PROBABLE EFFECTS OF THE CRIME BILL IN LOS ANGELES
This research assesses the probable effects of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, hereinafter referred to as the "Crime Bill," on the character and frequency of crime in Los Angeles. The thesis of this assessment is that the effects of the Crime Bill in Los Angeles will be positive in character but limited in the degree of impact.
The findings of the research performed are presented in discussions related to the frequency and character of crime in Los Angeles, the functioning of the police in Los Angeles, and approaches to punishment for criminal behavior. The significance and reality of the crime problem in Los Angeles, the relationship between crime and societal values, theories of criminal deterrence, and racial/ethnic factors associated with crime are addressed within these major discussions. Lastly, the probable effects of the Crime Bill on the character and frequency of crime in Los Angeles are assessed.
Criminal anti social behavior in the 1990s is shockingly high and increasing in frequency. Defining crime is in itself important in the determination of what constitutes criminal deviance in society, and in the development of strategies to reduce the frequency of criminal deviance. If one person sees another act with relative impunity in the context of corporate crime, white collar crime, or alcohol related driving offenses, that person may well be tempted to commit their own form of criminal deviancy, and their choices to commit some criminal behavior of their own choosing may be more understandable in this context.
Criminologists have long associated the commission of crime with the opportunity for the commission of such acts. In the 1990s, however, there is a stronger tendency on the part of an ever greater proportion of the population to engage in any activity, criminal or not, that provide them with some degree of pleasure when the ...