Victimless Crimes

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews the work on the concept of victimless crimes by sociologist, Edwin M. Schur. The paper presents Schur's argument that this type of crime marginalizes groups of people, such as gays and lesbians, as deviant and wastes society resources on drug users and pornography. The paper author argues that decriminalization of violent pornography and drug use, based on their perceived "non harm", is to remain blind to the serious personal and social consequences of these crimes.

From the Paper:

"Schur's argument about the social construction of deviancy has merit. Today, for instance, it is difficult to label the Suffragettes of the early 20th century as criminals or deviants. Yet, many women were thrown in jail for agitating for a woman's right to vote. Margaret Sanger was charged with obscenity for teaching women about venereal disease and birth control. A man who drank whiskey in the privacy of his own home during the Prohibition would have been arrested. In this light, many of the laws enacted about victimless crimes were enacted to uphold prevailing notions of what was right."

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