LESSON III

CRIME AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

CRIME
An act or omission in violation of a public law forbidding or
commanding it.
Malainse vs. Malaprohibita
Crimes which are wrongful in nature are called mala inse; mere
violations of rules of convenience designed to secure a more orderly
regulation of the affairs of the society are mala pro hibita
 ANATOMY OF CRIME
-for any crime to happen, there are three elements or ingredients that must be
present at the same time and same place. These are:

1. Instrumentality- is the means or implement use in the commission of the crime.

2. Opportunity – the time and place conducive for its commission.
3. Resistance to temptation- the values of the offender to refrain from committing
an act.

FORMULA OF CRIME (By: Abrahamsen)

Criminal Tendency + Opportunity
CRIME= ----------------------------------------------------
Resistance to Temptation
 SUB- CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES
1. FELONY
- an act or omission punishable by law which is committed by means
of dolo (deceit) or culpa (fault) and punishable under the Revised Penal Code (Act
# 3815).

2. OFFENSE
- an act or omission in violation of a special law (E.g. RA9165)

3. INFRACTION OF ORDINANCE / MISDEMEANOR

- an act or omission in violation of a city or municipal ordinance
 LEGAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF CRIMES

1) as the manner crimes are committed

a) by means of dolo or deceit
b) by means of culpa or fault

2) as to the stages in the commission of crimes:

a) consummated crime- when all the elements necessary for its execution
and accomplishment are present.
b) frustrated crime- when the offender has performed all the acts of
execution which will produce the felony as a consequence but which nevertheless
do not produce it by reason of causes independent of the will of the perpetrator.
c) attempted crime- when the offender commences the commission of a
crime directly by overt acts and does not perform all the acts of execution which
should produce the feloby by reason of some causes or accident other than his
 LEGAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF CRIMES

3) according to plurality:
a) Simple Crime- single act constituting only one offense
b) Complex Crime- single act constituting two or more grave felonies or an is
a necessary means for committing the other

4) according to gravity:
a) Grave Felonies- those to which the law attaches the capital punishment of
afflective penalties
b) Less Grave Felonies- those to which the law attaches correctional
penalties
c) Light Felonies- those to which the law attaches the penalty of arresto
menor of a fine not exceeding P200.00
CRIMINOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

1. according to the result of the crime:

a) Acquisitive Crime- the offender aquires something
b) Extinctive Crime- the consequence of the act is destructive

2. according to the time or period of the commission of the

crime:
a) Seasonal Crime- committed only during a certain period of
the year
b) Situational Crime- committed only when the situation is
conducive to its commission
CRIMINOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

3. According to the length of time of the commission of the

crime:
a) Instant Crime- committed in the shortest possible time
b) Episoidal Crime- committed by a series of act in a lengthy
space of time
4. According to the place or location:
a) Static crime- committed in only one place
b) Continuing crime- committed in several places
CRIMINOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES
5. according to the use of metal faculties:
a) Rational Crime- committed with intent and the offender is in full
possession of his sanity
b) Irrational Crime- committed by an offender who does not know
the nature and quality of his act on account of the disease of the mind

6. according to the type of offender:

a) White-collar Crime- committed by a person belonging to the upper
socio-economic class in the course of his occupational activities
b) Blue-collar crime- committed by ordinary professional criminal to
maintain his livelihood
CRIMINOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

7) according to the standard of living:

a) Upper World Crimes- those committed by individuals
belonging to the upperclass of the society.
b) Under World Crimes- those committed by lower or under
privilege class of society.
 OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS OF CRIMES
a) Traditional Crime- committed every now and then
b) Victimless Crime- act committed by consenting persons in private, there is no
intended victim.
c) Index Crime- are crimes which are serious in nature and which occur with
sufficient frequency and regularity such that they can serve as an index to the
crime situation in the Philippines, we consider only the actual crimes of murder,
homicide, physical injury (serious and less serious), robbery, theft, and rape.
d) Non-Index Crime- crimes against person (parricide/infanticide,
maltreatment, kidnapping); crimes against property (estafa and falsification,
malicious mischief and damage to property); crimes against morals and order
(prostitution, vagrancy, alarm and scandal, assault/resistance to authority,
corruption of public official, gambling, slander and lible, threat and coercion
and trespassing); crimes against chastity (abduction, seduction, lascivious acts)
and other crimes (illegal possession of firearms, explosives and ammonation,
concealment of deadly weapons, smuggling, carnapping and prohibited drugs)
TOTAL CRIME VOLUME= Index + Non-Index Crimes.
AVERAGE MONTHLY CRIME RATE=[(Total Crime Volume/12 months) x
100,000 population]/ Population of region or country.
CRIME SOLUTION EFFICIENCY=(Crime Solved/Crime Volume) x 100%
 CRIMINAL
- in the legal sense, a criminal is any person who has been found to
have committed a wrongful act in the course of the standard judicial process;
there must be a final verdict of his guilt.

- in the criminological sense, a person is already considered a criminal

the moment he committed a crime
 GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMINALS

1) on the bases of etiology:

a) acute criminals- persons who violate criminal law because of the impulse
of the moment, fit of passion or angry
b) chronic criminals- persons who acted in consonance with deliberated
thingking, such as
b.1) neurotic criminals- person whose actions arise from the intra-phychic
conflict between the social and anti-social component of his personality
b.2) normal criminals- persons whose phychic organization resembles that of
a normal individual except that he identifies himself with criminal prototype.
 GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMINALS

2) On the bases of behavioral system:

a) Ordinary Criminals- the lowest form of criminal career; they engage
only in conventional crimes which require limited skill
b) Organized Criminals- these criminals have a high degree of
organization that enables them to commit crimes without being detected and
committed to specialized activities which can be operated in large scale
businesses.
c) Professional Criminals- these are highly skilled and able to obtain
considerable amount of money without being detected because of organization
and contact with other professional criminals
 GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMINALS

3) On the bases of activities:

a) Professional Criminals- those who earn there living through criminal
activities
b) Accidental Criminals- those who commit criminal acts as a result of
unanticipated circumstances
c) Habitual Criminals- those who continue to commit criminal acts for
such diverse reasons due to deficiency of intelligence and lack of control.
 CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMINALS
by Lombroso:

a. Born Criminals- Atavism describes one having shify eyes, elongated jaws and
no mustache.
b. Criminal by passion- individuals who are easily influenced by great emotions
c. Insane Criminals- those who commit crimes due to mental abnormalities or
psychological disorder
d. Criminaloids- one who commit crime due to less self-control. Those suffering
from defects that are psychological e.g. Kleptomaniac
e. Occasional Criminal- one who commit crimes due to insignificant reasons
that pushed them to do at a given occasion
f. Pseudo Criminals- those who kill in self-defense
 TYPES OF CRIMINALS
by Garafalo:
a. Murderers- those who are satisfied from vengeance
b. Violent Criminals- those who commit very serious crimes
c. Deficient Criminals- those who commit crimes against property
d. Lascivious Criminals- those who commit crimes against chastity
 Three definite ways in which a person maybe led into
criminal activities (Abrahamsem, 1960)

1. When antisocial inclinations are exposed to criminal influences and are further stimulated
by the impact of a precipitating event.
2. When there is a strong unconscious desire for punishment, owing to unconscious, deep-
rooted guilt feelings, developed through past experiences.
3. As an indirect (or false) expression of aggressiveness. A person who feels emotionally weak
and insecure may develop a defensive, aggressive emotional attitude as a cover up.
Expressing this aggression through protest and rebelliousness may lead him to commit anti-
social or even criminal act.
T+S
Criminal behavior formula: C= -----------
R
C- Crime S- Total Situation
T- Criminalistics Tendencies R- the persons’ mental and emotional
resistance to temptation
Example:
When a person is need of money (tendencies) was tempted to
steal when seeing someone being careless with his/her wallet
(situation) but choose not to do it (resistance). Note that the
dominating figure in resistance is the superego (because it threatens
the ego by commanding it to do good deed.
Therefore, an individual can have a conforming behavior if
he/she developed a strong conscience where he/she can control the
urge of wanting things, and one can have a rule of violating behavior if
he/she no control in resisting the temptation in committing a crime.