The two violent Index Crimes of Robbery and Murder. See the data on page 242 and 248-249. The Justice Dept. categorizes crimes as either stranger-to-stranger or acquaintance crimes. This description refers to the relationship between the offender and the victim. The crimes of murder and voluntary manslaughter are combined in the UCR. We only concern ourselves with voluntary manslaughter in this section since involuntary or negligent homicide is not an Index crime. Remember, voluntary manslaughter is intentional homicide.
1. Why is robbery a violent personal crime and not a property crime?
2. According to our text, who are the likely offenders and victims of murder? Why do you think so?
3. Approximately how many murders are there in the U.S. in any given year? What percentage of these occur within the family? What is the U.S. murder rate?
4. In your own words, explain the difference between murder and manslaughter.
5. Explain the difference between a murder and a homicide? What is meant by the statement "all homicides are not crimes" ?
6. Explain the difference between serial and mass murder. Refer to reading 9.1 on page 270.
7. Why do we call some crimes Hate Crimes? Give an example.