Public Order Crimes – Chapter 13
Public Order Crimes- act interfere with public order, such as loitering for the purposes of prostitution
Immoral acts become crimes if they are harmful to the public
Vigilante- someone who takes the law into their own hands
Moral Crusades- efforts by interest groups to stamp out behaviour they find objectionable
Moral Entrepreneurs- interest groups that attempt to control social life and the legal order for the purpose of promoting their own personal set of moral values
Paraphilia- abnormal sexual practices that may involve recurrent sexual urges focused on objects, humiliation, or children
Prostitution- the buying and selling of sex – not illegal in Canada
Brothels- a house of prostitution, typically run by a Madam (a woman who runs the brothel)
Call Girls- prostitutes who make dates via the phone and then service customers in hotel rooms or apartments
Pornography- the exploitation of women and children for male pleasure
Obscenity- sexually explicit material that appeals to the prurient interest of the viewer
Decriminalization- the reduction or elimination of the penalty for a criminal act
Temperance Movement- an organized effort to prohibit the sale of liquor, largely seen as unsuccessful, prohibition was a failure
Most Widely Used Drugs: Aesthetics (PCP), Volatile liquids (lighter fluid), Barbiturates (sleeping pills), Tranquillizers, Amphetamines (meth), Cannabis (marijuana), Hallucinogens (LSD), Cocaine, Narcotics (morphine), Steroids, and Alcohol
Designer Drugs- chemical substances made and distributed in relatively small batches for the purpose of inducing mood-altering effects
Claims makers- people in a position to significantly influence the social construction of crime images in the media
Problems with the Law: might be too strict; reflect conservative standards not accepted by the majority, based on outdated morality
Utilitarianism: Kantian Philosophy- Jeremy Bentham’s “Greatest Happiness Principle”- control through pain and pleasure, ethical hedonism, and felicific calculus
Moral rightness or wrongness of an adaptation is a function of the amount of pleasure or pain that is produced
John Stuart Mill on Liberty: 2 mechanisms of the control of authority- necessary rights belonging to citizens, and representative parliament- people will not tyrannize themselves
Problems with Democracy: representation and tyranny of majority- the harm principle (solution)
3 Basic Liberties: Freedom of thought and consciousness, freedom to pursue tastes (opinions, beliefs), freedom of assembly and association
Benefits of Freedom of Expression: prejudicial beliefs are looked at as ‘the price paid for an inestimable good’
3 Types of Belief: wholly false, partly, and wholly true
Benefit to Common Good: we don’t know if it is true or false until expressed, if it is in error, it could be partly true and the collision of adverse opinions might produce the whole truth
Benefits of Individuality: it is a pre-requisite for creativity and diversity
Limits of Authority: Relating to harm, it is the consequences or irrational conduct, rather than the conduct itself that should be punished
Education helps society ensure that a generation as a whole is generally moral
Reaction Offensive Action: those who are offended by an action should simply cease to socialize with those who commit the action
Utility of Such Freedom: this brings people to the good more effectively than physical, emotional, or financial coercion
Policy Implications: 2 principles- individual is not responsible to the society so long as their action doesn’t harm society, and those actions that harm society must be punished in accordance with the principles of democracy and fair justice
Harm Prevention: we must prevent harm; we must also do so with an eye of whether that which can cause harm does so exclusively, we must warn the unaware person, taxation
Source Control- destroying overseas