CHAPTER 2

THE CONCEPT CRIME

MISS N DANIEL
CHAPTER OUTLINE

• Introduction
• The juridical elements of crime
• The nature and incidence of crime
• Classification of crime

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 INTRODUCTION

Juridical approach and criminological approach

• Elements
• The act itself
• Unlawfulness
• Guilt
• punishment
 ACT

Human action controlled by human will

Voluntary action
Human action must be perceptible
Legal point of view
• Contravention of a prohibition
• Ignoring a command
• Action must have negative consequences
 UNLAWFULNESS

• Is interpreted as one which conflicts with legal

norm, that is, with a legal prohibition or decree
• Sometimes unlawful can be legally admissible and
not punishable e.g.
• when acting in self- defence,
• in an emergency,
• with the victim's consent,
• when exercising parental discipline or
• acting on official orders
 GUILT

• Variety of meanings
• Juridical definition – it denotes the mental attitude
to guilt of the person who commits an unlawful
act.
• Two types of guilt – “dolus” (intent) and “culpa”
(negligence)
• These are used to qualify human actions –
accountability, mentally fit, aware of actions and
consequences.
• Accountability is determined by age and
provocation
 THREAT OF PUNISHMENT

• Only actions punishable by the state are

considered a crime
• Punishment is subsumed either under
common law or statutory law
• Accused – sentenced by court in terms of
the specific norm
• Punishment can be imprisonment, fine or
both
THE NATURE AND INCIDENCE OF CRIME

• All different types of crimes (classification)

and the number of crime (statistics) are taken
into consideration.
• Important tendencies generate information
regarding crime patterns.
• CP play an important role in preventing and
combating crime

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CRIME STATISTICS

• Refers to all the information and data

regarding the crime phenomenon.
• Arranged and tabulated in a specific way to
give a clear picture of the crime problem.

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ORIGIN OF CRIME STATISTICS

• 1835 1st crime stats by Adolphe Quetelet

(Belgian Criminologist)
• He was able to prove that crime is a social
phenomenon that be analysed and explained
by means of figures (statistics).
• In SA the 1st crime stats was compiled in
1921 by Bureau and Census and Statistics
(Department of Statistics, STATSSA)
• Gather, tabulate and publish.

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TYPES OF CRIME STATISTICS

• Data is obtained from 2 sources – official sources and unofficial

sources
• Official sources – official statistics compiled by Department of
Statistics
• Unofficial sources – include victim surveys and self-reporting
• Official sources – police, courts and DCS
• Police (reliable) – cases reported, arrestees, charged with a
crime.
• Courts – prosecuted, guilty/not guilty, sentenced to imprisonment
• DCS – total prison population – prisoners in different prisons,
released unconditionally, parole, probation, medical grounds
amnesty

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Unofficial sources

• Unreported crimes
• Used because official do not always reflect the full extent of
crime
• More reliable figure can be obtained by supplementing
unofficial sources
• Victim surveys are designed to carry out research on
members of society who have been victims of crime
• Self-reporting – sample is drawn from a specific community;
respondents fill in a questionnaire to indicate if they have ever
committed a crime.
• Dark figure of crime

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VALUE OF CRIME STATISTICS

• Gives an extent of crime

• Show fluctuation of crime
• Make comparison possible
• Provide information on the criminal
• Provide information on the distribution of
crime
• Inform the public about the crime problem

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SHORTCOMINGS OF CRIME STATISTICS

• Not all crimes are reported

• Statistics are expressed in relation to the total
population
• Relationship between crimes and criminals are ignored
• Statistics cannot always be compared be countries or
generations
• Crimes are often decriminalised – comparisons
impossible
• The number of crimes does not always correspond
with the number of criminals
• Criminals provide wrong information.

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CRIME TENDENCIES OR TRENDS

• Refers to the movement (rise and falls) in the

various classes in various classes of crime in a
particular year
• They are influenced by factors such as
geographical area, economic conditions, sex,
age, etc.
• By studying tendencies one can be able to
determine crime pattern and possible to predict
crime and exercise control measures.
• Various crime trends – age, sex, regions and
rural/urban areas

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THE CLASSIFICATION OF CRIME

Classification – arrangement of facts in certain

classes because there are certain mutual
similarities.
Code list of crimes – classification system
Haskell and Yablonski – violence, economic and
less serious crimes

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THANK YOU