Public Order Crimes - Applied Criminology Assignment

Applied Criminology Assignment

Public Order Crimes

        There are numerous crimes that are considered to be public order crimes, which may also be referred to as vice offenses, consensual offenses, victimless crimes, or nuisance offenses. Public order crimes are criminal acts that deviate from society’s general ideas of normal social behavior moral values. They are crimes such as alcohol use and abuse, drug use and abuse, prostitution, and any such crimes that are committed against societal norms and law. There is much debate about the actions that should be taken in response to public order offenses. Some believe that there should be consequences for public order crimes, and that such lack of action will only lead to more serious offenses. Others believe that public order offenses should be ignored by society due to the argument that these crimes may cause harm to the actor, but no harm to anyone else. But, criminologists have been continuously arguing that public order crimes always cause some social harm, making them disproving the claim that these crimes are “victimless.” Who is the victim of an illegal drug transaction? Who is likely to call the police when a prostitute makes a transaction with a client? These examples of public order crimes are considered crimes not because there is a discernable offender and victim, but because the larger community is offended and therefore victimized. Whether it is a family member, friend, or stranger, there is always a secondary victim that is harmed as a result of the crime.

        Alcohol is one of the many substances used today by individuals that alters both the mind and one’s consciousness, and of these many substances, alcohol is the most directly linked to both criminal and antisocial behavior. As defined by the NIAA National Advisory Council, “a “binge” is a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration to .08 gram percent or above. For the typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming 5 or more drinks (male), or 4 or more drinks (female), in about 2 hours.” This excessive alcohol consumption not only imposes harm on the drinkers, but also has the potential to cause harm to those around them.

Driving while under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) is one alcohol related offense that causes harm to non-offenders and results in thousands of fatalities each year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more people are arrested in the U.S each year for driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated than any other reported criminal offense (nhtsa.gov).

Another danger associated with excessive alcohol consumption is the risk of becoming an alcoholic. Alcoholism is a chronic disease where an individual loses all control in regards to alcohol consumption. It is a state of “cellular physiology” and causes an individual to experience physical shock or disturbances when they stop consuming alcohol. Many theories link alcoholism and crime together due to the fact that they both cause the “dysregulation of the behavior activating system (BAS) that leads to a “craving brain”” (Gove & Wilmoth, 2003). There are two types of alcoholism that both relate to criminal behavior. Type I alcoholism is characterized by mild abuse, minimal criminality, and passive-dependent personality variables, and Type II alcoholism is characterized by early onset, violence, and criminality, and is largely limited to males (Walsh and Hemmens). These ugly and destructive consequences of alcohol consumption are what helps us to better understand its relation to crime.

        Illegal drug use is yet another prevalent public order crime that continues to exist in today’s society. Drugs were not always illegal, but in 1914 when the Harrison Act was passed, drug use in America was deemed an act of crime. Although the act was meant to reduce drug consumption, an illegal black market was created thus involving more people in criminal behavior. Pharmacological violence, economic-compulsive violence, and systematic violence are three types of violence that are identifiable with illegal drugs. Systematic violence is the type of violence that is associated with the conflict amongst gangs that arises from control of drug markets; Economic-compulsive violence refers to the crimes committed by individuals or groups battling to pay the high monetary costs of drugs; and Pharmacological violence is violence that is generated by the “pharmacological properties” of the actual drug.