Assignment 08 Criminology Directions Be Sure To Save

Assignment 08cj340criminologydirectionsbe Sure To Save An Electronic

Part A Mike Maguire offered three basic categories of burglars. Name the three categories and detail who they are and what they do .

Part B The FBI classifies mortgage fraud as one type of financial crime. According to the FBI, mortgage fraud includes three different activities. What are those activities and what is involved with each?

Part C Define the five categories of cybercrime and give an example for each category.

Paper For Above instruction

Criminology offers a nuanced understanding of various criminal activities, with burglars, mortgage fraud, and cybercrime representing critical areas of study. Each category encompasses distinct behaviors, motivations, and methods, which are vital for criminologists, law enforcement, and policymakers to understand in order to develop effective prevention and intervention strategies.

Part A: Categories of Burglars

Mike Maguire categorizes burglars into three primary types: opportunists, professional burglars, and addiction-based burglars. Opportunists are individuals who commit burglaries impulsively or due to a sudden opportunity. They often target homes or establishments where security is minimal, driven primarily by immediate needs such as theft of valuables or cash. Professional burglars, on the other hand, treat burglary as a career. They plan their crimes meticulously, often thefting high-value items and sometimes operating within organized crime networks. They tend to minimize risks and maximize profit, often executing multiple burglaries over time. The third category, addiction-based burglars, commit crimes chiefly due to substance dependency. Their burglaries are often impulsive and aimed at sourcing funds for drug or alcohol addictions, rather than theft for profit alone. Understanding these categories enables law enforcement to tailor different strategy responses to each type’s unique behaviors.

Part B: Types of Mortgage Fraud

The FBI classifies mortgage fraud as a specialized subset of financial crimes involving deception for financial gain related to mortgage lending. The three activities identified by the FBI include:

  1. Fraud for Housing: This occurs when individuals provide false information to qualify for a mortgage, such as inflating income, falsifying employment details, or misrepresenting financial status. The intent is to secure a loan that they might not otherwise qualify for, often leading to default and foreclosure.
  2. Fraud for Profit: This involves schemes where individuals or groups manipulate the mortgage process to extract financial gain abusively. Examples include foreclosure rescue schemes, straw buyer frauds, or property flipping scams that artificially inflate property values, enabling unscrupulous individuals to profit unlawfully.
  3. Appraisal Fraud: Appraisers inflate or deflate property valuations dishonestly, often driven by collusion with other parties to facilitate fraudulent mortgages or to artificially increase property values for resale profit, worsening market instability and causing financial losses for lenders.

Each activity involves deception, manipulation of financial or property data, and often collusion between multiple parties, all aimed at gaining illicit financial advantages or facilitating fraudulent mortgage approval processes.

Part C: Categories of Cybercrime

Cybercrime is broadly classified into five categories: crimes against persons, crimes against property, computer-related crimes, content-related crimes, and cyber-espionage. Each category encompasses distinct criminal behaviors facilitated by digital technologies.

1. Crimes Against Persons

This category involves offenses that directly harm individuals through digital means. Examples include cyberstalking, identity theft leading to personal harm, and online harassment. For instance, cyberstalkers use social media to track and intimidate victims, causing emotional distress and potential physical danger.

2. Crimes Against Property

These crimes involve the illegal destruction or theft of digital or physical property. Examples include hacking into financial accounts or bank accounts (cyber theft), data breaches, and distributing malicious malware designed to damage or steal data. An example is ransomware attacks on corporations, encrypting data until ransom is paid.

3. Computer-Related Crimes

This category involves offenses that use computers or networks as tools to commit other crimes. Examples include hacking, unauthorized access, and the creation and spread of malicious software. An instance is distributing viruses or worms that compromise multiple systems within an organization.

4. Content-Related Crimes

This encompasses crimes involving the creation, distribution, or possession of illegal digital content. Examples include child pornography, hate speech, and pirated software. An example is the illegal sharing of copyrighted movies via peer-to-peer networks.

5. Cyber-Espionage

This involves the covert gathering of confidential information from governments, corporations, or individuals using cyber means. States or organized groups often execute cyber-espionage to obtain intellectual property, defense secrets, or strategic intelligence. An example includes nation-states hacking into foreign government systems to steal classified data.

Conclusion

Understanding these categories of criminal behavior is crucial for developing targeted law enforcement strategies and policies. The differences in motives, methods, and impacts among burglars, mortgage fraudsters, and cybercriminals highlight the need for specialized approaches to prevention, detection, and prosecution. As technological advancement continues to expand the scope of potential crimes, ongoing research and adaptation of criminal justice practices remain paramount.

References

  • Bohm, R. M., & Haley, K. N. (2019). Introduction to Crime Theory. Sage Publications.
  • FBI. (2022). Mortgage Fraud. Federal Bureau of Investigation. https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/white-collar-crime/mortgage-fraud
  • Holt, T. J., & Bossler, A. M. (Eds.). (2020). Cybercrime in Progress: Theory and Prevention. Routledge.
  • Maguire, M., Morgan, R., & Reiner, R. (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford University Press.
  • McGuire, M. (2017). Understanding Burglary. Crime and Justice, 46(1), 1-41.
  • Wall, D. S. (2018). Cybercrime: The Transformation of Crime in the Information Age. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 12(2), 163-172.
  • Yar, M. (2019). Cybercrime and Society. Sage Publications.
  • Regan, P. M. (2017). Crime and Society in Later Modernity. Routledge.
  • Wall, D. S., & Williams, J. P. (2020). Cybercrime: Criminal Threats in the Digital Age. Routledge.
  • Reynolds, P., & Smith, J. (2016). White Collar Crime: The Offender and Context. Routledge.