The straightforward difference between crime as social phenomenon and behavior is that social phenomenon focuses on the crime and social behavior focuses on the offender. Crime research receives important contributions from different disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, economics, criminology, psychology, among others. All of these are essential in understanding crime in society. When crime is studied as a social phenomenon; investigators want to detect differences and similarities in crime patterns in different cultures with data gathered similarly.
Therefore, investigators want to find the reasons behind different crime rates before they can begin to focus on the offender. For example, United States’ FBI defines rape as the “carnal knowledge of a female, forcible and against her will. ” It is difficult to compare US to another country, when US only included one gender. Additionally, the rape against men was not included in the report to the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime. Other countries may report rape whether is forcible intercourse, or in marriage, against a child, and even if it was consented before but backed down halfway.
This makes it difficult to compare countries when data is incomplete in the report. Additionally, it makes it that much harder when countries define a crime so differently. United States defines rape in a very archaic and discriminatory way. When analyzing crime as a social phenomenon, it also helps to understand it better by comparing countries through the years to pinpoint developed trends; it also makes it easier when analyzing the UN report and the Crime Victims’ report.
By researching crime as a social behavior, investigators want to know where and why crime began and where it spreads. Whether crime is a result of social and industrial progress, regardless if the progress is at equal or different pace, because it creates all sorts of disruption in family relationships. Or due to human evolution, men and women that became more educated, progressively adopting manners, and exerting control which helped crime rates to drop. Researchers even consider if crime is directly related to economic and social advances, making crime an act of chance.
The more social changes, technological advances, increase in social status, acquisitions of property a society has, the more opportunities for crime there are going to be. Additionally, a cause for crime may also be explained by the social learning theory, which basically states that behavior is what people do after observing others. This definition has both positive and negative interpretations. The negative aspect is when children observe and model negative or criminal behavior from their parents or peers.
