To explain the crime type of sexual offences, it is important to decipher how crime is made sense of, specifically exploring the definitions and attitudes to sexual offences. Exploring the crime throughout history and during the present day, so called, epidemic of sexual offences; laws, trends and attitudes will allow concepts to form as to how these views to sexual offences have impacted on theories with in criminological knowledge.
Definitions
Crime is defined in the oxford dictionary as “An action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law.” Criminologists look at change within the law, media reactions and statistical trend; to create theoretical views and concepts to explain crime and the criminal mind. A sexual offence is defined in the oxford dictionary as “The action or an act of forcing an unconsenting person to engage in sexual activity; a rape; (Law) a crime involving forced sexual contact, variously defined as inclusive or exclusive of rape.” Actual definitions are important in the understanding of a specific crime type and are regularly updated, especially when it comes to consent; through history, what acts as consent has been contested. Consent as of 2003 has been defined in section 74 of the sexual offences act (2003) “if he agrees by choice, and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice (CPS, 2017).” This means that consent may be implied, but can be withdrawn at any point. A sexual offence occurs if a sexual act occurs on the
Have the legislative changes introduced by the Sexual Offence Act (SOA) amended and improved the current law. The amendments were made because protection against sex offenders was poor and needed to be changed in the 1956 act. Therefore protection was attempted to be improved by the SOA 2003 so that further security against sex offenders is provided. For example, the SOA 1956 before would only consider a man liable for rape which means a woman could not be charged even if she attempted to rape. The current law SOA 2003 holds both a male and female liable for rape. The concept of consent is important in considering a crime and helps determine whether a defendant is guilty of a sexual offence. SOA 2003 has attempted to simplify consent under
Criminologists seek to understand the commission of crime in a given society, attempting to figure out why certain crimes occur, and then to study how these can be prevented, and deterred by individuals. The two key approaches I will examine in this assignment is that of the early 'Classicalist' approach, and the opposing 'Positivist' approach, each of which are crucial for understanding modern criminology today.
This essay will examine the social and cultural conditions, within the macro-diachronic and micro-synchronic theoretical models , that intensify or perpetuate sexual assault. I have chosen only one concept from each model because these are the only concepts that I feel that I can use to most accurately and comprehensively depict causes and reasons for why sexual assault is deeply entrenched in our social structure. I will thus explore, from these ideological viewpoints, some of the motivations and circumstances which lead offenders to sexual assault. I will also fuse some of the historical attitudes from which today's concepts have evolved to our contemporary understanding of this social
On the evening of November 26th, 2000 a sixteen-year-old girl named Leanne Tiernan went missing. She was walking back from shopping with her friend and took a shortcut back home. Not until 9 months later in August of 2001 was her body found. A man walking his dogs in Lindley Woods found her body. Her body was in a shallow grave. Over her was a duvet cover that had a floral pattern. She was wrapped in ten plastic green bags with twine wrapped around them to keep them together. She had three cable ties around her wrists one yellow on one wrist, one black on the other, and a second black tie to connect the other two ties together very much like a daisy chain. She had a plastic bag around her head with a dog collar to hold
“Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behaviour that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape.” (Unknown, 2016)
Stories of sex offenders have been increasingly a focus of attention by the criminal justice system over the past years. By legal definition, a sex offender “is a person who is convicted of a sexual offense (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition),” an act which is prohibited by the jurisdiction. What constitutes as a sex offense or normal/abnormal sexual behavior varies over time and place, meaning that it also varies by legal jurisdiction and culture. In the United States of America, for example, a person can be convicted of wide range of sexual behavior that includes prostitution, incest, sex with a minor, rape, and other sex offenses (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition). As the nature of sex crimes have long held the
Criminology has emerged as a science in the recent years, and various theories and perspectives have been developed by the social scientists and criminologists in this regard. With the development of sociology as a new subject of study and defining the sociology by the August Comte in 1822, the way was paved for the development of criminology, as the new branch of study. This Branch deals with the study of crime and it gradually developed as academic discipline in Britain in 1950s. Cesare Lombroso became the founder of criminology which also founded the positivist movement in the criminology, thus giving this field a more scientific and modern approach (Anon., 2014). The main features of the positivist approach include the
Start blaming the system, not the victim. Sexual assault is a crime that is very common, yet the punishment perpetrators receive is not as harsh as it needs to be to reduce the occurrence of these crimes. Laws concerning sexual crimes have been edited over decades to be stricter however, sex offenders typically receive little or no punishment. Sexual Assault is defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient (“Sexual Assault”). Victims of sexual assault are often blamed as the reason for the crime being committed while the blame is taken away from the offender. Harsher punishment must be enacted on sex offenders because the victims suffer conflict from the crime throughout their
As the most prominent charge to come here, rape was originally defined by Hume as: “the knowledge of the woman’s person forcibly and against her will”. Rape was then defined in the current edition of Gordon as: “the carnal knowledge of a female by a male person obtained by overcoming her will”. However, both definitions have been long replaced by the current definition set out in the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, which differs quite significantly from Hume’s and Gordon’s definitions, to one of a more practical approach. In section one of the 2009 Act it defines the charge of rape as the penetration by an individual’s penis, of the vagina, anus or mouth without the consent of the second individual and without any knowledge that the second individual is consenting or is reckless to whether consent has taken place. Hume’s old law definition was gender specific and required force for the crime of rape to be
and rape. Sexual assault and rape are words that are often used interchangeably but the terms have two distinct definitions. The United States Department of Justice defines sexual assault as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Sexual activities that fall under the definition of sexual assault include forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape.
This essay will outline how crime theories are able to assist in recognizing the causes of criminal activity, as well as demonstrating two criminological theories to two particular crimes. Overviews of trends, dimensions and victim/offenders characteristics of both crime groups will be specified. The two particular crimes that will be demonstrated throughout this essay are; Violent Crime (focusing on Assault) being linked with social learning theory and White Collar crime (focusing on terrorism) being linked to General Strain theory. In criminology, determining the motive of why people commit crimes is crucial. Over the years, many theories have been developed and they continue to be studied as criminologists pursue the best answers in eventually diminishing certain types of crime including assaults and terrorism, which will be focused on.
Sex crimes include acts considered as either sexual abuse, or a non-tolerable behavior considered inappropriate to social norms. The law forbids certain sexual acts, despite expressed consent from both parties. Sex laws vary from region to region, and may evolve over time. Furthermore, sexual acts forbidden by law in a proscribed jurisdiction are coined as sex crimes.
This paper will mainly discuss sexual crimes. It will explain the differences about various sexual crimes. It will also go into detail about sexual crimes that revolve around men, women, and children. It will also talk about the history of sex crimes, along with some of the different types of sexual crimes committed. This paper will provide explanations as to what these sexual crimes are in their nature. Sexual offenses are serious crimes that occur more than that should. There are a wide range of victims from male and female children to male and female teens to young adults attending college to adults. Many people have to deal with the results of these sexual offenses. This paper will also discuss the transition of child sexual assault
Researchers have come up with various explanations trying to explain the sexual abuse cases in the globe. Some of these explanations form a basis on psychological perspectives, biological perspectives, and criminal perspectives. Despite these differences, rape cases are considered a violation of an individual right and the traumatizing effects are reported to be similar. The paper will focus mainly on the criminological approach to rape cases (Grooth & Jean, 1979). Various criminologists’ literature will be reviewed in association to rape as an offense against the law.
Criminology is the scientific study of crime as an individual and social phenomenon. Criminological research areas include the incidence of crime as well as its causes and consequences. They also include social and governmental regulations and reactions to crime. Nation master.com (2013) highlights that “in criminology the positivist school has attempted to find scientific objectivity for the measurement and quantification of criminal behaviour”. The Positivist School of thought presumes that criminal behaviour is caused by various internal and external factors which are outside of the individual 's control. The scientific method was introduced and applied to the study of human behaviour. Positivism can be broken up into three segments which include biological, psychological and social positivism Nation master (2013)