a third (36.7%) of the violent crimes that came to their attention in 2022, down from nearly half (48.1%) as recently as 2013. During the same period, there were decreases for each of the four types of violent crime the FBI tracks:

• Police cleared 52.3% of reported murders and nonnegligent homicides in 2022, down from 64.1% in 2013.
• They cleared 41.4% of aggravated assaults, down from 57.7%.
• They cleared 26.1% of rapes, down from 40.6%.
• They cleared 23.2% of robberies, down from 29.4%.

The pattern is less pronounced for property crime. Overall, law enforcement agencies cleared 12.1% of reported property crimes in 2022, down from 19.7% in 2013. The clearance rate for burglary didn’t change much, but it fell for larceny/theft (to 12.4% in 2022 from 22.4% in 2013) and motor vehicle theft (to 9.3% from 14.2%).

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on Nov. 20, 2020.

• Criminal Justice

John Gramlich is an associate director at Pew Research Center .

Fewer than 1% of federal criminal defendants were acquitted in 2022

Before release of video showing tyre nichols’ beating, public views of police conduct had improved modestly, violent crime is a key midterm voting issue, but what does the data say, u.s. public divided over whether people convicted of crimes spend too much or too little time in prison, what we know about the increase in u.s. murders in 2020, most popular.

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Article Contents

The ethics and politics of narrative for critical research practice, whose harm tellable categories in criminology, whose story the implications of our knowing, so what the politics of our telling, acknowledgements.

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Critical Narratives Or Crime Stories? The Ethics And Politics Of Narrative Research In Criminology

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Rebecca Bunn, Critical Narratives Or Crime Stories? The Ethics And Politics Of Narrative Research In Criminology, The British Journal of Criminology , Volume 63, Issue 6, November 2023, Pages 1557–1573, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azac101

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Amid growing criminological interest in narrative, there is hope that the mainstreaming of ‘narrative criminology’ will yield a more critical disposition within the discipline. This article contends that critical practice does not simply entail attending to issues of harm, power and resistance or researcher reflexivity, but grappling with the complex ethics and politics of our research practices. Focusing on the field of ‘narrative criminology’, this article explores issues of voyeurism, empathy, listening and bearing witness and poses some questions to guide ethical narrative practice within criminology. It calls for criminologists to consider how we may use narrative more responsibly within our discipline.

There has long been fruitful discussion about what the use of narrative offers sociological enquiry, including within the discipline of criminology. In particular, the field of ‘narrative criminology’ has developed as a scholarly movement committed to centring the place of narratives in criminological research. It adopts a constitutive understanding of narrative, centred around the belief that narratives shape experience and action, helping individuals attribute meaning to their lives ( Presser and Sandberg 2015 ). Prominent narrative criminologists Lois Presser and Sveinung Sandberg (2019) have recently argued that their narrative frameworks are especially fitting for critical criminological research because they seek to foreground harm, oppression and resistance, and reflexivity in the study of crime. Maruna and Liem (2021 : 139) have likewise asserted that narrative criminology represents ‘a fairly radical break with mainstream criminology and its core assumptions’, and have called for the field to be ‘mainstreamed’ to counter the discipline’s positivist tendencies. These contributions bring important attention to the question of what narrative might do for criminologists, and I wish to take their assertions as a valuable point of departure to instigate a broader discussion on what it might mean to practice narrative research ethically, within the discipline of criminology.

In particular, I wish to challenge the assumption that the use of narrative in criminology is fundamentally a critical endeavour—a claim that I argue represents a conflation of the essence of narrative with its potential practices ( Shuman 2010 ). Whilst I share the enthusiasm for narrative practice within criminological scholarship as espoused by narrative criminologists and their supporters, I humbly question the assumption that narrative criminology represents a ‘radical break’ with mainstream, positivist criminology ( Maruna and Liem 2021 : 139). In fact, I suggest that such a position may rather be indicative of criminologists’ ‘persistent drive to supersede the conditions of their operations from settler colonial logic’ ( Tuck and Yang 2014 : 229), than a revolutionary moment for the discipline. It assumes that there is something inherent within the field of narrative criminology that imbues critical praxis, or that a narrative framework necessarily makes research more critical in nature. Given its location within a discipline with a well-earned reputation as a ‘science of oppression’ ( Lynch 2000 ), the danger of this approach is that it glosses over the potential for narrative criminological research to cause harm, and discourages critical attention to how we might use narrative better. Ironically, this may ultimately come to serve the positivist imperatives of mainstream criminology, rather than change them. As Tauri (2018 : 5) reminds us, criminologists are often complicit in the same oppressive structures they research ‘through the very act of doing criminology’.

This article thus critiques the claim that narrative criminology is an ‘apt and powerful framework for research in critical criminology’ ( Presser and Sandberg 2019 : 1) and challenges the assumption advanced by some narrative criminologists that by virtue of the constructionist bent of the field and its increasing attention to issues of social justice, narrative criminology is ‘intrinsically critical’ ( Fleetwood et al . 2019 : 13). I contend that to engage in critical practice is not simply a matter of formulaically attending to issues of harm, power and resistance or individual researcher reflexivity. It is also about grappling with the ethics and politics of our own research practices; a process that is far more iterative, and which often requires a learning to sit with ambiguity and tension. While the explication of a comprehensive critical praxis framework for narrative research in criminology is beyond the scope of this article, I seek to use questions of ethics and politics as lenses through which to critique the field of narrative criminology, to contribute to a broader discussion of what such a critical praxis might entail. The article thus begins with a discussion about the importance of ethics and politics in narrative research, exploring issues of voyeurism, empathy, listening and bearing witness. Informed by Amy Shuman’s (2010) critique of empathy in narrative, and Michelle Brown’s (2013) notion of penal spectatorship, the article then poses three questions to guide ethical narrative practice within criminology.

Pioneers of narrative criminology, Presser and Sandberg (2019) , recently made a compelling case for what narrative criminology can offer critical criminological scholarship: narrative criminology shifts criminology’s narrow focus on law-breaking to wider notions of harm, accounts for both structure and agency, highlights both oppression and resistance and encourages researcher reflexivity. Likewise, Fleetwood et al . (2019) call for narrative criminologists to consider how their research may develop a more critical approach to the study of narratives. ‘Studying how stories travel’, they assert, ‘would move our narrative perspective, even further away from a traditional focus on individuals … to an emphasis on stories as points of interest’ ( Fleetwood et al . 2019 : 15). Over a number of publications, these leading narrative criminologists have described how narrative criminology ‘hews to a critical perspective’ ( Presser and Sandberg 2015 : 1), ‘questions established truths’ and ‘reveals power structures and hegemonies of consensus’ ( Fleetwood et al . 2019 : 13). These developments within narrative criminology offer considerable promise for a more critical approach to narratives as they circulate within criminology. Building on these developments, I suggest that criminologists must also consider the ethical and political consequences that may arise when stories become ‘points of interest’ in and of themselves. That is: what is at stake, and what is ultimately achieved, when narratives become points of criminological interest?

Scholars have long interrogated the ethical questions that arise from the politics of storytelling. For Amy Shuman (2010) , these questions are fundamentally linked to questions of empathy and entitlement. Specifically, when stories are told by those who have ‘suffered the experience’, there is a more obvious and usually unquestioned entitlement to interpret that experience ( Shuman 2010 : 18). However, when stories ‘travel’, and are retold by a distant or objective knower, that knower may rely on empathy as a form of authority to share the experience. In other words, empathy may be used to bridge differences between individuals, or to make broader claims to shared human experiences, through narrative. The problem, according to Shuman (2010 : 18), is that ‘empathy is a weak claim to entitlement’ and raises as many problems as it does promises. With respect to narrative ethics:

…the problem is not the accuracy of representations but the relationships between listeners and tellers produced by those representations… The critique of empathy is a place to begin to see narrative as a relationship between tellers and listeners and their cultural, political, and historical contexts (25).

Butterwick (2012) also cautions that where an emotional response such as empathy is all that eventuates from a person’s storytelling, power relations between research participants, and later, the audience, remain unaddressed. This, therefore, requires a shift in focus from the telling of stories, to how stories are listened and responded to; a shift from the ‘politics of expression’ to a ‘politics of listening’ ( Dreher and Mondal 2018 ), where the process of listening is recognized as a political act ( Fleetwood 2015 ; Tamboukou 2020 ). Many scholars, including criminologists, have similarly considered the process of ‘bearing witness’—an act of testifying to a lived experience, and having that testimony recognized by others ( Anderson 2016 ; Spivakovsky 2018 ). As Anderson (2016 : 413) notes, ‘bearing witness is to try – sincerely – to understand the person’s perspective and to attend to what it is that the story is really telling’. It draws attention to the responsibility of the audience, as much as the narrator, to hold and respond to the experience recounted. While there are still ethical difficulties to be navigated in both the acts of listening and bearing witness, they are important alternatives to a more common sense of voyeurism that plagues much social science research, particularly criminology. According to Tuck and Yang (2014 : 227), the frequent sharing of pain narratives and ‘damage-centred’ social science research is a form of voyeurism indicative of a settler-colonial drive towards the acquisition of knowledge, to conquer and govern the subaltern. Regardless of intent, such voyeurism ultimately serves to ‘preserve, rather than subvert, oppressive situations’ ( Shuman 2010 : 5).

So how might we, as scholars, navigate such a path? The solution is not (always) to stay silent, or to avoid the sharing of narratives altogether—a practice which itself ‘can reflect a position of privilege’ ( Butterwick 2012 : 64). As a guide, Shuman (2010 : 162) proposes some questions for those seeking to share the narratives of others. Specifically, she asks: ‘whose story is it (the question of entitlement), what is it being used for (what is the allegory), what does it promise (empathy, redemption, meaning), and at whose expense?’ In the sections that follow, I pose a similar series of questions, informed by Shuman’s (2010) analysis, to criminologists interested in engaging with narrative. In considering these questions, I draw examples from the field of narrative criminology, where the use of narrative for criminological research has been the most explicit. I do so to explore some key ethical and political quandaries that will inevitably arise if narrative research is to be ‘mainstreamed’ within the discipline of criminology more broadly ( Maruna and Liem 2021 ). I acknowledge and recognize that the use of narrative across criminology has been varied, and rich. Narrative criminologists, in particular, have made invaluable contributions to our understanding of the relationship between narrative and individual, interpersonal and social harm. At the same time, I believe it is imperative— critical, in every sense of the word—for us to consider how our own criminological research practices, including those that use narrative, can be harmful. Like all scholarly fields, narrative criminology consists of research with the potential to both subvert and reinforce unequal power relations. Drawing on Shuman’s (2010) critique of empathy in narrative, and Michelle Brown’s (2013) notion of penal spectatorship, I contend that a particular corpus of narrative criminological research is driven by a desire to know the ‘Other’. This seeking to know others may represent an expression of empathy, with many important and positive benefits; however, in the context of criminology it is also an expression of power, and thus brings certain ethical and political considerations if we wish to practise it critically. My critique of some examples from the field of narrative criminology is thus not intended as criticism of individual authors, but as an invitation to the scholarly community more broadly to reflect upon how we might use narrative practices more consciously and responsibly within our discipline. In understanding how narrative criminological research can be a vehicle for both emancipation and oppression, we can engage with the promises of narrative in a more nuanced way: one in which we do not assume a particular method or conceptual framework is inherently critical, but reflect upon how our use of particular approaches for scientific inquiry can both serve, and curtail, critical aims.

It is important here to acknowledge that it may appear I am expecting narrative criminology to solve problems that are inherent to the discipline of criminology more broadly, rather than to narrative criminology in particular. This is a fair point, yet I would suggest it is an expectation established by the field itself. Claims that narrative criminology is ‘intrinsically critical’ ( Fleetwood et al . 2019 : 13) and represents a ‘radical break’ ( Maruna and Liem 2021 : 139) from the wider discipline are significant, and require interrogation. Indeed, if narrative criminology wishes to be paradigm-shifting for criminology more broadly, then it must, as a matter of course, address some of the deeply ethical and political problems that criminological research presents. Whether research is conducted on individuals, groups, systems or other phenomena, the way in which research is conducted is crucial; and I suggest that many individual-oriented studies within narrative criminology—like criminology more broadly—tend to be extractive. This is not to paint all narrative criminological research with the same brush, or to imply that it only conducts research on individuals—an assertion which would be incorrect. At the same time, narrative criminologists have been explicit about the supposed ‘criminogenic’ nature of narratives ( Presser and Sandberg 2015 ; 2019 ) and the opportunities for exploiting people’s narratives for predicting future harm doing ( Presser 2009 ; Presser and Sandberg 2015 ). I suggest we must take seriously the ethical and political implications that such assertions raise for a commitment to critical practice.

Whose harm is ultimately narrated, or is left un-narrated, in narrative criminology? Put simply, which narratives get told, and which do not? Narrative criminologists have certainly paid attention to the ‘stories unsaid’ in accounts of their research participants ( Laws 2020 : 11), but less concern has arguably been shown for what goes unsaid in the field of narrative criminology, or the discipline of criminology more broadly ( Presser 2019 ). Questions of what is narrated or left un-narrated—indeed, what tends to be considered narratable or unnarratable—ultimately speak to the closely related issues of narrativity and tellability ( Williams 2010 ). Narrativity refers to ‘the quality of being narrative’: the features that make something recognizable as a narrative; whereas tellability has more to do with questions of value : what we believe makes a narrative worthy of being told ( Prince 2010 ). However, the very features we ascribe to narrative are themselves informed by what we value, thus holding the potential to both expand or foreclose what we consider narrative to be , as well as what appears possible, or worthy, of narrating. Shuman (2010 : 14) describes how ‘categories of experience’ used in narrative practice tend to ‘shape different stories and suggest interest in different “facts”’ That is, the facts that we come to be interested in, as well as the facts we discard, are ultimately informed by the categories we employ to shape our inquiries. Thus, as well as focusing on how ‘[narratives] give stories to categories’ ( Sandberg et al . 2015 : 3), we may also consider how particular categories construct certain ‘facts’ about crime and harm, ultimately determining which narratives are found to be ripe for analysis in criminological research.

Firstly, greater awareness is required around how the choice of language used within narrative criminology may help to reify harmful categorizations of identity and subjectivity. For example, we see ubiquitous use within the field of labels such as ‘offenders’, ‘criminals’, ‘addicts’, ‘victims’, ‘moral deviants’ and the like—despite a very long history within other critical disciplines of advocating for person-centred language ( Cox 2020 ). The constitutive view of narrative espoused by many narrative criminologists ironically identifies language as pivotal in the construction of meaning ( Presser 2009 ). However, such regard for the power of language seems mostly to concern narrative criminologists when considering the ‘linguistic devices for minimizing agency’ by those who commit harm, and less when labelling those same research participants as ‘crack dealers’ ( Presser 2009 : 185), ‘violent offenders’ ( Brookman 2015 ) and ‘drug users’ ( Miller et al . 2015 ), for example. Categories and labels such as these are powerful, power-laden, and constitutive. Too often, narratives told by narrative criminologists—about criminalized people in particular—tend to belong to familiar, stigmatizing, categories of experience: ones that conceptualize criminalised people as pathologically deviant, cognitively deficient or individually responsible for their criminalization ( Lean and Kilroy 2020 ), echoing Wendy Brown’s (2018) conception of the responsibilized neoliberal subject. Indeed, I contend that it is precisely because of their association with dominant criminological frameworks that such categories may appear so tellable to narrative criminologists in the first place. Ultimately, the use of such language constitutes a kind of discursive violence on research participants, and is incompatible with a critical approach. It follows that any attempt to mainstream narrative practice within criminology first requires an interrogation of the criminological categories to which it will be put to use.

Narrative criminology has ventured into a range of interesting areas of inquiry. Recent edited volumes have probed the utility and complexity of narrative practice for criminology, and engaged with issues such as institutional harm, counter-narratives and researcher reflexivity ( Fleetwood et al . 2019 ; Althoff et al. 2020 ). Presser (2019) , for example, recently explored the ‘textual absences’ in criminological theories driving penal harm in the US criminal justice system, and conceded that narrative criminologists ‘should probe much more than the stories of apprehended offenders and their violations of law’ (421). Nevertheless, owing in large part to her own seminal article on ‘The narratives of offenders’ ( Presser 2009 ) and subsequent foundational publications (such as Sandberg 2009 ; 2010 ; Sandberg et al . 2015 ; Presser and Sandberg 2015 ), the interrogation of criminalized people’s narratives has for the most part represented the ‘ sine qua non of narrative criminology’ ( Ugelvik 2016 : 216). Like mainstream criminology, a considerable amount of research within narrative criminology has been, and continues to be, concerned with individual people who commit harm, or who are claimed to provide us with insights into so-called ‘deviant’ or street-based sub-cultures ( Sandberg 2009 ). This is despite the fact—well established within critical criminology—that the vast majority of social harm arises from entrenched structural violence ( Lynch 2016 ). For example, narrative criminologists have tended to focus on the accounts of ‘serious violent offenders’ or people who have committed mass murder ( Presser 2012 ; Brookman 2015 ), despite such groups constituting a relatively small proportion of our prison populations. A further example is that narrative criminologists have tended to focus on the lives of people who use drugs, or who engage in drug dealing ( Sandberg et al . 2015 ; Copes 2016 ), rather than on the global regime of drug prohibition and ‘War on Drugs’ policy frameworks, well-known for their racist objectives and devastating consequences for poor communities worldwide. I contend that the choice to focus overwhelmingly on individuals who engage in drug-taking or serious violence helps to reinforce the idea that criminalized people are dangerous or ‘deviant’ and need to be incapacitated, whilst focus is diverted away from the blight of criminal justice systems around the world that churn through disadvantaged and marginalized groups—including racialized, disabled and socio-economically disenfranchised people. Whilst outlining the promising potential of a decolonial, intersectional approach to narrative criminology, Boonzaier (2019 : 471) warns about the need for narrative criminologists to consider the implications of research agendas that ‘frame oppressed groups as damaged and dysfunctional’, and implores us ‘to think carefully about how the narratives we produce as researchers may be taken up to advance particular anti-transformative agendas’. As Tuck and Yang (2014 : 244) have similarly argued:

As long as the objects of research are presumably damaged communities in need of intervention, the metanarrative of social science research…justifies a host of interventions into communities, and treats communities as frontiers to civilize.

Another growing sub-discipline of criminology touted as a potential ‘sister’ of narrative criminology is narrative victimology ( Pemberton et al . 2019 ). The linkages between these two fields have been insightfully explored ( Pemberton et al . 2019 ; Cook et al . 2019 ), and, as Fleetwood et al . (2019) point out, interest in the perspectives of people identified as victim/survivors within narrative criminology has grown in parallel. Less developed within narrative criminology, however, is the interrogation of the very ‘victim/offender’ binary, which Cook et al . (2019 : 242) remind us ‘has long been challenged within criminology more generally’. This would not simply entail accounting for how criminalized people often experience difficult lives, but how the very imperative to explain ‘harm’—particularly when defined in terms of a single event, implicating individual actors—constructs the very distinction between categories of ‘offender’ and ‘victim’, which then becomes reified through the research process. This is reflected in the supposedly binary concerns of narrative criminology and narrative victimology—the former framed as being concerned with ‘ why we harm’ and the latter with ‘ what it is to be harmed’ ( Cook et al . 2019 : 240). My concern here is not to deny that there are individuals who experience harm, but to suggest that narrative criminology must be careful not to take the categories of ‘offender’ and ‘victim’ for granted. It is to shift our focus, based on decades of research that makes it abundantly clear that some social groups are much more likely to become criminalized and victimized than others. Across the Western world, large swathes of our prison populations and community-based surveillance programs are drawn overwhelmingly from economically disadvantaged, racially marginalized, over-policed and oppressed communities ( Lynch 2016 ; Goddard and Myers 2017 ). Indeed this—along with criminology’s complicity—is a core focus of much critical criminological scholarship ( Lynch 2000 ). What does it mean then, for narrative criminology to focus overwhelmingly on the nature of individual harm, rather than the (social, political, economic, historical) forces that have contributed to so many people’s criminalization and victimization? Furthermore, how does the very way in which ‘harm’ is understood work to construct and/or reinforce particular kinds of ‘offender’ and ‘victim’ subjectivities within criminology more broadly? I contend that such questions are imperative for a critical research ethic, to which narrative criminology aspires.

Shuman (2010 : 4) describes empathy as an ‘act of understanding others across time, space, or any difference in experience.’ We use empathy in our narrative research practices when we seek to understand the narratives of those who have suffered different experiences to our own. Where empathy is successful, it holds potential for one to bear witness to the suffering of others. However, because empathy ultimately relies on a separation between the listener and the teller, this distance can just as easily ‘create voyeurs rather than witnesses and can foreclose meaning rather than open lines of inquiry and understanding’ ( Shuman 2010 : 5; Tuck and Yang 2014 ). Likewise, Michelle Brown (2013 : 113) refers to the notion of penal spectatorship to describe the tendency of those of us without direct experience of penal systems to engage in what she calls a ‘discursive fascination’ with the experiences of criminalized people. Specifically, Brown (2013) understands penal spectatorship as a form of subjectivity that most of us engage in at some point. Like Shuman (2010) , Brown (2013 : 113) notes how this subjectivity relies on the ‘privilege of distance’ to both normalize the spectacle and pain of punishment, and foreclose the possibility of imagining penal and legal systems otherwise.

Following these scholars, I suggest that where the narratives of criminalized people are ‘exploited for the sake of understanding criminal behavior’ ( Presser and Sandberg 2015 : 1), we situate ourselves as voyeurs to narratives of suffering, rather than as witnesses. This ultimately serves to objectify the experiences of criminalized or marginalized people, mainly for the benefit of scholars committed to the criminological project of knowing ( Foucault 1971 ). This ‘knowing’ is not a knowing in the sense of truly ‘liv[ing]-in-the-world-with-others’ ( Tamboukou 2020 : 1), but a colonizing form of knowledge that seeks to make the ‘Other’ transparent to the researcher ( Tuck and Yang 2014 ). We can see such dangers most obviously manifested in situations where people’s narratives are appropriated for purposes for which they did not consent, or co-opted for causes with which they do not agree ( Costa et al . 2012 ). Yet they are also visible in situations where people’s narratives—usually narratives of suffering—are used for the benefit of others, such as researchers, who seek to make broader claims about the allegorical nature of experience ( Shuman 2010 ). Such benefits include, for example, greater understanding or insight about a particular issue that has been identified as a ‘problem’—such as ‘violent offending’, ‘recidivism’, ‘addiction’ or indeed ‘crime’. These concerns are equally relevant for research that seeks to interrogate the experiences of people who identify as victims/survivors, whether they are criminalized or not: how might appeals to empathy for those who have suffered harm serve as the basis for the exploitation of their narratives (intentional or otherwise)? As Pemberton et al . (2019 : 397) note, people ‘experiencing traumatic memories feel they are reliving the trauma again and again, and are unable to experience the time that separates them from the actual event.’ If victimization is not simply something experienced as being in the past, but is something often lived continuously in the present moment, what are the ethical implications of eliciting such narratives through narrative interviewing? Of course, we must not assume a person who has experienced harm lacks agency or will not derive some benefit from sharing their story ( Cook et al . 2019 ). Rather, I suggest we must return to questions of relationship between listener and teller ( Shuman 2010 ), and interrogate how our distance from the people or phenomena we research may be more conducive to voyeurism than practices of bearing witness.

Within the field of narrative criminology, Fleetwood et al . (2019 : 16) rightly call for more scholarly attention to the ‘narrative environment’, including ‘which speakers are empowered to speak’ and the kinds of realities that are made available to us, as researchers, over others. Indeed, we can trace a progression within the field of narrative criminology over the past decade to consider broader notions of harm, including harm exercised within institutions, and by criminal justice professionals ( Presser 2013 ; Kurtz and Upton 2017 ; Petintseva 2019 ). At the same time, much narrative criminological work also tends to be directed toward knowing, understanding and explaining individual ‘criminality’ or ‘deviancy’, or critiquing the practices of penal and treatment institutions so that they may more effectively manage, rehabilitate or treat the individuals within their control. That is, many narrative criminological studies de-politicize the contexts in which they research; and as such, the very existence of the institutions they study tends to remain unquestioned. Such propensities are not unique to narrative criminology; however, they raise important questions about how a desire to interrogate narratives as ‘points of interest’ ( Fleetwood et al . 2019 : 15)—that is, as stories that make ‘criminologically relevant things happen’ ( Presser 2016 : 140)—might allow such de-politicization to occur. As Wood (2020 : 175) recently reminded us: it is important to keep in mind those who create narratives, the aims they are pursuing, and what elements their stories leave out. ’ This applies not only to the narratives of our research participants, but also to our own narrative research practices.

For example, narrative criminologists have long drawn connections between their field and the field of desistance studies ( Maruna and Liem 2021 ). Many narratives told within narrative criminology are used to reinforce the need for desistance, which is ultimately presumed to be positive, necessary and desirable. Desistance narratives are usually described as evidence of formerly incarcerated people crafting new identities or achieving ‘redemption’ ( Maruna 2001 ; Stone 2016 ). Anderson (2016 : 1) has similarly explored how criminal justice practitioners can bear witness to desistance narratives as a powerful way to ‘endorse the humanity of those who have committed crimes’. Presser and Sandberg (2019) have also argued that when utilized to counter stigma experienced at the interpersonal level, desistance narratives can be tools of resistance. Whilst desistance research is often positioned in this way by its proponents as a positive alternative to the state project of rehabilitation, other scholars and criminalized people have identified the narrative of desistance as yet another tool that may facilitate the continued social control of criminalized people within the community, the ongoing individualization of crime and the silencing of dissent by the racist settler-colonial state ( Lean and Kilroy 2020 ; Russell and Carlton 2013 ). Indeed, Maruna and Liem (2021 : 133) have themselves conceded that in many instances, the coproduction of desistance narratives ‘can be more coercive, including pressures placed upon individuals to adopt self-blame narratives’ (see also Warr 2020 ). I suggest that it is here, in the taken-for-granted categories of criminological theorizing, that tokenistic notions of ‘studying up’ or ‘resistance’ can easily become depoliticized. Scholars of small-stories research have warned us about simplistic understandings of how resistance or counter narratives operate ( Shuman 2010 ). Shuman (2010 : 17), for example, reminds us that personal narratives do not necessarily ‘escape the categories and labels imposed on them by dominant narratives.’ As Fiander et al . (2016 : 4) have noted, ‘there is a significant difference between individual resistance and structural change’. Thus, we might instead ask: whose accounts of resistance are ultimately privileged in individual desistance narratives? Are they accounts, for example, which portray resistance against one dominant narrative (e.g. stigma against people who use drugs), through reifying another (e.g. the need for individual desistance and ‘offender supervision’)? Or, do they seek to challenge the ideological foundations of all dominant narratives that constrain the lives of criminalized people? I contend that in many narrative criminological studies concerned with desistance, we can witness how penal spectatorship ‘normalises what should be cause for concern across cultural life’ ( Brown 2013 : 113–4).

Another common example of how the criminological project of ‘knowing’ infuses narrative criminological research can be found in narrative studies of drug use and addiction ( Miller et al . 2015 ; Copes 2016 ). Whilst some narrative criminological studies have interrogated the broader politics of drug policy (see, e.g. Fleetwood 2015 ; Barrera 2019 ), many other studies within this body of work tend to be conducted with limited reference to the nuances and complexities of drug use highlighted within the critical addiction literature ( Fraser 2016 )—such as the political constitution of drug use and addiction as a ‘problem’ ( Lancaster et al. 2015 ), and critiques of abstinence-based and recovery-oriented drug treatment frameworks ( Moore and Fraser 2013 ). Infact in many narrative criminological studies we frequently witness the reification of addiction, the valorization of abstinence and ‘recovery’, and a depoliticization of contexts in which drug use occurs. For example, Presser and Sandberg (2019 : 4) point to a body of psychological research that they claim ‘follows narrative criminology’s fundamental decentering of criminal propensity, as narrative roles and not person-types align with offending’—research they assert ‘has implications for humane practice, such as in helping addicts achieve lasting recovery’. Yet as critical addiction scholars would argue, descriptions such as these simply serve to reinforce the category of ‘addict’ that is inevitably in need of ‘recovery’. The tendency to perceive such an approach as more humane than criminalizing a person labelled as having an addiction, has been comprehensively canvassed in the critical addiction literature and shown to be just as stigmatizing ( Fraser et al. 2017 ). In fact, rather than offering a more humane approach that decentres the notion of individual criminality, psychological models of addiction have been shown to smoothly integrate into criminal justice responses, and justify more punitive criminal sanctions on the basis that people experiencing addiction pose greater risks of reoffending ( Seear and Fraser 2014 ). This is possible precisely because medical and psychological understandings of addiction as a disease/disorder ultimately pathologize and depoliticize the concept ( Bunn 2019 )—rendering it a phenomenon to be measured and studied, in order to be controlled. The two bodies of research mentioned here thus raise important considerations for any attempt to mainstream narrative practice within criminology, in the hope that doing so will herald a radical turn for the discipline.

Shuman (2010 : 5) reminds us that we often use the narratives of others for seemingly noble purposes: ‘inspiration, redemption, emancipation, even subversion’; and, while this is not in itself problematic, it does suggest that we should be more attentive to the relationships that give rise to the sharing of those narratives. This is not simply a question of ethics, but also the related and inescapable reason that our very choice to use others’ narratives is driven by particular normative and political aims. For Shuman (2010) , this speaks to the issue of entitlement in narrative: what right do we have to tell other people’s stories? And—if we wish to engage in critical practice—should we always tell them? As has been explored in other sociological fields, criminologists should be wary of the risk of harm that can occur under the guise of giving ‘voice’ to research participants, without sharing power ( Costa et al . 2012 ). Many scholars note, for example, that the desire to ‘give voice’ to another person, ultimately relies on an uneven relationship between the listener and the teller ( Shuman 2010 ; Tuck and Yang 2014 ). As Tamboukou (2020 : 2) reminds us, ‘voice is inextricably related to politics’. In the context of narrative criminological research, our ability to research others and produce narratives about them is often contingent upon their criminalization, and sometimes their incarceration. In my view, simply being attentive to issues of ‘power’ and ‘resistance’ as they manifest in the lives of marginalized people does not suffice: it avoids the question of why they are not in a position to share those narratives themselves. It is for these reasons that Shuman (2010 : 8) contends empathy in narrative must be practiced in way that ‘requires critique’. In this final section, I suggest that criminologists must question what our narratives are ultimately being used for. That is— what are our intentions when we use narratives in criminological research? Is it to serve the collective enlightenment of criminologists and policy makers more broadly, as to why and how crime is committed or experienced? Or alternatively, how certain groups of people come to be criminalized or victimized? I further ask: do either of these aims, in and of themselves, justify their use? We may recall from narrative victimology that intent is a core component of the experience of victimization ( Pemberton et al . 2019 ). As Brown (2012 : 385) notes, ‘even in its most well-intentioned formations, empathy risks facilitating patronizing, even colonizing, benevolence’. Thus, while narrative criminology may be a broad church with diverse disciplinary imperatives, I suggest there are some common ethical intentions that should unite the field as a whole.

In narrative criminology, like mainstream criminology, we can observe the use of narratives both for extractive and emancipatory purposes. The first—our use of others’ narratives for the purposes of collective enlightenment—is one of the most apparent. In their most concerning iterations, such accounts exploit the narratives of people labelled as ‘criminals’ or ‘deviants’ to search for clues of some innate, pathological criminality. In other, more common examples, we see the use of criminalized people’s narratives to gain insight into so-called ‘offending pathways’, and processes of recidivism and desistance ( Maruna and Liem 2021 ). Of course, the idea that crime can be attributed to cognitive deficiencies, buttressed by an individual’s immersion in a deviant subculture or social disorganization, is not new to criminology; it mirrors criminological paradigms espoused within positivist and realist criminology and much of the evaluation literature committed to risk-based or ‘what works’ approaches. Traditional victimology has likewise been dominated by positivist research methods that have tended to objectify the experiences of people who have been harmed, whilst at times displaying a scepticism towards their veracity ( Pemberton et al . 2019 ). All such approaches are emblematic of the settler-colonial instinct of social science research that seeks out knowledge about ‘damaged’ and pain-ridden communities, to reinforce its own legitimacy ( Tuck and Yang 2014 ). Critical criminologists have long criticized such approaches for being steeped in racist, sexist, capitalist and ableist assumptions that uphold the political status quo and empower penal systems to more effectively manage and surveil marginalized populations under the guise of neutral scientific inquiry ( Goddard and Myers 2017 ).

However, I suggest that such propensities are also evident, albeit in much less overt ways, in a wider range of seemingly innocent narrative criminological work that seeks to explore the ‘here-and-now’ of crime ( Presser 2009 : 179). This includes, for example, studies which explore the sub-cultural narratives used by ‘deviant’ or ‘street’ based groups ( Sandberg 2009 ; Sandberg et al . 2015 ), or how so-called ‘prisoner’ and ‘drug addict’ notions of self are recounted in ‘telling moments’ ( O’Connor 2015 ). Similarly, Presser and Sandberg (2015 : 13) claim that ‘cultural criminology’s insistence on the seductions of crime is something narrativists can get behind,’ and others have noted the ‘important intertwined history’ that narrative criminology shares with the field of cultural criminology ( Laws 2020 : 4). Mills and Fleetwood (2020 : 33), drawing on ethnographic research with prepper communities in the United States, claim that cultural criminology’s notion of criminological verstehen is a useful complement to narrative research, such that both fields may more successfully ‘foster deep, empathetic understandings with their respondents’. Yet whether such deep, empathetic relationships can be authentically fostered in all contexts is questionable. As Michelle Brown (2012 : 384), writing on empathy and punishment from a US context, writes:

…efforts to regard the other/alter from within the frame of perpetration, in a society that imprisons more persons than any other on the planet or in history for the purposes of crime control, sets in motion a particular kind of reading – one premised in judgment. The ability to incite an open read of others, an empathy that is curious, engaged, authentic, committed, flexible, and moved is a fundamental problem in such a context.

Often missing from narrative criminologists’ engagement with cultural criminology is a consideration of some important criticisms of the latter, such as its failure to develop an adequate ‘grammar of critique’ sufficient for a critical criminological approach ( Spencer 2011 ). Moreover, I suggest that narrative criminologists have not adequately questioned how the relationship between narrative criminology and cultural criminology may ultimately strengthen the proclivities of both fields to engage in penal spectatorship, and further fetishize accounts of apparent ‘criminality’ ( Brown 2013 ). Here, we may observe that what ultimately drives research in both fields is a will to truth about crime ( Foucault 1971 ), and the promise of collective enlightenment about its causes. Yet, we must be cautious of where such curiosity about the ‘seductions of crime’ ( Presser and Sandberg 2015 : 13) can lead. For example, in Brookman’s (2015) analysis of the narratives of people labelled ‘violent offenders’, we see a number of disturbing recommendations for future research in narrative criminology. These include for the interviewee to ‘go back’ and ‘re-live’ the moment of violence as opposed to explaining their own interpretation of it; to have research participants perform their narratives in group settings rather than interviews, so that they might be less rehearsed; and to have participants be interviewed by multiple researchers, multiple times, using different approaches, to uncover the ‘authentically violent offender’ beneath the narratives they share ( Brookman 2015 : 226–7). Put simply, these suggestions demonstrate a lack of respect and dehumanization of the research subjects in question—as though they exist to be played with, to elicit the right kind of value for criminologists. Most scholars would no doubt share concerns about such methodological suggestions. However, rather than simply dismissing such suggestions as extreme, I suggest we take seriously what they reflect about the dangers of unquestionably adopting particular narrative practices—such as when the quest for narrative itself becomes more important than the wellbeing of, and respect for, the people sharing or co-producing those narratives. It highlights the serious ethical obligations that arise when we seek to extract the story from the individual, and ask it to ‘travel’ for our own research purposes ( Shuman 2010 ).

The second use of narratives—for emancipatory or subversive purposes—is also evident within narrative criminology, as well as its ‘sister’ field of narrative victimology. There are, for example, a growing number of studies that seek to explore the lives of stigmatized or victimized people, many of which point to the promising and emancipatory potential of narrative practice within criminology ( Fleetwood et al . 2019 ). For example, we learn how people in prison undertake immense ‘narrative labour’ ( Warr 2020 ) to counter stigma and survive the violence of the prison; as well as the ways in which people who have sexually offended navigate their highly stigmatized post-release lives ( Victor and Waldram 2015 ). Likewise, Boonzaier’s (2019 : 467) research with women who engage in sex work explores the violence of the multiple systems of oppression they experience. At the same time, a focus on oppression and stigma may not necessarily yield emancipatory research practice. As Tuck and Yang (2014 : 227) remind us, ‘much of the work of the academy is to reproduce stories of oppression in its own voice’. In my mind, following Shuman (2010) , two pertinent questions remain. First, for what purposes is such research conducted? And secondly, what exactly is emancipatory about it?

Regarding the first question, many studies ultimately interrogate the lived experience of oppression or stigma for the purpose of strengthening understanding about marginalized groups. Victor and Waldram (2015 : 119), for example, argue that studying experiences of stigma ‘allows us to better understand how offenders engage with treatment’, while Wesley (2018 : 227) states that ‘we must continue to investigate issues that recall us to ourselves, our privilege and disadvantage… because this reveals more nuanced understandings about disadvantaged and disenfranchised groups ’. The implication in such studies is that we are best serving and representing our research participants’ interests by getting to know more about them, and how they navigate, cope with, or attempt to resist, the many layers of oppression in their lives. Yet the ways in which we may also be implicated in their disadvantage or oppression, tend to remain addressed. This ultimately leads us to the second question: what is emancipatory about such narrative criminological research? As both Shuman (2010) and Brown (2013) attest, the reason empathy can so easily lead to voyeurism is because it does not fundamentally change the conditions of those in the research encounter. Often the researcher remains in their position of privilege, armed with more apparent knowledge of the ‘Other’, while the research subject returns, more often than not, to their existing circumstances. They may feel a sense of having contributed to knowledge of a larger issue, but their own lives are usually no different. Often, their experiences go on to be interpreted in ways they may find troubling, perhaps de-humanizing, or re-traumatizing ( Tuck and Yang 2014 ). Wesley (2018) , for example, insightfully demonstrates how researchers may co-constitute the narratives produced in such encounters—yet her research also reveals some of the ethical dilemmas that may arise during this process. In her interviews with criminalized women, she describes how she made claims to particular forms of professional knowledge in the form of bids to an ‘ Authority identity’, which her interviewees variously rejected or negotiated. In her interview with ‘Fatima’, she states:

While talking about all the ways the Advocate Program helped her, Fatima segued into asking me, ‘So, you’re on the Board of Directors, right?’ When I responded that I was, she said, ‘Maybe now you could tell them, like, seriously, you talked to somebody firsthand, by the examples I gave you, how much these programs help people.’…I did not overtly accept this, and instead of offering affirmations… I shifted the topic to talk more about her and less about my authority. I interpreted this version of authority as one rooted in perceptions of my power and privilege – in this context, the power to influence the availability of services rendered for her daily well-being, if not survival. On some level, this seemed counterproductive to my efforts to minimize perceptions of difference between us. ’ ( Wesley 2018 : 221—my emphasis).

This excerpt offers invaluable insight into the often-tenuous ethics of our research practices, even when we acknowledge issues such as power and resistance in the lives of research participants. Wesley (2018) writes impressively about the power dynamics within the research encounter, but when presented with an opportunity to make a material difference in the life of one of her research participants, feels limited by dominant narratives about professionalism. Tellingly, her desire in this exchange to avoid discomfort and redirect the narrative focus away from her power and privilege, is at odds with her earlier lack of discomfort when expressing authority over how research participants might understand themselves. Furthermore, it suggests that the desire to ‘minimize differences and to establish rapport’ ( Wesley 2018 : 226) for the comfort of the researcher is more important than using one’s privilege to potentially improve the well-being and survival of the research participant—in this case, actions arguably within the researcher’s control as a member of the Board of Directors. Sandberg (2010 : 448) has likewise described his attempts at reducing social distance and ‘establishing a bond’ with his research subjects—in his case, for the purpose of demonstrating ‘the fruitfulness of a narrative approach for studies of offenders’. However, a number of scholars have critiqued this desire to minimize differences within the research encounter, noting that it presumes a need for sameness as a prerequisite for recognition and responsiveness ( Dreher and Mondal 2018 ; Tamboukou 2020 ). Instead, they suggest that we must understand difference as ‘central to democratic dialogue’ ( Butterwick 2012 : 62), which should invoke discomfort if it is to result in any meaningful change ( Dreher and Mondal 2018 ). Whilst I recognize that many researchers would be wary of taking such an ‘activist position’ ( Presser and Sandberg 2019 ), I contend that these examples speak volumes about the gap that exists between what we claim narrative practice promises criminology, and what it often delivers ( Shuman 2010 ). In our search for the narratives of our research participants and their apparent power to transform future action, we are often blind to the power of narrative in the present moment to stand in solidarity with, or make a material difference in, the lives of those we encounter through our research.

Some existing contributions in the field of narrative criminology do make important progress towards this goal. Boonzaier’s (2019 : 467) research, noted above, demonstrates how Black feminist approaches can ‘speak back to the ways in which those on the margins … continue to be (mis)represented in the knowledge-making machinery’. Kurtz and Upton (2017 : 555) interrogate how law enforcement narratives have the power to ‘represent alternative versions of reality’ that supress the narratives of more marginalized groups; Petintseva (2019) describes how she challenged discriminatory attitudes of youth justice practitioners through the research encounter; Walklate et al . (2019) analyse how one high profile victim/survivor’s story impacted widescale policy change in Australia; and Fiander et al . (2016 : 16) demonstrate how penal history museums can both enable penal spectatorship and ‘undermine the legitimacy of incarceration’. Reflecting upon such examples, and others ( Fleetwood 2015 ; Ugelvik 2016 ; Presser 2019 ), I suggest that the power of narrative to progress a more critical research agenda may originate less from criminologists’ routine reflections upon their own positionalities, or the adoption of a wholesale research framework such as ‘narrative criminology’, but from a deeper commitment to an ethics and politics of listening that is open to challenging what we take for granted in research ( Boonzaier 2019 ; Tamboukou, 2020 ). It would also depend on a commitment to bearing witness to the complex, co-constitutive nature of structure and agency, and power and resistance, in our research participants’ lives; an attentiveness to the ethical relationships that arise between narrators and listeners in our research; and a willingness to confront and sit with the tension produced by the power dynamics arising from our research practices, without attempting to minimize or erase those differences. Finally, it would require a conscious commitment not to co-opt the lived experiences of our research participants to contribute to mainstream criminal justice system ‘knowledge’ about criminalized people ( Boonzaier 2019 ; Lean and Kilroy 2020 ). In some ways, this would be an exercise in refusal ( Tuck and Yang 2014 ) against the positivist imperative that presents ‘stories [as] only of interest…if they can be shown to do something’ ( Maruna and Liem 2021 : 139)—in the case of criminologists’ narratives, that something , or course, most often done in service to the State. Thus, criminologists who seek to use narrative for its emancipatory potential would do well to ensure their research not only attends to questions of power and privilege, but also stands in solidarity with marginalized people, centres the locus and imperative for change on those in power, and questions the very legitimacy of their institutions ( Tauri 2018 ). This should also include using the research process ‘to turn back upon itself’ as a colonizing project and question our very reliance on research frameworks that situate themselves as ‘universal, liberal or neutral knowledge without horizon’ ( Tuck and Yang 2014 : 243).

The narratives of harm we so frequently share in criminology are often narratives of suffering and oppression, as well as survival and resistance and this carries a greater weight and responsibility than is often acknowledged. It has consequences for the methodological choices we make in our research, and the relationships and obligations we have to our research participants. Our desire to understand how narratives become interesting may be a worthwhile scientific endeavour in its own right, but we must also always ask: to whom are such narratives engaging and interesting, and why ? I contend that when pursued without adequate consideration as to history, context, ethics and politics, criminological interest in narratives can too easily result in engagement with notions of crime and punishment as ‘pure spectacle’ ( Brown 2013 : 115). Criminologists may rightly seek out the narratives of others for the purposes of contributing to knowledge, or making some sort of difference in our communities. However, this cannot be achieved by sensationalizing or making spectacles of the behaviour of victimized or criminalized people, or dissecting and exploiting their stories to find evidence of some underlying pathological deviancy. Despite its critical potential, there are many ways in which the field of narrative criminology has acted in service to the criminal justice machine, as opposed to challenging the more sinister power dynamics that plague our broader social and economic relations. Narrative may offer criminologists another tool to conduct rich, critical research; but like any tool, narrative may also be used to reinforce unequal power relations, and as such, the field of narrative criminology cannot in and of itself be understood as a critical project. To engage in critique is a practice that must be constantly actioned. It is not in any particular research framework such as narrative criminology where criminologists will find the tools of liberation for oppressed and marginalized communities; but in a commitment to ethical and political praxis that cuts across methodologies and scholarly fields: an ongoing ‘politically aware and ethically reflective stance’ ( Boonzaier 2019 : 471).

Finally, I suggest that a critical narrative practice within criminology must resist the temptation to fill in the gaps of the narratives we co-produce through our research ( Shuman 2010 ) and embrace a form of critique that ‘open[s] up a set of questions that it cannot (and does not) close off’ ( Brown 2013 : 116). We must become more comfortable with activist research ( Presser and Sandberg 2019 ), and widen our collective gaze to consider the categories of experience that have thus far remained relatively unaddressed within mainstream criminology. This might involve engaging more deeply in a ‘politics of listening’ ( Butterwick 2012 ); and conducting research that is led and guided by the communities in which we are embedded, rather than the interests of criminologists and the criminal justice systems that so often benefit from our research. It might also involve a practice of ‘refusal’ as a ‘generative orientation’ ( Tuck and Yang 2014 : 238)—that is, as a practice that recognizes the necessity of limits for criminological research, and which ‘understands the wisdom in a story, as well as the wisdom in not passing that story on’ (244). In these processes of bearing witness, listening, and refusal, we may find that the most widespread and pressing injustices our communities face relate not to the actions of pathologically ‘criminal’ people, but a raft of systemic and structural harms that produce, reproduce and co-constitute interpersonal violence and suffering. For narrative criminologists, this may open up new possibilities to explore issues as wide-ranging and inter-dependent as settler-colonialism and structural racism, the criminalization of the poor, violence against people with disabilities, state crime and drug prohibition; as well as alternative solutions to violence in our communities, such as decolonization, penal abolition, transformative justice and anti-carceral feminism—to name just a few. Likewise, it would strengthen critical criminologists’ exploration of such issues by contributing important narrative tools to the interrogation of power, without accepting the inevitability or universality of such tools, or resorting to ‘damage-centred’ research that simply reinforces the structural dominance of the academy ( Tuck and Yang 2014 : 227). Across the discipline, it ultimately calls for us to consider the ethics and politics of engagement in our research, the kinds of harm we choose to foreground and the implications of our sharing the narratives we share—an opportunity, perhaps, to confront the harms that criminology has caused, and to reimagine the discipline itself.

I thank the anonymous reviewers, as well as Dr. Claire Spivakovsky and Dr. Diana Johns for their considered feedback.

This research is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.

Allthoff , M. , Dollinger , B. and Schmidt , H. , eds., ( 2020 ), Conflicting Narratives of Crime and Punishment. Springer Nature .

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Organized Crime, Violence, and Politics

We investigate how criminal organizations strategically use violence to influence elections in order to get captured politicians elected. The model offers novel testable implications about the use of pre-electoral violence under different types of electoral systems and different degrees of electoral competition. We test these implications by exploiting data on homicide rates in Italy since 1887, comparing the extent of ‘electoral-violence cycles’ between areas with a higher and lower presence of organized crime, under democratic and non-democratic regimes, proportional and majoritarian elections, and between contested and non-contested districts. We provide additional evidence on the influence of organized crime on politics using parliamentary speeches of politicians elected in Sicily during the period 1945-2013.

We would like to thank Unicredit and Universities Foundation and EIEF for financial support. For useful comments we are grateful to Ernesto Dal Bo, Melissa Dell, Rafael Di Tella, Nicola Gennaioli, Armando Miano, Aldo Pignataro, Shanker Satyanath, Francesco Sobbrio, Guido Tabellini, and seminar participants at Barcelona GSE Summer Forum, Bocconi, IEB (Barcelona), EEA-ESEM (Toulouse, 2014) and Paris School of Economics. Gabriele Borg, Elisa Facchetti, Armando Miano, and Benjamin Villanyi provided excellent research assistance. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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Link between crime and politics in South Africa raises concerns about criminal gangs taking over

Associate Professor, Political Sciences, and Deputy Dean Teaching and Learning (Humanities), University of Pretoria

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Sandy Africa is affiliated with the University of Pretoria's Faculty of Humanities, which partnered with the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime (GITOC), the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) to launch GITOC's 'Strategic Organised Crime Risk Assessment: South Africa' in September 2022.

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A report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (Gitoc) released in September 2022 argues that South Africa has increasingly become a centre of organised crime, transcending national boundaries.

The picture emerging from the report is that there are organised networks inside and outside the state that enable, facilitate and exploit opportunities for private gain. Or, they exercise unfair advantage in economic activity in the public and private sectors, using coercive methods. Some actively go about sabotaging critical infrastructure to benefit from this.

The areas of public life where criminals exploit or intimidate their way into influence are growing. In recent times grand-scale crime has seeped through to healthcare , education and parastatals . Speaking out against malfeasance comes at a high price.

Read more: Crime, COVID and climate change - South African tourism faces many threats, but it’s resilient

This is apart from the scores of political assassinations of local activists and officials, either for political gain or sheer vengeance against those who dare to call out corruption.

Mafia state

There is no doubt that there is a growing ecosystem of organised crime overwhelming the state and public life in the country. And, because political actors or state institutions are so often implicated in it, some commentators are even asking if South Africa is becoming a “mafia state” .

The term “mafia state” refers to the interpenetration of governments and organised crime networks. In his influential 2012 article, Mafia States , Venezuelan journalist and writer Moises Naim said:

In a mafia state, high government officials actually become integral players in, if not the leaders of, criminal enterprises, and the defence and promotion of those enterprises’ businesses become official priorities.

There is no single prototype for when a state can be labelled a mafia state. The concept is best thought of as a spectrum. The most extreme cases involve politicians at the highest levels taking direct control of organised crime operations. Other characteristics are collusion between crime syndicates and powerful political figures, money laundering to hide illicit proceeds, and the use of violence and intimidation to protect those involved.

The Gitoc report shies away from using the label “mafia state” to describe South Africa. What it does make clear is that there is a proliferation of crime networks that involves not just criminal “kingpins” and politically connected individuals but also ordinary people. They become part of this “value chain”, for different historical reasons. But South Africa may be reaching a point where the link between crime and politics is sustained because there are role-players who do not want to see it changing.

Fighting corruption

The prevalence of criminal elements within the state does not mean that the whole of the state has become a criminal enterprise. But it is true that many state institutions, have been targeted by criminals, with the collusion of people on the inside.

South Africans are not resigned to the criminalisation of the state, and are actively challenging it. Many of the revelations about fraud, corruption and nepotism come from principled whistle-blowers within state structures. Others come from the relatively free media, and voices in civil society and politics. Some of the malfeasance has been revealed by inquiries initiated by the executive itself. This is the case with the Zondo Commission, which probed state capture .

Read more: Using the South African army to fight crime is a bad idea: here's why

Poor communication strategies make it difficult for ordinary citizens to assess how the state is responding to these challenges. A case in point is the government’s decision to deploy the military to beef up security at several electricity generation facilities. It remains to be seen whether the deployment will be able to stop the acts of sabotage that the ESKOM senior management claim to be a major factor in the worsening energy crisis.

As with the July 2021 riots , sparked by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma for contempt of court, there are conflicting public pronouncements from cabinet ministers on critical sectors and services affected by crime.

The political economy of organised crime

The South African economy has a formal sector (“first economy”) and an informal sector (“second economy”). Economists call this a dual economy . To this should be added a “third economy” – the illicit economic activities described above, that have seeped into the formal and informal economies.

The overlap between the licit and the illicit economy in South Africa is complex. Even big, multinational companies may also covertly engage in illicit operations in spite of appearances. On the other hand, criminals often exploit vulnerable people where the state has failed to meet basic needs: they offer jobs, opportunities and income, a phenomenon seen not only in South Africa, but across the African continent .

Looking forward

Part of the reset South Africa needs to untangle political and crime networks is better policing and security strategies. The state must be able to assert its authority in the interests of the majority, law-abiding citizens who want to live honest lives in a climate of certainty.

If the crime-politics nexus is being deliberately sustained through the collusion of influential actors within the state, then it is going to be much harder to dismantle.

The resources being spent to address crime will be ineffective. The spectre of corrupt, pliable or compromised people in the criminal justice sector will make the future more unstable. Violence and threats against those who stand up against organised crime will become more commonplace.

The reports of the Zondo Commission , the Special Investigating Unit , whistle-blower reports, work by investigative journalists , research by academics , think tanks and civil society organisations , all go some way towards showing how the slide towards a criminal state can be halted. The criminal justice system must bring criminals to book, not give way to impunity.

But more important than combating crime is asking the difficult questions about how ordinary people end up involved in organised crime, and why the country’s democracy is becoming more polarised .

Read more: Many Kenyans have embraced vigilante cops – an ineffective police force is to blame

If the dire socio-economic conditions persist, there is every likelihood that organised criminals will continue to exploit the contradictions in society, and organised crime markets will expand.

The stakes are high. Stopping South Africa from becoming a “mafia state” ought to be a priority for everyone. This will become a key issue of concern to voters ahead of the 2024 national general elections.

• Assassination
• Unemployment
• Organised crime
• Money laundering
• Whistleblowers
• Investigative journalism
• Peacebuilding
• Intimidation
• State capture
• Peace and Security
• Crime in South Africa
• Zondo Commission
• African National Congress (ANC)
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Politics of Crime and Punishment

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Essay on Politics: Topics, Tips, and Examples for Students

Defining What is Politics Essay

The process of decision-making that applies to members of a group or society is called politics. Arguably, political activities are the backbone of human society, and everything in our daily life is a form of it.

Understanding the essence of politics, reflecting on its internal elements, and critically analyzing them make society more politically aware and let them make more educated decisions. Constantly thinking and analyzing politics is critical for societal evolution.

Political thinkers often write academic papers that explore different political concepts, policies, and events. The essay about politics may examine a wide range of topics such as government systems, political ideologies, social justice, public policies, international relations, etc.

After selecting a specific research topic, a writer should conduct extensive research, gather relevant information, and prepare a logical and well-supported argument. The paper should be clear and organized, complying with academic language and standards. A writer should demonstrate a deep understanding of the subject, an ability to evaluate and remain non-biased to different viewpoints, and a capacity to draw conclusions.

Now that we are on the same page about the question 'what is politics essay' and understand its importance, let's take a deeper dive into how to build a compelling political essay, explore the most relevant political argumentative essay topics, and finally, examine the political essay examples written by the best essay writing service team.

Politics Essay Example for Students

If you are still unsure how to structure your essay or how to present your statement, don't worry. Our team of experts has prepared an excellent essay example for you. Feel free to explore and examine it. Use it to guide you through the writing process and help you understand what a successful essay looks like.

How to Write a Political Essay: Tips + Guide

A well-written essay is easy to read and digest. You probably remember reading papers full of big words and complex ideas that no one bothered to explain. We all agree that such essays are easily forgotten and not influential, even though they might contain a very important message.

If you are writing an essay on politics, acknowledge that you are on a critical mission to easily convey complicated concepts. Hence, what you are trying to say should be your main goal. Our guide on how to write a political essay will help you succeed.

Conduct Research for Your Politics Essay

After choosing a topic for the essay, take enough time for preparation. Even if you are familiar with the matter, conducting thorough research is wiser. Political issues are complex and multifaceted; comprehensive research will help you understand the topic better and offer a more nuanced analysis.

Research can help you identify different viewpoints and arguments around the topic, which can be beneficial for building more impartial and persuasive essays on politics. Sometimes in the hit of the moment, opposing sides are not able to see the common ground; your goal is to remain rational, speak to diverse audiences, and help them see the core of the problem and the ways to solve it.

In political papers, accuracy and credibility are vital. Researching the topic deeply will help you avoid factual errors or misrepresentations from any standpoint. It will allow you to gather reliable sources of information and create a trustworthy foundation for the entire paper.

If you want to stand out from the other students, get inspired by the list of hottest essay ideas and check out our political essay examples.

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Brainstorm Political Essay Topics

The next step to writing a compelling politics essay is to polish your thoughts and find the right angle to the chosen topic.

Before you start writing, generate fresh ideas and organize your thoughts. There are different techniques to systematize the mess going on in your head, such as freewriting, mind mapping, or even as simple as listing ideas. This will open the doors to new angles and approaches to the topic.

When writing an essay about politics, ensure the topic is not too general. It's always better to narrow it down. It will simplify your job and help the audience better understand the core of the problem. Brainstorming can help you identify key points and arguments, which you can use to find a specific angle on the topic.

Brainstorming can also help you detect informational gaps that must be covered before the writing process. Ultimately, the brainstorming phase can bring a lot more clarity and structure to your essay.

We know how exhausting it is to come up with comparative politics essay topics. Let our research paper writing service team do all the hard work for you.

Create Your Politics Essay Thesis Statement

Thesis statements, in general, serve as a starting point of the roadmap for the reader. A political essay thesis statement outlines the main ideas and arguments presented in the body paragraphs and creates a general sense of the content of the paper.

Creating a thesis statement for essays about politics in the initial stages of writing can help you stay focused and on track throughout the working process. You can use it as an aim and constantly check your arguments and evidence against it. The question is whether they are relevant and supportive of the statement.

Get creative when creating a statement. This is the first sentence readers will see, and it should be compelling and clear.

The following is a great example of a clear and persuasive thesis statement:

 'The lack of transparency and accountability has made the World Trade Organization one of the most controversial economic entities. Despite the influence, its effectiveness in promoting free trade and economic growth in developing countries has decreased.'

Provide Facts in Your Essay about Politic

It's a no-brainer that everything you will write in your essay should be supported by strong evidence. The credibility of your argument will be questioned every step of the way, especially when you are writing about sensitive subjects such as essays on government influence on economic troubles. 

Provide facts and use them as supporting evidence in your politics essay. They will help you establish credibility and accuracy and take your paper out of the realm of speculation and mere opinions.

Facts will make your essay on political parties more persuasive, unbiased, and targeted to larger audiences. Remember, the goal is to bring the light to the core of the issue and find a solution, not to bring people even farther apart.

Speaking of facts, many students claim that when they say ' write my essay for me ' out loud, our writing team is the fastest to respond and deliver high-quality essays meeting their trickiest requirements.

Structure Your Political Essay

Your main goal is to communicate your ideas to many people. To succeed, you need to write an essay that is easy to read and understand. Creating a structure will help you present your ideas logically and lead the readers in the right direction.

Sometimes when writing about political essay topics, we get carried away. These issues can be very emotional and sensitive, and writers are not protected from becoming victims of their own writings. Having a structure will keep you on track, only focusing on providing supported arguments and relevant information.

Start with introducing the thesis statement and provide background information. Followed by the body paragraphs and discuss all the relevant facts and standpoints. Finish it up with a comprehensive conclusion, and state the main points of your essay once again.

The structure will also save you time. In the beginning, creating an outline for essays on politics will give you a general idea of what should be written, and you can track your progress against it.

Revise and Proofread Your Final Politics Essay

Once every opinion is on the paper and every argument is well-constructed, one final step should be taken. Revision!

We know nothing is better than finishing the homework and quickly submitting it, but we aim for an A+. Our political essay must be reviewed. You need to check if there is any error such as grammatical, spelling, or contextual.

Take some time off, relax, and start proofreading after a few minutes or hours. Having a fresh mind will help you review not only grammar but also the arguments. Check if something is missing from your essays about politics, and if you find gaps, provide additional information.

You had to spend a lot of time on them, don't give up now. Make sure they are in perfect condition.

Effective Political Essay Topics

We would be happy if our guide on how to write political essays helped you, but we are not stopping there. Below you will find a list of advanced and relevant political essay topics. Whether you are interested in global political topics or political science essay topics, we got you covered.

Once you select a topic, don't forget to check out our politics essay example! It will bring even more clarity, and you will be all ready to start writing your own paper.

Political Argumentative Essay Topics

Now that we know how to write a political analysis essay let's explore political argumentative essay topics:

• Should a political party take a stance on food politics and support policies promoting sustainable food systems?
• Should we label Winston Churchill as the most influential political figure of World War II?
• Does the focus on GDP growth in the political economy hinder the human development index?
• Is foreign influence a threat to national security?
• Is foreign aid the best practice for political campaigning?
• Does the electoral college work for an ideal political system?
• Are social movements making a real difference, or are they politically active for temporary change?
• Can global politics effectively address political conflicts in the modern world?
• Are opposing political parties playing positive roles in US international relations?
• To what extent should political influence be allowed in addressing economic concerns?
• Can representative democracy prevent civil wars in ethnically diverse countries?
• Should nuclear weapons be abolished for the sake of global relations?
• Is economic development more important than ethical issues for Caribbean politics?
• What role should neighboring nations play in preventing human rights abuse in totalitarian regimes?
• Should political decisions guide the resolution of conflicts in the South China Sea?

Political Socialization Essay Topics

Knowing how to write a political issue essay is one thing, but have you explored our list of political socialization essay topics?

• To what extent does a political party or an influential political figure shape the beliefs of young people?
• Does political influence shape attitudes toward environmental politics?
• How can individuals use their own learning process to navigate political conflicts in a polarized society?
• How do political strategies shape cultural globalization?
• Is gender bias used as a political instrument in political socialization?
• How can paying attention to rural communities improve political engagement?
• What is the role of Amnesty International in preventing the death penalty?
• What is the role of politically involved citizens in shaping minimum wage policies?
• How does a political party shape attitudes toward global warming?
• How does the federal system influence urban planning and attitudes toward urban development?
• What is the role of public opinion in shaping foreign policy, and how does it affect political decision making
• Did other countries' experiences affect policies on restricting immigration in the US?
• How can note-taking skills and practice tests improve political engagement? 
• How do the cultural values of an independent country shape the attitudes toward national security?
• Does public opinion influence international intervention in helping countries reconcile after conflicts?

Political Science Essay Topics

If you are searching for political science essay topics, check our list below and write the most compelling essay about politic:

• Is environmental education a powerful political instrument? 
• Can anarchist societies provide a viable alternative to traditional forms of governance?
• Pros and cons of deterrence theory in contemporary international relations
• Comparing the impact of the French Revolution and World War II on the political landscape of Europe
• The role of the ruling political party in shaping national policies on nuclear weapons
• Exploring the roots of where politics originate
• The impact of civil wars on the processes of democratization of the third-world countries
• The role of international organizations in promoting global health
• Does using the death penalty in the justice system affect international relations?
• Assessing the role of the World Trade Organization in shaping global trade policies
• The political and environmental implications of conventional agriculture
• The impact of the international court on political decision making
• Is philosophical anarchism relevant to contemporary political discourse?
• The emergence of global citizenship and its relationship with social movements
• The impact of other countries on international relations between the US and China

Final Words

See? Writing an essay about politic seems like a super challenging job, but in reality, all it takes is excellent guidance, a well-structured outline, and an eye for credible information.

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Annie Lambert

specializes in creating authoritative content on marketing, business, and finance, with a versatile ability to handle any essay type and dissertations. With a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a passion for social issues, her writing not only educates but also inspires action. On EssayPro blog, Annie delivers detailed guides and thought-provoking discussions on pressing economic and social topics. When not writing, she’s a guest speaker at various business seminars.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

Related Articles

607 Crime Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

When writing a research paper about criminology or law, you have to consider your topic carefully. Our team came up with 465 titles, along with some crime essay examples to assist you in your assignment.

🏆 Best Crime Topic Ideas & Essay Examples

👍 good crime topics for essays, ✅ simple & easy topics about crime, 💡 most interesting crime topics to write about, 📌 useful crime topics for essays, 📑 interesting crime topics, ❓ crime research questions.

• Unemployment Leads to Crime Essay In the 1990s, the rate of unemployment was low and so was the rate of property crime. Crime rates increase steadily in society, and the rate of crime is connected to unemployment and low wages.
• Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World The relationships that exist in the families of the youths could facilitate the indulgence in criminal activities for example when the parents are involved in crime, when there is poor parental guidance and supervision, in […]
• Applying Developmental Theories of Crime to Jeffrey Dahmer In the framework of this theory, Dahmer’s obsession with dissecting animals and necrophilic fantasies from a young age are not connected to the other events in his life but are simply manifestations of his latent, […]
• Impact of Crime on Wider Society Therefore, just as some organs in the body can be removed in order to improve the health of a person, the people who cause problems in the society can also be removed so that the […]
• The Effects of Mass Media Glorifying Crime and Criminal Lifestyle Crime has and will dominate popular media, ranging from the traditional police and detective shows/movies to documentaries, and more recently the ‘true crime’ genre or psychological thrillers attempting to tell the story from the perspective […]
• Three Pathways to Crime Identified by Loeber It encompasses an account of an individual’s past in the course of time of problem behavior in a continuing increment of seriousness of problem behavior.
• Technology for Crime Prevention With the modern computer technology and advanced software, criminal justice system has been in a capacity to compile data and store it as well as share its analysis with other agencies both in and out […]
• Chris Watts and His Murder Crimes Watts pleaded guilty to the killings of his children and wife. Watts concluded the interview by saying he was sorry and repented for his actions after seeking refuge in God.
• Frankston Serial Killer: Background, Crimes, and Motives At the time, the police noted that Denyer was with his girlfriend. The letter claimed that Denyer knows his whereabouts, and that he was planning to break out of prison to kill him.
• Types of Crime Analysis The goals of tactical analysis are to recognize crime trends and to develop the best suited strategies to address them. This is a matter of great concern and the department would inquire more into the […]
• Displacement: Crime Prevention It refers to circumstances where crime intervention efforts make the cost of committing an offense greater than the benefits accruing from the crime.
• The Impact of Social Media on the Rise in Crime For example, Jones cites revenge porn, or the practice of publishing a partner’s intimate contact on social media, as one of the results of social media use.
• Marxists and Functionalists’ Views on Crime and Deviance Also, the essay seeks to explain why people commit crimes in reference to a social and political transition, poverty, globalization of crime and state bureaucracy in order to evaluate the most effective conceptual approach to […]
• International Organized Crime: The 14K Triads in Hong Kong Being one of the largest transnational criminal organizations globally, the 14K does not depend on the strict structure, operates according to the principles of secrecy, and it is rather difficult to bring the organization to […]
• Crime TV: How Is Criminality Represented on Television? The public’s views and comprehension of crime are heavily influenced by television, the internet, and print media, which can spread the message about the exaggerated danger to society.
• Social Theories of Crime in Explaining Gang Violence This theory incorporates the strain theory as well as the social disorganization it points out that as a result of strain and societal segregation there is a particular culture that establishes for the low income […]
• Suspect, Crime Scene, and the Victim: Evidence Triangle In every crime investigation, it is mandatory that the evidence gathered be adequate to draw the link between the suspect, crime scene and the victim.
• Solving the Issue of Crime As the director of the county juvenile court, the research question related to the problem at hand should state as follows: What are cost effective methods of solving the proliferation of violent street gangs in […]
• Social Cultural Causes of Crime There is need to highlight the social cultural factors of crime and describe the necessary positive measures to prevent the occurrences of crime.
• White Collar Crime Parties affected by the crime and how it affects them White collar criminals place more emphasis on their personal needs than their organization’s to the point of downplaying the real costs of their actions.
• Why Does Crime Exist in Society? Philosophically this is the equivalent of saying that without evil one would not recognize good, and while this is evident in the criminal world and the world of law, it only provides some explanation as […]
• Parental Responsibility for Crimes of Children Parents should be held responsible for the crime of their children because in most cases criminal involvement of children is the result of lack of parental control.
• Infamous Crimes: Laci Peterson’s Murder Even during the war in Iraq, the search for her and the ultimate arrest of Scott Peterson led the news. Her cell phone and purse were still in the house, and a neighbor said she […]
• White Collar Crimes From a Marxist Criminological Perspective Marxist criminologists interpret it in the following way: “…the crimes of the upper class exert a greater economic toll on society than the crimes of the ‘ordinary people’”.
• Youth Crime According to Conflict Theory The second one is that the youth might engage in criminal activities and violence due to misappropriation of resources, lack of jobs, and inadequate strategies to meet their social needs.
• Consequences of Committing Crime These factors affect the behavior of an individual and might lead them to criminal activities depending on the effect of the overall combination of the elements mentioned above.
• An Epidemic of Knife Crime in the UK In the case of the former, it is evident that social class plays a key role in the emergence of knife crimes across the UK.
• Youth Crime in Functionalism and Conflict Theories The analysis will focus on determining factors contributing to youth engagement in criminal acts, examining the types of delinquencies they are likely to commit, and establishing the socio-psychological facets associated with the teenagers in the […]
• Crimes Against Property, Persons, and Public Order The least in ranking is crimes against public order for they have no serious repercussions to lives and livelihood of the involved people.
• The Cause of the Crime Since it takes a lot of time and resources to get involved in crime, it is evident that involvement in crime is entirely due to decision of the person to gain the rewards that are […]
• Bernie Madoff Ponzi’s Crime Scheme The image of the American Dream and the Strain Theory works in reverse as well: if a person fails to possess lots of quantifiable treasure, then the social order will consider him as a disappointment.
• Campus Crimes Types and Causes According to the college administrators’ records, crimes in campuses were minimal in the 19th century and in the early 20th century.
• Zodiac Movie: Crime, Media Reporting and Ethics The development of the events and the rise of the killer’s popularity began as soon as the reporters of the San Francisco Chronicle received and discovered the letter with threats to American society.
• Crimes Against Person Cases of murder falls in the rule of felony murder which is well stipulated by the constitution of any given country and the penalty is administered depending on whether the case was committed in an […]
• The Influence of Peer Groups on Youth Crime The impact of youth crime on the community is profound, and so is the influence of criminal behavior on the lives of adolescents.
• Developmental Crime Prevention Developmental crime prevention is a subsystem of special criminological crime prevention, the target of which is the pre-criminal forms of deviant and delinquent behavior of minors.
• “The Functions of Crime” by Emile Durkheim In the article “The Functions of Crime”, Emile Durkheim argues clearly that crime should be treated and analyzed as a normal aspect of a given society.
• Social Disorganization and Crime Social disorganization can be conceptualized as the incapability of the community structure to attain the common values of its members and maintain effective social controls, or as the failure and degeneration of social institutions and […]
• The Genre of Crime and Gangster Movies The gangster movies always tend to idolize the gangster figures with a relation to the sinister activities that always define crime and the lifestyles of the gangsters.
• Crime Scene Investigation in Criminal Justice In the process of controlling the crowd and maintaining order with the aid of the police officers, I took some photographs of the surrounding and then approached the main spot of event. I managed to […]
• Relationship Between Crime Rates and Poverty This shows that the strength of the relationship between the crime index and people living below the line of poverty is.427.
• Cultural Criminology: Inside the Crime To facilitate an understanding of cultural criminology, it is essential to consider such ideas as crime as culture, culture as crime, the media constructions of crime control and corruption, and political dimensions of culture, crime, […]
• Crime: What Modifies the Human Acts? A young man entering medical school has, as proximate and intermediate ends, the passing of his exams, and the advance from the first to the second class; more remote ends are the exams and classes […]
• Statistics of Crime Costs to the UK Healthcare The statistic is describing the claims by Labour that the NHS uses 500 million a year to treat wounds caused by knife crimes.
• Cyber Bullying and Positivist Theory of Crime Learning theory approaches to the explanation of criminal behavior have been associated with one of the major sociological theories of crime, the differential association theory.
• The Drug Crime Story of the Stickup Kids In the first part, Contreras situates the participants in the historical context of New York and the South Bronx, the epicenter of the rise of the crack-cocaine trade.
• Cybercrime and Cyber-Related Crimes The introduction of computer technology has created room for cyber crimes and cyber related crimes that have caused many people pain and losses to the society.
• Functionalist Approach to Deviance and Crime This paper looks at the functionalist approach to the explanation of the causes of deviance and crime. Some level of deviance is however healthy as it leads to better adaptation of the society.
• Andrew Luster’s Crime and Media Attention Henry Luster, a psychiatrist, and Elizabeth Luster, the parents of Andrew Luster. The film concluded with a snapshot of Luster and an appeal for witnesses to his whereabouts to notify authorities.
• “Sisters in Crime: The Rise of the New Female Criminal” by Adler This includes the extent, nature, control and cause of crime in the society. It focuses on supernaturalism in the definition and address of crime in society.
• Factors Influencing the Commission of Crime Some of the factors that contribute to the decision-making of the offender are based on time constraints, the ability of the information available, agreeing with the offender’s plans as well as the availability of favorable […]
• Capital Punishment and Deterrence of Crime For the case of murder or crimes that necessitate capital punishment, the incentive to commit murder is directly related to the uncertainties that punishments for the crime will generate.
• Aileen Wuornos’ Background and Crimes Aileen Wuornos began her series of murders in 1989. For a short period, she killed seven people, and all of them were men.
• Criminology: Application of Crime Theories For an action to amount to crime, there has to be a breach of law followed by the administration of punishment by the state to the accused.
• The Evolution of Behavioral and Cognitive Development Theories of Crime Behavioral theory is based upon the principles of behavioral psychology and is the basis for behavior modification and change. This theory is founded on the belief that the way in which people organize their thoughts […]
• CCTV Cameras: Surveillance and the Reduction of Crime The present paper will seek to argue that greater surveillance is not a desirable answer to the problem of crime and that other solutions are required to reduce crime rates in the long term.
• Organized Crime – John Gotti’s Analyze He argues that the American social structure and its structure of wealth distribution and that dream of achieving the ‘American dream’ all require crime to maintain social stability in the face of structural inequality.
• The Phases of a Crime and Their Importance in Psychological Profiling Attempt and accomplishment, the third and fourth phases of a crime respectively, differ in the sense that an attempt is a failed crime.
• Crime in Canada: Causes, Regulation and Legislation There are those activities that are universally accepted to constitute a crime, however, what might be considered the crime in one society is not necessarily applied in a different society; for instance, looking at a […]
• The Impact of the Internet on Traditional Crime How the Internet helps the criminals The advancement in the modern computer technologies and the Internet has put radical changes in the concept of information and the mode of exchanging the data.
• How Biochemical Conditions and Brain Activity are Linked to Crime Studies have shown that areas with high rates of homicide and other forms of violence had a lot of lead in the air.
• Crimes in Biological, Psychological, Sociological Theories With the course of time, people also started paying attention not to the very commitment of crimes but to the triggers that made a person act in a particular way.
• Drug, Crime and Violence This essay offers a brief discussion of how the abuse of illegal drugs is related to both crime and violence. It is prudent to mention that drug and violence have been noted to be closely […]
• Crime and Deviance Crime is an act that is against the norm of a society and the registered law of the entire country. A person is usually taken to the court of law where the offence is listened […]
• White Collar Crimes: Bernard Madoff Ponzi Scheme A Ponzi scheme is a white collar crime in which the perpetrator encourages people to invest in a business and promises high dividends within a short period of time.
• Anti Money Laundering and Financial Crime There are a number of requirements by the government on the AML procedures to be developed and adopted by the firms in the financial service in industry in an attempt to fight the illegal practice.
• Cyber-Bullying Is a Crime: Discussion It is easy to see the effects of cyber-bullying but it is hard to find out who is the bully making it hard for authorities to pin the blame on the perpetrator of a crime […]
• Processing a Crime Scene That is why, for the effective investigation, it is important to take all the necessary crime scene processing measures correctly, and the role of the first responding officer is particularly significant.
• Substance Abuse and Crime Logically, it is still not possible to prove the theories that correspond to criminal behaviour studies and consequently the correctness and relevancy of the theories vary in application depending on the strain of the situation, […]
• Sentencing Philosophies in Crime That makes it difficult to know how severe the crime is in relation to the sentence. The objectives of sentencing are to protect society.
• The British Crime Survey’s Strengths and Weaknesses The British Crime Survey’s main purpose is to check the crime level and the number of affected people in England. The investigation performed by the British Crime Survey is in the form of an interview, […]
• Anthropological Theory of Crime Criminal law is a division of law that elucidates crimes, describes their nature and defines available punishment for a criminal offense.
• Investigating Crimes against Property According to the Uniform Crime Report of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, there are about 9,767,915 cases of property crimes reported in America annually.
• Approaches to Crime Prevention The objective of the criminal justice system is to ensure proper enforcement of the standards of conduct in protecting the rights of the individuals and the community in a free society.
• The Major Theories of Crime Causation The survival of any civilization hinges on the establishment of laws and codes of conduct and the subsequent obeying of the same by the members of the society.
• The Relationship Between Wealth Distribution and Crime Rates According to Anser et al, the levels of crime and violence in the community depend on the difference between the risks or costs and potential gains.
• The Community Policing Impact on Juvenile Crime Moreover, the involvement of the police when it comes to community activities and narrowing the gap between law enforcement and youth is also related to criminal activity in the region.
• Crime Prevention and Risk Management This brochure will outline some basic notions of risk management and assessment and crime and victimization prevention; additionally, it will provide the reader with some basic strategies of daily risk management and include sources for […]
• TV Violence, Increasing Crime Levels and Child Aggression Most of the proponents of that theory state that by witnessing a certain behavior in fiction people become more prone to repeating it in real life. One of the powers these advancements have given us […]
• Crimes and Criminal Tendencies: Cause and Effect The school makes demands of control, discipline, and accountability which are difficult for the low self-control student to meet, and, for this reason, early school leaving is a result of low self-control, not a cause […]
• Crime Causes in Sociological Theories The former can be characterized as the outcome of the constructive or adverse influence of rewards/ penalties on the individual’s behavior.
• The Most Effective Crime Prevention Strategies in the Past Two Decades The conditions are; the desire of the criminal to carry out an offence, the opportunity to carry out the crime and finally the possession of skills and tools necessary for commitment of the crime.
• Current Trends in Globalization of Crime Hence, the major cause of the drugs smuggling routes over the U.S.-Mexico border is still the discrepancies between the U.S.and Mexican drug enforcing legislation as well as the lack of cross-border cooperation.
• Document Falsification Crime and Response to It The crime is often described as a white color crime as the modification of documents is primarily used for illegal monetary benefits and deception of others. The current response to falsified documents is sufficient and […]
• American Serial Killer Joseph Paul Franklin’s Crimes The reason for changing his name as because he wanted to join the Rhodesian Army and due to his criminal background, he was forced to change the name. The couple were killed and Franklin confessed […]
• Note-Taking and Crime Scene Photography Concerning the effectiveness of notes, generally, they should contain a high level of detail, and straightforwardness and cover all areas of the crime scene.
• Hacking as a Crime and Related Theories The move to embrace the novel technology has led to the emergence of a new form of crime and behavior referred to as “hacking”. Today, the term is used to refer to individuals engaged in […]
• Crime Prevention Strategies and Quality of Life The aim of crime prevention strategies is to create conditions that cut the chances and motivation for crime, transforming the capability of the criminal justice system to handle crimes.
• Cyber Crimes: Court – United States vs. Ancheta Reasoning: The jury argued that the defendant conspired to violate the Computer Fraud Abuse Act as well as the CAN-SPAM Act, caused havoc to computer networks of the national defense department of the federal government, […]
• Crime and Delinquency, Eric Smith’s Case Thus the psychological problems that smith developed were due to the experiences he had gone through the courtesy of his bright red hair, freckles, and speech problems.
• Age-Crime Relationships and Motivations Of the three major factors outlined by basis theory, opportunities availability is the most determinant factor of crime commission among the youths as lack of jobs makes them engage in criminal activities in order to […]
• Does Drug Interdiction Increase or Decrease Drug-Related Crime? Thesis: Drug interdiction helps to reduce drug-related crime by reducing the flow of drugs into the country and by disrupting the flow of funds into the hands of the terrorists.
• Crime and Punishment in Texas As for the number of prisoners, Texas has the highest number of them, and this is due to the fact that it is one of the states with the highest population in the United States.
• The First Officer at Crime Scene One should perfectly realize the fact that the crime scene investigation is an extremely important and, at the same time, complex process that determines the success of the whole case and contributes to the improved […]
• Corporate Crime – BP Oil Spill The spill contributed to the disruption of the ecosystem and the wildlife, these included both aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. This contributed to the loss of life, environmental pollution and health issues among others.
• Street Crime in Australia As such, it follows suit that crime, and to be specific street crime, must be analyzed in the context of how it is related to the society as a whole but not in isolation5.
• Prohibition and the Rise of Organized Crime In the 1920s, the United States was facing worrying rates of crime that called for the intervention of the Congress to avert the situation.
• Concepts and Reasons of Violent Crimes in Modern Society The environment has specifically been pointed out to be influential in the case of corporate affairs whereby the risk of exposure of huge corruption claims may lead to elimination of the whistle blowers.
• Electronic Crime: Online Predators on Facebook Facebook, as one of the many social network sites, will be addressed in this paper and after looking at the dangers that such sites pose to the contemporary world, a conclusion will be arrived at […]
• “Making Crime Pay” by Katherine Beckett The writer suggests that even if the call for tougher penalties is seen as the answer to the problem, those calling for these penalties are not necessarily affected by the rising crime. There is need […]
• Crime Reporting in Irish Media The impact of the increase in crime reporting is the rise in worrisome behaviors among the citizens. On the other hand, there is an increase in crime rates, especially cyber crimes and sexual offenses.
• Sociological Perspectives on Crimes of Power: Enron Selfish ambitions of people are dangerous to the organization because this will lead to the downfall of the company in the long run as it happened with Enron.
• Generalisation of Persons Who Commit Crime The generalisation about the people who commit crime indicates flaws in the processes of thinking and possible outcomes. It appears that the society chooses to pay attention to crime committed by specific groups, such as […]
• Natural and Legal Crime Conceptual Distinction Natural crime is therefore described as a crime against the fundamental laws of nature as well as personal crimes which could or may sometimes not be against the laws of the land.
• Prostitution as a Victimless Crime The association in the law and morality in the subject of prostitution is been a wide concern as prostitution can be considered as one of the oldest phenomena of humankind in a way of practicing […]
• Effective Physical Security and Crime Prevention Therefore, for effective implementation of the defense-in-depth strategy for the protection of assets, it is important to address the following issues: knowing the enemy, understanding the external enemies, defending against an internal enemy, and knowing […]
• Crime Scene Investigation and Evidence Classification They include the explanation of physical evidence to identify purposes, the discussion of the differences between class and individual characteristics of physical evidence, and the evaluation of the class characteristics’ importance.
• Raskolnikov’s Crime in Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” Using the ingenuity of Fyodor Dostoevsky and his eternal masterpiece Crime and Punishment, the paper is going to prove the idea that the actual crime committed by Rodion Raskolnikov was the arrogance he had towards […]
• Fort Lauderdale’s Law Enforcement and Crime Rates 1 percent of French background, 1. 0 percent of Dutch background, 1.
• Freakonomics: What Attributed to the Sharp Drop In Crime? This article focuses on these reasons that were thought to have led to reduction of the rising crime rates experienced in United States in the 1990s and refutes the claims flaunted by the theorists.
• A Marxist Approach to Global Crime The capitalistic economic system fosters most of the global crimes by encouraging the exploitation of one group by another and promoting the self-interest of the individuals who engage in these forms of crime.
• Social Issues; Crime and Poverty in Camden This has threatened the social security and peaceful coexistence of the people in the community. The larger the differences between the poor and the rich, the high are the chances of crime.
• To What Extent Are New Technologies and Organized Crime Linked? There are three major issues in the assessment of the crime and technology which will form the basis of our argument in this research paper; the level of information technology that is used by the […]
• DNA Analysis: A Crime-Fighting Tool or Invasion of Privacy? This paper set out to demonstrate that DNA analysis offers a versatile tool for fighting crime and therefore ensuring the success of our civilization.
• An Inchoate Crime Under the conspiracy element in the Wisconsin Statutes, conspiracy is defined as the agreement or combination of forces by two individuals with the intent of committing a crime.
• The Connection Between Drugs and Crime The central viewpoint is that it is not an absolute truth that drug use is not an obvious cause of crime.
• Criminal Justice & Security: Measuring Crime Statistics NIBRS is a part of UCR; it has been in place since 1989, and its aim is to ensure the collection of detailed crime reports from law enforcement agencies.
• How America’s Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic Bratton and his fellows at the NYPD employed computer mapping to identify areas that experienced high crime levels, and then made use of all resources available in the police to fight these crimes.
• Neighborhood Watch Programs and Crime Prevention The presence of a service that supports victims of crimes in the area also plays a significant role in the lives of the residents and of the neighborhood watch program.
• Medea’s Justification for Her Crime Medea felt Jason had betrayed her love for him and due to her desperate situation she was depressed and her normal thinking was affected that she started thinking of how she would revenge the man […]
• “Crimes Against Humanity” by Ward Churchill Throughout the essay, he puts a lot of words and phrases in quotation marks to underline the unique and figurative meaning of these phrases.
• Crime Scene Reconstruction During crime scene simulation, the specialists are supposed to apply scientific methods in order to reconstruct a crime and answer the most important questions related to it that slow down the process of investigation.
• Forensic Psychology: Media and Crime Relationship Consequently, it is arguable that exposure to stimuli involving violence such as the one found in a violent video game and some TV programs including cartoons may cause activation of aggressive scripts among children.
• Crime Scene Investigation: Principles and Process Besides, the paper presents the qualities that crime investigators should have to guarantee a successful inquiry process. Upon arrival on a scene or the site of the crime, one should: Offer assistance to the injured […]
• Society’s Response to Crime Impacts on Justice True, the decisions of the court are generally based on nature of the crime, evidence and the manner of the plaintiff and defendant.
• Robert Merton’s Strain Theory Explaining Economic Crime Trends This theory states that “crime occurs when there are not enough legitimate opportunities for people to achieve the success goals imposed by the society”.
• White-Collar Crime-Related Data Sources in the US The data available in NCVS to examine the utility of employing the NCVS to quantify white-collar crimes includes the list of white-collar crimes and their classification.
• Design Theory in “Ornament and Crime” Essay by Loos One of the striking examples of this opinion is the desire to combine the interior and exterior decoration of the building, making them a logical continuation of each other.
• Evidence of a Relationship Between Crime and Economy Many people from low socio-economic backgrounds are tempted to engage in crime because they lack required skills and qualifications to get them employed. In conclusion, there are many factors which motivate people to commit crimes.
• Drug Crimes and Merton’s Anomie It is also reported that in the year 2004, seven percent of the State inmates in the United States jails and eighteen percent of the Federal prisoners pointed out that they engaged in committing offenses […]
• The Theft of a Laptop in Various Crime Scenarios This paper seeks to evaluate different situations that involve the theft of a laptop with the aim of establishing the types of crime they represent and the differences between them.
• Petty Crime Offenses: A Case of Mary Lee It is easy for the prosecution, in this case, to request the judge to sentence the defendant due to her criminal behavior.
• White Collar Crime: Insidious Injuries This is one of the main issues that should be considered since it is important for understanding the dangers of these injuries and reducing their risks. These are some of the main challenges that can […]
• Crime Factors & Levels in South Africa vs. Canada Developed and developing countries have different level of crime and crime control from the developing countries. This crime is concentrated in the urban of Ontario, British Columbia and other areas like Quebec.
• Relationship Between Unemployment and Crimes Agnew, argue that crime is caused by strain that a person face throughout life, and this can be contributed to the degree of educational inequality in society.
• Middle Class and Crime: Historical Analysis of Crime The middle class norms place a high evaluation on the cultivation and possession of skills and on the tangible achievements which are presumed to witness the possession of skills and the application of effort.
• Psychological Theories Explaining Violent Crime Genetic influences refer to the blueprints for behavior that are contained in a person’s chromosomes. It is theoretically possible for a person to carry genes that influence behavior; the behavior they express would be the […]
• Situational Crime Prevention SCP focuses on deterring crime by increasing the risk and effort in committing a crime. However, they add that the effect of such measures varies based on the location and type of crime targeted.
• Gender Factors of Crime in Campus Occurrence of violence in campus usually puts the media in a dilemma because of the perceived impact that the information would have on students, their perception and fear while in school.
• Problem‐Oriented Policing in Violent Crime Places In this study funded by the National Institute of Justice, the researchers investigate the impact of problem-oriented policing in Jersey City.
• Victimless Crimes: Definition and Types Again, the taxpayers are the victims in such a case as they have to contribute to the rehabilitation of the drug users. As such, some of the so-called victimless crimes have identifiable victims.
• Crime Prevention at the Workplace: Employee Theft Considering that any form of employee theft induces substantial harm to the financial performance of companies, the integration of adequate crime prevention procedures in the corporate security system is of great importance.
• Shoe Impression at a Crime Scene It is the transfer of material from the shoe to the surface. The print results from the static charges between the sole of the shoe and the surface.
• Victims of Crime Act: History and Development The necessary part of the paper is the information about changes to the original policy. The discussion of this act and how necessary it is for the criminal justice system in The United States is […]
• Controlling Organized Crime In some instances, law enforcement officers have to get court orders first before they are allowed to search the premises of criminal suspects and this makes it difficult for them to stop different criminal incidents […]
• Luka Magnotta and His Crime From the attention that the media has shown and the public outcry it is possible to conclude that the case is one of a kind.
• Social Criticism Work in the Scandinavian Crime Fiction Novels The issue of revenge being a better option in the Swedish society is evident when, at the end of the novel, Blomkvists makes efforts to bring down the executive who worn the lawsuit mentioned at […]
• Crime Theories: Psychodynamics and Rational Choice The rational choice theory explained the causes of crime to be the ability of an individual to commit the crime, their need for valuable possessions and money, their physical health and ability to commit the […]
• Forensic Psychology Role in the Investigation of Crime The use of the methods majorly depends upon the complexity of the crime, nature of evidence available and level of forensic technology available.
• Canada Crime Victims Foundation The foundation was officially started in 2002 to address the plight of such victims and it aims at providing basic education particularly to those dealing with victims of violence, in addition to undertaking comprehensive research […]
• Race, Ethnicity and Crime There are a number of opposing issues concerning racism and disparity that has led to complication in the discussion of the issue of racism in the Criminal Justice System. The larger the differences between the […]
• General Trends of Crime Over the Past Twenty Years The variations arise from how the two institutions define crimes, their bases of calculating the crime rates, and methodology used in data collection and analysis.
• Religion Role in Crime Definition Thus, Abortion is the destruction of life that is created by God and is equivalent to murder that is a great sin
• Economic Crime & Global Impact: Money Laundering 2 To understand the aspect of money laundering, it is important to know what necessitates it, the people behind that act and what their motives are, and the strategies put in place by the authorities […]
• Criminal Concepts Differentiation On the other hand, the states refer to statutory rape that refers to the illegal sexual contact between an adult and a minor.
• Extortion in Organized Crime Groups Blackmailing is a standard tool in organized crime, as it relies on one’s ability to threaten with severe consequences for non-compliance.
• The Crimes of Charles Manson, Serial Killer Even though his people did it himself, he was not involved in this, and the organization of a particular group of people is not in itself an immoral act but is prohibited in some places.
• Guidelines for Responsible Reporting on Hate Crimes The media is responsible for maintaining a balance between their interests and the needs and rights of crime victims, the public, and defendants.
• Water Pollution as a Crime Against the Environment In particular, water pollution is a widespread crime against the environment, even though it is a severe felony that can result in harm to many people and vast territories.
• The Crime of Attempt: Adequate Punishment In this situation, it is necessary to cooperate with a lawyer to prove the absence of intent to harm or to verify the impossibility of committing a crime.
• Hate Crimes from a Biblical Perspective
• Categories of Crime in Current Justice System
• Impact of Cyber Crime on Internet Banking
• Crime Scene Investigation Techniques
• The Most Effective Crime Reduction Approaches
• Mental Health of Crime Offenders
• A Theoretical Perspective on Crimes
• Cryptocurrency Crimes in Financial Markets
• Discussion on the Role of Crime
• Crime Prevention With Rational Choice Theory
• Research in Criminal Justice: Crime Solvability Factors
• Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime as Threats to Homeland Security
• Gender Factor of Crime Motivation
• Sexual Crimes and Behavioral Problems Treatment
• State Crimes: Strategies to Resisting Tortures in Prisons
• Police Administration Issue: Crime Victim Rights
• Hate Crimes and Biblical Worldview
• Sociology Can Be Applied to Offenders and Crimes
• Crime Problems and Criminal Justice
• Suitability of Electronic Monitoring: Crime Control Perspective
• Low Crime Clearance Rates in the United States
• Crime Control and Prevention Methods
• Crimes and Victimization: Gender Issues
• Transnational Organized Crime in the United States
• Police Corruption: A Crime With Severe Consequences
• Analysis of Crime and Punishment Bill
• Investigating and Reporting White Collar Crimes: The Case of Bernie Madoff
• Curtis Sliwa’s “The Guardian Angels”: Fighting Crime in New York City
• “Time and Crime: Which Cold-Case Investigations Should Be Reheated?”: Key Ideas
• “Hot Spots of Crime…” Article by Weisburd & White
• Crime of Ricin Using or an Easy Way Out
• Substance Use During Pregnancy as a Crime
• The Crime and Justice Impact on New Media
• Legal Issues Related to Cyber Crime Investigations
• Crime Rates in the United States
• Processing a Physical and Electronic Crime Scene
• Criminalistics: Forensic Science, Crime, and Terrorism
• Crime Trends in the Jurisdiction
• Websites Against Cyber Crimes: Investigating High-Tech Crime
• Crimes, Future Challenges and Issues
• Juvenile Crime and Human Institutions’ Solutions
• Crime of Extortion and Potential Defense
• Alternative Punishment for Minor Drug-Related Crimes
• The United States Uniform Crime Report’s Aims
• Department of Justice Project on Organized Crime
• Illegal Immigration Policies and Violent Crime
• Major Crimes Committed by Women
• Finding a Crime Series: Murders Committed by John Wayne Gacy
• Review of High Tech Crime Investigation
• Analysis of Crime and Violence Trauma
• Crime Maps of Detroit and Michigan
• Criminologists’ Views on Crime and Justice Issues
• Napoleon Beazley: Analysis of Crime
• Case Study on Tax Crimes: Distributional Implications of Joint Tax
• Aspects of Sexual Crime Myth
• Analysis of the Social Context of Crime
• Overrepresentation of African Americans in Crime Statistics
• Business-Related Crime and Preventive Measures
• Factors Affecting Losses From Property Crime
• Reasons Why Women Are Often the Victims of Violent Crimes
• Hate Crimes and Implications
• Juvenile Violent Crime and Children Below Poverty
• Mens Rea and Actus Reus of Crime: A Case Study
• Increasing Level of Fear of Crime and Its Cause
• Criminological Theories Explaining Overrepresentation of African Americans in Crime Statistics
• The Crime Scene Investigation Effect Theory
• Profiled in Life & Death: Crime Victims’ Compensation and Young People of Color
• Prison Sentence Alternatives for Drug-Related Crimes
• Juvenile Crime of Lionel Tate: Causes and Effects
• View of the Financial Crimes
• Crime Commitment and Punishment
• The Federal Bureau Investigation Crime Statistics
• Crimes Against Humanity – Genocide
• Ordinary vs. Hate Crime Activities: Key Differences
• Public Perceptions of Racial Crimes
• Rediscovery of Crime Victims
• Public Perceptions of Crime Analysis
• Crime and Violence: Modern Social Classification
• The New Perspective in the Management of Crime and Offenders
• Measuring Crime Within Lynfield Estate
• Restoring the Requirement of Mens Rea for All Crimes
• GIS Comparing to Areas in Baltimore in Comparison to Crime
• Comparing the Rate of Crime between the US, Japan, and Mexico
• Who Are the Two Partners in All Crimes?
• State Report: Crime Rates in Wisconsin
• Victimless Crimes in the United States of America
• Youth Crime Statistics in the US
• Hate Crimes – Bullying
• The Crimes of Sexual Assault in Canada
• Transnational Organized Crime in Port Security Operations
• Social and Cultural Inequalities Impact On Crime Experience: London
• Prison Reforms for Handling Crime Effectively
• The ‘Street Games’ Athletic Intervention to Reduce Youth Crime
• Conspiracies in Society: Power Elite and State Crimes Against Society Theories
• Asian Hate Crimes in the United States
• Disability Hate Crimes in England and Wales
• Close-Circuit Television: Crime Control vs. Privacy
• Victims and Crime Evaluation
• Hate Crime Problem Overview
• “Adventures in Crime” Book by Amanda Archer
• Managing the Hate Crimes and Preparing Officers
• Adaptations to Anomie. Theories of Crime
• Rape Theories and Policies to Minimize Crimes
• “Legend” Crime Drama Directed by Brian Helgeland
• Federal Statutes: White-Collar Crime
• Juvenile Use of Drug and Committing of Crime
• Data-Based Analysis Approach in Preventing Crime at Dallas Police Department
• Researching Hate Crimes in America
• Crimes Against Unborn Children
• Crime in 2020 During COVID-19
• Federal, State, and Local Hate Crime Laws
• The Costs and Benefits of Dealing With Juvenile Crimes in Boot Camps
• Property Crime in Boston and Detroit
• Main Aspects of Organized Crime Models
• Crime Control Perspective & the Due Process Perspective
• History of Crime Measurement vs. Contemporary Situation
• Profiling and Analytical Skills in Crime Detection
• The Difference Between Media Depiction and the Reality of Crime
• The Use of Social Crime Prevention Techniques in the UK
• Lipstick Analysis in Crime Detection
• Effects of Community Policing Upon Fear of Crime
• Homeland Security: Digital Crime and Terrorism Activities
• Problem-Oriented Crime Intervention and Policy Analysis
• Affect of the Organized Crime in Australia
• Crime Challenges in the 21st Century
• Deviance and Deviant Crimes
• Human Consciousness Leading to Hate Crimes
• The Government Solutions of Violent Crimes
• Crime Statistics in United States
• Causes of Committing Crimes
• Sexual Crimes: Criminal Liability
• Crime in Virginia: Nature and Trends
• Noble Cause Corruption – A Crime-Fighting Sub-Culture
• Insider Trading Crime and Sentencing
• Criminal Street Gangs as Organized Crime Groups
• Developmental Theories and Crime Prevention Programs
• Race and Culture Factors in Crime
• Analysis of Mental Health in Crime
• Isla Vista Mass Murder as a Hate Crime
• The Genetics of Crime: ‘Criminal Gene’
• The Links Between Gender and Crime
• Crime Prevention Strategies at Walden University
• Louisiana’s Crime Law: Victim Rights
• Crime Prevention, Law Enforcement and Correction Theories
• Applied Crime Prevention in Hollywood 20 Cinema Location
• White-Collar Crime: Importance of Awareness
• Factors Related to Crime and Their Influence
• The Effects of Campus Shootings on Fear of Crime on Campus
• Global Crimes Impact Assessment
• Improving Crime Policy in Canada by Using Criminological Evidence
• Computer Crime in the United Arab Emirates
• Hate Crime Statistics in Los Angeles and New York Metropolitan Areas
• Theories on Crime
• Criminology in Brief: Understanding Crime
• White-Collar Crime: The Notorious Case of Ford Pinto
• White Collar Crime Characteristics
• The Wire: A Crime-Drama Television Series
• The Crime of Robbing the Big City Bank
• Social Developmental Crime Prevention Programs
• The Crime Phenomenon: Victimization and Its Theories
• White-Collar Crime: An Overview
• “Thinking About Crime: Sense and Sensibility in American Penal Culture” by Michael Tonry
• Gender Crime Rates: The Role of Division of Labor
• Official Crime Statistics: ‘Criminal Activity’ Measure
• Organized Crimes: Review
• Types of Crime in Cyberspace
• A Research of the Crime in State Nevada
• Marriage and Crime Reduction: Is There a Relationship?
• Medical Crimes in the Health Industry
• Application of CompStat Crime Model in Los Angeles
• Problems Related to Defining and Regulating Crimes in the Home
• The Crimes of Charles Manson
• Copyright Implications: Crime Punishable by Law
• Crime in America: What We May Learn From Its Causes?
• Reducing Crime Rates by Analyzing Its Causes
• Crime and Family Background Correlation
• White-Collar Crime Conceptual Study
• Impact of Economic Characteristics on Sex Crimes
• Juvenile Crime Statistics
• Factors Contributing to Gender Disparity in White Collar Crimes
• Comparison Between Organized Crime And Terrorism
• Mental Illness Relationship to Crime
• Models of Organized Crime Executive Summary
• White Collar Crime-Enron Corporation
• Actus Reus and Mens Rea Aspects of Crime
• Houston City Demographics and Crime Profile
• Hate Crime Against the Jewish Community
• Anomie, Crime, and Weakened Social Ties in Social Institutions
• State of Crime in California
• The Highest Crime Rate: Metropolitan County of Jefferson
• Identifying Crime Patterns
• Increasing the Rates of Crimes in Modern World
• Crime Analysis Data Sources
• Corporate Regulation and Crime
• Understanding the Causes of Juvenile Crime
• White-Collar Crime Offenders and Legislation
• Strategic, Tactical, and Administrative Crime Analysis
• Methamphetamine Drug Crime Registration
• Crime Analysis Conceptual Study
• Classical and Biological Theories of Crime
• Property and Computer Crimes
• Increasing the Severity of Punishments Imposed for Crime
• Crime in the Suites Effects of Power and Privilege
• Causes of Organized Crime Analysis
• Mr. Charles Dempsey Court Case: Cause and Consequences of the Crime
• The Fears of Reporting a Crime: Why Witnesses Do Not Report Crimes
• Investigation Methods: Terrorism and Cyber Crime
• Impact of Globalization and Neoliberalism on Crime and Criminal Justice
• Routine Activities Theory of Crime by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson
• Electronic Crime Scene Investigation & Good Practice Guide
• Economy and Crime: The Relationship
• White-Collar Crimes: Prevention and Fight
• What Is a Crime? Is It Possible to Prevent Crime?
• Transnational Crime and International Policing
• Asian Crime: Different Cultures, Different Attitudes
• International White-Collar Crime
• Community Cohesiveness and Incidence of Crime
• Crime Theories: Intimate Partner Violence in the US
• Processing the Crime Scene: Tools and Techniques
• Forensic Serology and Its Key Aspects in Investigating Crimes
• The Relationship of Drugs and Crime
• Detrimental Effects of Gender Influenced Crime and Interventions
• The Prevention of Crime and Community Justice
• Use of the Information Technology to Solve Crimes: DNA Tests and Biometrics
• Using the Internet to Solve a Crime
• Nature of Crime in the State of Virginia
• Crime and Social Learning Theory Concept
• The Future of Global Crime: Globalization and Integration
• The Parallel Between Crime and Conflicts in Africa, Asia and Latin America
• Globalization and the Internet: Change of Organized Crime
• War on Crime Influence on Power Shift Among Various Groups
• Trends in Police Recorded Crime in Northern Ireland
• Human Factor in Enabling and Facilitating E-Crimes
• Financial Crime and Employment
• Power Elite: Deviance and Crime Discussion
• The Crime of Sexual Violence Committed by Men
• Screening in Aviation: Prevention of Crime
• Seligman & Perspective on the Drop in Crime Rates
• Human Trafficking as a Global Crime Industry: Labor, Slavery, Sexual Slavery, Prostitution, and Organ Harvesting
• Salem Witchcraft Hysteria: Crime Against Women
• Depiction of White-Collar Crime: Toxic Chemicals and Effects of the Pollutions
• History of Crime in America Since the Early 1800s
• US Attorney’s Office Press Release on Birmingham Crimes
• Cyber Technology: Organized Crimes and Law Enforcement
• Crime Myths and Domestic Terrorism
• State or Federal Crime: Texas Kidnapping Study
• Recidivism Rates for Sex Crimes
• Prevention of Sex Offenders From Committing Crimes
• Impacts of the Society’s Response to Crime
• Policing Operations: Application of New Technologies to Combat Crime
• Drugs, Crime, and Violence: Effects of Drug Use on Behavior
• The Three Strikes Law in Countering Crime
• Hate Crimes in the United States: Bias Toward the Victim’s Identity
• The Nature of Crime: Underlying Drivers Making People Criminals
• Theoretical Impact on Sex Crimes Investigations
• Searching and Recording the Crime Scene
• Social Pressure and Black Clothing Impact on Crime Judgments
• Personal vs. Collective Responsibility in War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
• Without a Trace: Crime Scene Field Notes
• Economic Recession and Crime Rates
• The Self Control Theory of Crime
• Criminal Justice System: Crime Scene Investigation
• Philosophical Theory of Law and Justice and Problem of Crime and Justice
• Urban Relationship Between Poverty and Crime
• Community Policing as a Tool Against Crime
• Ornament and Crime: Economic Aspects
• Does Crime Make Economic Sense?
• Women’s Crime: Gendered Criminology Theory
• Crimes Against the State: Terrorist Attacks and Death Penalty
• Crime Rates in UK: Quantitative Methods
• Gang-Related Crimes in Irish Cities
• Minor Disorders and Serious Crimes
• Social Program for Management of Crimes Against Women
• Do Drug Enforcement Laws Help to Reduce Other Crimes?
• Organized Crime Investigation in Different Countries
• Crime, Criminality, and Prisons in the USA
• Cutting-Off Hand Keeps Off Crimes in the Country
• Organized Crime in the United States
• Crime Mysteries of Jack the Ripper
• China’s Legal System: Crime and Punishment
• Criminal Investigations: Nature of Crime Investigators
• NGOs and the Fight Against Crime
• Sociology and Representation of Crime in the Media
• Crime Punishment: Humane Treatment of Prisoners Today
• Probing Crime Based on Conduct Report
• Criminal Justice for Physically Injured Crime Victims
• Major Theories of Crime Causation
• Elements of Crime and Intentional Tort
• Future of Crime Corrections
• Hate Crime as a Core Subject of Criminology
• Youth Crime and Punishment
• Policy Recommendations for Controlling Crime
• City Violence, Crimes and Disruption
• Responsibility for the Most Horrific Crimes Issue
• Crime Prevention Programs in America
• Rape: The Misunderstood Crime
• Sex Crimes and Burglary: Patterns, Benefits, and Risk
• Alcohol and Crime in the U.K., the United States, and Australia
• Prostitution as a “Victimless” Crime
• Enron Scandal and Business Crime
• Crime Policy and Practices: Trying Juveniles as Adults
• White-Collar and Political Crimes
• Three Perspective of One Crime
• Financial Cost of Crime to Society
• The History of Cyber Crimes and the Most Popular Forms of Cyber Crimes
• Violence and Society: Multiple Perceptions of Crime
• Law Enforcement: White-Collar and Corporate Crimes
• Crime in High Schools
• White Collar Crime: When Looks Can Be Deceiving
• Nazi’s Crimes Against Jews During World War II
• Crime Victimization in America: Data Statistics
• Prevention & Control Of Crime
• Crime and Subcultures in the Urban Area
• Crime in Inner City Neighborhoods
• Date Rape Is Not a Crime: Discussion
• Criminology: Drugs, Crime and Control
• Youth Crime. Prejudice: Is It Justified?
• New York City Community Policing and Crime Reduction
• Crime, Justice and the Media Relations
• State Corporate Crime and Criminological Inquiry
• Strain Theory: Sociological Explanation of Crime
• Granite City Building Inspectors: Service Crime
• Torts and Crimes. Liability for Traffic Accidents
• The General Theory of Crime
• Crime Laboratories: Accreditation and Certification
• Situational Crime Prevention Strategy
• Policing Crime and Disorder Hot Spots
• Crime of Genocide: Justice and Ethical Issues
• White-Collar Crimes and Deferred Prosecution
• The Uniform Crime Statistics Over 5 Years
• Cyber Crime in the U.S. and Nigeria
• Forensic Biology in Crime Scene Investigations
• The Concept of Uniform Crime Reporting Program
• Property Crime and Typologies
• Greater Surveillance Is Not a Desirable Answer to the Problem of Crime
• The Key Types of Crimes
• Crime Prevention in the United States
• Crimes That Teenagers Do Not Commit
• Crime Investigation With Global Positioning System
• National Crime Victimization Survey and Analysis
• Surveillance as the Answer to the Crime Issue
• The Crime of Innocence
• Computer Crimes: Viewing the Future
• Important Crime Scene Responsibilities
• Computer Forensics and Cyber Crime
• Crimes Against Small Businesses and Prevention Strategies
• Computer Forensics: Identity Theft
• Computer Crime Investigation Processes and Analyses
• Crime Prevention and Juvenile Delinquency
• Longford: British Biographical Crime Drama Film
• Immigration and Crime Rates in the United States
• Organized Crime in New York and Chicago
• Gender and Crime in Campus: Correlation Analysis
• Conflict & Crime Control vs. Consensus & Due Process Model
• Capturing Crime, Criminals and the Public’s Imagination
• National Missing and Unidentified Persons System
• “Broken Windows” and Situational Crime Prevention Theories
• NGO Analysis of Canadian Crime Victim Foundation
• Crime and Criminal Justice News
• Deterrence: Discouraging Offenders from Re-Committing Crimes
• Transnational Organized Crime: Counterstrategy
• Serial Killers, Their Crimes, and Stereotypes
• Crime Analysis Writing and Alert Website Content
• Economics of Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking
• Achieving Total Security in the Community
• Organized Crime Series Analysis
• International Law: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
• Fear from Media Reporting of Crimes
• Crime Theories Differentiating Criminal Behavior
• Tactical Crime Analysis and Statistical Cases
• Comparing Different Indexes of Crimes
• Anomie and Strain Crime Theories
• Crime Theories: Shooting in Northwest Washington
• White-Collar Crime Theories and Their Development
• Robert Courtney’s Crime as Input to Business Regulation
• Three-Strikes Law Ineffective in Crime Reduction
• Violence, Security and Crime Prevention at School
• Electronic Crimes and Federal Guidance in Regulation
• Phoenix Park: Community-Based Crime Prevention
• Forensic Science: Examining Crime Evidence
• Human and Drug Trafficking as Transnational Organised Crimes
• Alleged Crimes: Aggravated Assault and Drug Dealing
• Offenders’ Age and Anti-Black Hate Crimes
• The Role of Location in Crime Fiction
• Crimes Against Persons: Theory and Doctrine
• Prohibition as a Cause of Increased Crimes Illegal Activity
• Crime Prevention Approaches
• Crime Scene Investigation: Types of Analysis
• White-Collar Crimes Causes
• Differences of Crime Perception in North Jersey
• Children as Victims of Crime
• Crime and Victimization Trends
• Crime Data: Collection and Analysis Tools
• Crime Rates of Sex Crimes and Firearm Violence
• Hate Crimes in Modern Society
• Organized Crime in the Balkans
• Compliance Impact on Financial Crimes
• Fascination With Crime Through the Art of Photography
• Closed-Circuit Television Cameras in Crime Reduction
• Marijuana Crime in California State and Federal Courts
• Internet Crimes and Digital Terrorism Prevention
• Deterrence Theory and Adolescent Sex Crimes
• Immigration Services Against Crime and Terrorism
• Digital Crime Causes and Theories
• Pink-Collar Criminal: Gender in White-Collar Crime
• Nanjing Massacre as Japan’s Denied War Crime
• Gender and Crime Correlation in Strain Theory
• Police Patrol Presence in Crime “Hot Spots”
• National Impact on Organized Crime
• Organized Crime and Current Laws
• Civic Virtue in Crime Commitment and Revelation
• ”Crime and Justice in the United States” by Bohm & Haley
• Computer Crimes and Internet Security
• Crime Television Series: “Al Fin Cayó!”
• War Crimes in “Zambak/Muslims” by S. Mehmedinovic
• Internet Crime Prevention by Law and E-Business
• Hate Crimes and Anti-Discrimination Laws
• Crime Prevention and Control Effectiveness
• Crime Scene Investigation Stages and Protocols
• Race, Ethnicity and Crime in America
• White Collar Crimes Focus
• Terrorism, Hate Crimes and Racial Profiling
• Can Genetics Cause Crime?
• Are the Laws Propagating Crime?
• When Was the First True Crime?
• Does Capital Punishment Deter Crime?
• Does Crime and Violence Affect the Tourism Industry?
• Does Drug Use Cause Crime or Does Crime Cause Drug Use?
• Does Marriage Reduce Crime?
• What’s the Origin of Crime?
• Does Social Deprivation Relate to Crime?
• Why People Commit Crime?
• Why Crime Rates Will Drop?
• What Are the Social Causes of Youth Crime?
• What Causes High Crime Rate?
• What Are the Proper Steps in a Crime Investigation?
• What Are the Psychological Causes of Crime?
• What Are the Causes of Youth Crime in the UK?
• What Are the Major Problems with Regard to the Collection of Crime Statistics?
• How Accurate Are Official Crime Statistics?
• What Is the First: Crime or Law?
• How Did American White Collar Crime Transform?
• What Are the Seven Elements of a Crime?
• How Does Globalization Impact on Crime and Victimisation?
• How Can Crime Best Be Measured?
• Why Does Crime Change over Time?
• How Crime and Deviance Can Be Seen as Functional for Society?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Guest Essay

I Was Shot in Vermont. What if It Had Been in the West Bank?

By Hisham Awartani

Mr. Awartani is a Palestinian American student at Brown University.

That frigid autumn night in Burlington, Vt., was not the first time I had stared down the barrel of a gun. It was not even the first time I had been fired at. Half a world away, in the West Bank, it had happened before.

On a hot day in May 2021, a classmate and I, both of us 17 at the time, were protesting near a checkpoint in Ramallah. Bullets, both rubber and metal, were flying into the crowd, even though we were unarmed. I was hit with one of the former; my classmate, the latter. Before, we had been students cramming for our chemistry final; then, on the other side of Israeli rifles, we were a mass of terrorists, disqualified from humanity.

So that night in November, when my two friends and I were shot while we were walking on North Prospect Street, I was not particularly surprised to find myself lying on the lawn of a white house and blood splattered across the screen of my phone. Back home in Ramallah, I knew that I was one wrong move away from bleeding out; Israeli soldiers have been known to prevent or hinder paramedics from tending to injured Palestinians. But I had never expected to feel this on a quiet street in Vermont, on a stroll before Thanksgiving dinner.

The shooting of three Palestinian Americans in Burlington has received more sustained coverage than any single act of violence against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank since Oct. 7. Why did reporters and news channels interview our mothers and take our portraits when young men my age have been shot at by snipers , detained indefinitely without trial and treated as a statistic?

It’s a question that has eaten away at me these past months. Was it the shock of such a violent crime in peaceful Vermont? Was it that my friends and I went to well-known American colleges? Did the timing of our shooting during a holiday weekend play a role? I’m sure it did, but to me, the determining factor is the reframing of the crime: Instead of settlements, the Oslo Accords or the intifada, the conversation around our shooting involved terms such as “gun violence,” “hate crimes” and “right-wing extremism.” Instead of being maimed in Arab streets, we were shot in small-town America. Instead of being seen as Palestinians, for once, we were seen as people.

Death and dehumanization are status quo for Palestinians. We grow used to being funneled through checkpoints and strip-searched, assault rifles trained on us all the while. The result is a constant existential calculus: If an unarmed autistic man , an 8-year-old boy and a journalist wearing a vest emblazoned “Press” could be perceived to be such a threat that they were shot dead, then I must accept that by existing as a Palestinian, I am a legitimate target.

This dynamic was so ubiquitous to me that I could not quite put it into words until I left the West Bank to attend college in the United States. My classes gave me the vocabulary to understand dehumanization, the portrayal of the colonized as a violent primitive. I realized that the infrastructure of the occupation — the checkpoints, the detentions, the armed settlers encroaching — is built around the violence I am assumed to be capable of, not who I am.

This system of othering — Israeli-only roads, fenced-off settlements, the “security” wall — is an inherent part of the Israeli state psyche. Yet far from ensuring Israelis’ safety, it instead inflicts mass humiliation on Palestinians. Close to half of the Palestinians alive today were born after the violence of the second intifada, and have interacted with Israelis only in the confines of the security apparatus built in its wake. The military apparatus in my home in the West Bank is a judge, jury and executioner. While settlers in the West Bank are subject to Israeli civilian law, Palestinians are subject to military law. It is as if we are all already combatants.

The dehumanization we face is twofold: Beyond the day-to-day aspects of our lives, it permeates the media coverage of what we experience. In the news, our militancy is presumed, our killers unnamed, and our deaths repackaged into statistics. Somehow, we die without being killed. The very veracity of our deaths is called into question . The extent of the civilian death toll in Gaza should not come as a surprise when Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, can speak unchecked of “ human animals .”

My story is one drop in the ocean of suffering faced by Palestinians, and compared to the immense and indescribable suffering of the people of Gaza, frankly trivial. As I wheeled myself down the smooth corridors of the hospital where I received care after the shooting, I thought of those in wheelchairs in Gaza, struggling to navigate the rubble-strewn streets as they fled their homes. I thought of the reports about a woman being shot dead as she held her grandson’s hand while he clutched a white flag. I thought of a 17-year-old shot in the back by settlers in the West Bank . The pain of knowing their fates is fathomless, and it has yet to cease.

I think back to the circumstances in which I was shot with my two friends, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Aliahmad, and imagine them instead in the context of the West Bank. A Hisham, Kinnan and Tahseen shot there could have been left to die. Our names would circulate for a day or two in pro-Palestinian circles, but in the end, we would be commemorated only on a poster in the streets of Ramallah, our faces eventually worn down with time like the countless others I’ve walked past in the streets of my home. If that scenario does not stir the same feelings in you as my shooting, if your first instinct when a Palestinian is shot, maimed or left handicapped is to find excuses, then I do not want your support.

When I was still in the hospital, my family and I were visited by a friend who had just recently made it out of Gaza. He recounted how he saw the beginning of the Israeli bombing from his balcony, and soon after showered and left his house with a prepacked bag. He told me of tents, of hunger, of explosions, but there is one thing that really stood out for me as he recounted his ordeal.

He explained how the only way for him to survive in Gaza was to accept that he had already died. Only after he had come to terms with the realization that his life as he knew it was over could he enjoy a puff of a cigarette and a sip of coffee in the morning. This acceptance is the goal of the Israeli dehumanization complex. To be Palestinian today is to accept this fate.

I have been back on campus since February, and the adjustment has been tough. The man who is accused of shooting me has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder. But my mind is elsewhere. Every morning when I wake up, I check for one number . It has exceeded 35,000. It’s difficult for me to come to terms with the reality of so much loss.

In class, between Mesopotamian myths and commutative algebra, a few thoughts play on a loop in my mind: How can we come back from so much grief? How could we let this happen? What are we supposed to make of the world when Palestinian deaths are excused by talking points, repeated again and again on the news? I yearn to return to my home, to my olive trees, my cats and my family.

I realize, though, that when I cross the King Hussein Bridge from Jordan into the West Bank, I will return to my designation as a potential terrorist. I cease to be a junior at Brown University, a student of archaeology and mathematics, a San Francisco Giants fan, a Balkan history nerd. My entire identity will be reduced to my capacity for violence, not as a human being, but as a Palestinian.

Hisham Awartani is a Palestinian American student at Brown University studying mathematics and archaeology. He grew up in Ramallah, West Bank.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Essay on Politics for Students and Children

500+ words essay on politics.

When we hear the term politics, we usually think of the government, politicians and political parties. For a country to have an organized government and work as per specific guidelines, we require a certain organization. This is where politics comes in, as it essentially forms the government. Every country, group and organization use politics to instrument various ways to organize their events, prospects and more.

Politics does not limit to those in power in the government. It is also about the ones who are in the run to achieve the same power. The candidates of the opposition party question the party on power during political debates . They intend to inform people and make them aware of their agenda and what the present government is doing. All this is done with the help of politics only.

Dirty Politics

Dirty politics refers to the kind of politics in which moves are made for the personal interest of a person or party. It ignores the overall development of a nation and hurts the essence of the country. If we look at it closely, there are various constituents of dirty politics.

The ministers of various political parties, in order to defame the opposition, spread fake news and give provocative speeches against them. This hampers with the harmony of the country and also degrades the essence of politics . They pass sexist remarks and instill hate in the hearts of people to watch their party win with a majority of seats.

Read 500 Words Essay on Corruption Here

Furthermore, the majority of politicians are corrupt. They abuse their power to advance their personal interests rather than that of the country. We see the news flooded with articles like ministers and their families involving in scams and illegal practices. The power they have makes them feel invincible which is why they get away with any crime.

Before coming into power, the government makes numerous promises to the public. They influence and manipulate them into thinking all their promises will be fulfilled. However, as soon as they gain power, they turn their back on the public. They work for their selfish motives and keep fooling people in every election. Out of all this, only the common suffers at the hands of lying and corrupt politicians.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Lack of Educated Ministers

If we look at the scenario of Indian elections, any random person with enough power and money can contest the elections. They just need to be a citizen of the country and be at least 25 years old. There are a few clauses too which are very easy.

The strangest thing is that contesting for elections does not require any minimum education qualification. Thus, we see how so many uneducated and non-deserving candidates get into power and then misuse it endlessly. A country with uneducated ministers cannot develop or even be on the right path.

We need educated ministers badly in the government. They are the ones who can make the country progress as they will handle things better than the illiterate ones. The candidates must be well-qualified in order to take on a big responsibility as running an entire nation. In short, we need to save our country from corrupt and uneducated politicians who are no less than parasites eating away the development growth of the country and its resources. All of us must unite to break the wheel and work for the prosperous future of our country.

FAQs on Politics

Q.1 Why is the political system corrupt?

A.1 Political system is corrupt because the ministers in power exercise their authority to get away with all their crimes. They bribe everyone into working for their selfish motives making the whole system corrupt.

Q.2 Why does India need educated ministers?

A.2 India does not have a minimum educational qualification requirement for ministers. This is why the uneducated lot is corrupting the system and pushing the country to doom. We need educated ministers so they can help the country develop with their progressive thinking.

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Michael Cohen testifies in Trump hush money trial

By CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren Del Valle and Jeremy Herb in the courthouse

Key takeaways from Michael Cohen's first day of testimony

From CNN's  Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell

Michael Cohen implicated his former boss  Donald Trump  in the hush money scheme to pay Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 election, saying he doled out $130,000 at Trump’s direction and was promised reimbursement.

Cohen’s testimony ties together the prosecution’s allegations that Trump broke the law by falsifying business records to reimburse Cohen and conceal the hush money payment that Cohen said he made at Trump’s direction. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies having an affair with Daniels.

Here are some of the key takeaways from Cohen's first day on the stand:

• Cohen ties Trump to the Daniels hush money payment: Through roughly five hours of testimony Monday, Cohen walked jurors through how he worked with former National Enquirer editor David Pecker on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 campaign to kill negative stories; how he kept Trump apprised of his hush money negotiations with Keith Davidson, the attorney for Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal; and how Trump approved and was aware of how Cohen would be falsely repaid in 2017 for the Daniels payment as legal services.
• Cohen ties the hush money reimbursement to Trump, too: Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records – 11 invoices, 12 vouchers and 11 checks – records that prosecutors say stem from the monthly reimbursements Cohen received in 2017 for the hush money payment he made to Daniels. On Monday, jurors heard through Cohen for the first-time evidence directly connecting Trump to those reimbursements.
• Cohen describes being Trump’s protector: As Cohen described each media story he killed and nondisclosure agreement he locked down ahead of the 2016 election, it was always in the name of protecting Trump. When it came to the settlement agreement with Daniels, Cohen said he kept control of a document revealing the identities of “David Dennison” and “Peggy Peterson” so that he could protect Trump. And he testified that he used the Essential Consultants LLC to facilitate the payment to Daniels “to protect him and to isolate him from the transaction.” Hoffinger asked Cohen whether he would sometimes bully people. Cohen confirmed he would.

Cohen is expected back in court tomorrow

Donald Trump's ex-attorney and fixer  Michael Cohen  took the stand today to testify about the  Stormy Daniels hush money payment  and Trump's  alleged involvement in the scheme .

He's expected to face more questions tomorrow. Court proceedings are expected to resume at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Michael Cohen took the stand as a key witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial. Here's what he said

From CNN's Elise Hammond

Michael Cohen took the stand on Monday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York.

When he was Trump’s personal attorney, Cohen made the $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. He landed in federal prison  over that transaction for breaking campaign finance laws. 

Through previous witnesses’ testimony, jurors have already heard plenty about Cohen. They have painted an unflattering portrait of an aggressive, impulsive and unlikeable attorney. The former “fixer,” now a critical witness , testified about the payment and Trump’s alleged involvement.

Here’s a look at what Cohen said on the stand today:

• Relationship with Trump: Cohen said he worked directly for Trump , not the general counsel's office at the Trump Organization. He said working with the press was a “portion” of his job and would sometimes call news outlets and ask them to redact or take articles down. Cohen testified that it was required for him to keep Trump updated about his work.
• On the presidential run: Cohen said Trump was worried about stories about his personal life coming out as he weighed a run for president, with Trump saying, “Just be prepared there’s going to be a lot of women coming forward,” according to Cohen. He testified that he didn’t have a formal role in the 2016 campaign, but he used his press contacts to be a surrogate .
• The doorman story: Cohen said he learned about the doorman story circulating about Trump having fathered "a love child” and testified Trump told him to “handle it.” He confirmed that the strategy was to take the story “off the market” for $30,000, and Trump was grateful it wouldn’t be published. Cohen said he went to Trump to tell him the agreement was completed , as well as to get credit for executing it. 
• Karen McDougal: He said Trump told him to make sure the story about former Playboy model Karen McDougal didn’t get released, which he believed meant acquiring it . Cohen recounted a call with Pecker and Trump about the story. When Cohen told Trump the cost of controlling the McDougal story, Cohen testified Trump said, “No problem, I’ll take care of it.” Later, David Pecker, former CEO of the National Enquirer’s parent company, spoke to Cohen and insisted on being reimbursed .
• "Access Hollywood" tape: When he learned about the video , released by the Washington Post, Cohen said he wanted to "ensure" things were being taken care of properly and that Trump would be protected . He testified that it was Melania Trump’s idea to say the language in the video “was locker room talk.” Cohen recalled thinking the tape would impact women voters.
• Stormy Daniels: When he initially told Trump about the Stormy Daniels story, Cohen testified that Trump said, “Women are going to hate me” and that it would be “a disaster for the campaign.” Cohen said his former boss told him to work with Pecker to “take care of it.” As the agreement unfolded, Cohen said he kept Trump informed on the deal with Daniels.
• Timing of Daniel’s payment: Trump wanted the situation with Daniels to be under wraps until after the election “because if I win, it will have no relevance because I'm president. And if I lose, I don't even care,” Trump said, according to Cohen.
• Making the payment: Cohen said he spoke with Trump twice to get his sign-off before making the payment to Daniels using a company he created , Essential Consultants LLC. He said he would have never gone forward to the bank without Trump’s approval. He testified he also let Trump know he signed the agreement with Daniels.
• Repayment to Cohen: Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg told Cohen he would be paid $420,000 for Daniel’s payment over 12 months . He testified that the payment series set up for future legal services was actually a reimbursement .

Trump rails against judge and says there's no crime in remarks outside of Manhattan courthouse

From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury

Donald Trump slammed Judge Juan Merchan and called the hush money trial a "scam" as he left the Manhattan courthouse on Monday.

“This is a scam, I think it’s it’s terrible thing that’s happening to democracy in this country,” Trump said. He then called the case a "rigged deal" and Merchan "conflicted." 

He went on to read comments made by his allies regarding the case.

“There’s no fraud here, there’s no crime here," Trump said.

Trump's motorcade leaves the courthouse

Donald Trump's motorcade has left the courthouse. His car slowed down so he could wave and flash a thumbs up to supporters gathered outside.

Testimony in Trump's trial continues tomorrow.

Afternoon sketches show Michael Cohen on the stand as his former boss sits nearby in court

From CNN Digital's Photo Desk

Sketch artists Christine Cornell and Jane Rosenberg have been providing us with courtroom perspectives throughout the trial as cameras are not allowed inside during proceedings.

Here are some of their latest sketches from Michael Cohen’s testimony Monday afternoon:

More sketches from Cohen's testimony can be seen here .

The final moments today in the courtroom: Trump stacks his papers and Cohen nods toward jurors

As Judge Juan Merchan gives his daily instructions to the jury, Donald Trump is stacking up his papers and whispering with attorney Todd Blanche.

His hands are folded on the table and he then flips through the papers one more time.

Michael Cohen, for his part, pans the courtroom and then looks down at his hands as Merchan is speaking.

Cohen gives a small smile and nods toward the jurors as Merchan dismisses them for the day.

The key points of Michael Cohen's testimony about how he was reimbursed for the hush money deal

From CNN's Eric Levenson

Michael Cohen finished the day’s testimony by explaining how he, former Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg and Donald Trump agreed to reimburse him for the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.

After Trump won the election, Cohen pitched Trump on a set up in which he would serve as Trump’s personal attorney for free but would be paid by companies hoping for insights on Trump.

In early January, Cohen went to Weisselberg about being reimbursed for the $130,000 payment, and Weisselberg agreed, Cohen testified. He showed Weisselberg the wire transfer document, and Weisselberg took handwritten notes calculating what Trump owed Cohen based on their conversations.

Weisselberg suggested Cohen take the money as income rather than as untaxed reimbursements, Cohen testified. "I didn’t really think about it. I just wanted to get my money back,” he said.

According to Cohen, they agreed that Trump would pay him $420,000 in all: $130,000 to reimburse him for the payment to Daniels, $50,000 to reimburse him for unrelated tech services, $180,000 to account for estimated taxes and a $60,000 bonus. The payments would be made over 12 months “as like a legal service rendered since I was then going to be given the title of personal attorney to the president,” Cohen testified.

They presented the plan to Trump, and he approved it, Cohen said. The payments were designed to look like future legal services, but they were actually reimbursement for the Daniels’ deal, he testified.

Cohen never actually put together a retainer agreement for any future work he'd do for Trump, “because I knew there was going to be no compensation,” he testified.

Court is breaking for the day

The court is breaking for the day and the jury is leaving the courtroom.

Donald Trump's ex-attorney Michael Cohen is expected to continue to be questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger tomorrow.

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