This final chapter both summarizes key points in each of the preceding 12 chapters and makes a number of speculations about future developments.

Description (Section I)

Offenses (Chapter 1)

A criminal act is a legally defined behavior which may lead to punishment if it is detected and convicted. The boundaries of the criminal law change continually but the core remains, so that there is much crosscultural consistency concerning “true crimes” (those against persons and property) and much disagreement on victimless offenses (to do with drink, drugs, sex, and gambling). The criminal law does not apply to those below an internationally varying “age of responsiblity,” or to those adjudged too mentally ill to form a criminal intention, so that we must always take into account the age and state of mind of the accused.

Many crimes are not reported to the police; of those which are reported many are not recorded.

This book is concerned mainly with Index crimes, also called Part I crimes, which have two sub-groups. The violent offences are murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, forcible rape, and robbery; property offenses are burglary, larceny-theft and auto-theft. In the USA, Index offences reported to the police regularly exceed ten million per year, 90 per cent of which are crimes against property. Within reported and recorded violent crimes, homicides form about 2 per cent, rape a further small percentage, (but under-reporting is massive) robbery about 40 per cent and aggravated assault about 50 per cent.