in the sixties that continues unabated in the seventies, officially and publicly. One observer of the phenomenon reports:
“Sometimes during the 1960s, it is not easy to pinpoint just when crime emerged as a predominant public issue. By the end of the decade, some polls revealed that the
public ranked crime as the most serious problem facing our society above the Vietnam war, race relations, and inflation. Certainly there have been other time in
our history when this issue has aroused great anxiety, and this is hardly the first time that politicians has exploited Americas chronic apprehension that the moral
order is breaking down. Nevertheless, at least in its magnitude, the current reaction to crime is unprecedented.”
14
From the descriptions above, the fact showed that however, phenomenon of crime is kind of the social problem which influence the life of the society and need the solution.
C. Definition of Crime
Literally, Crime can be defined as “activities that involve breaking the law”.
15
Darrel Montero and Judith McDowells said “We generally think of crime as abnormal condition that intrudes itself on the orderly functioning of an otherwise peaceful society”.
16
Based on the Book Social Problems and the Quality of Life Robert H. Lauer and Jeanette
C. Lauer, “Technically,crime is any violation of the criminal law”.
17
14 Ric ha rd Quinne y, Crimino lo g y;Se c o nd Editio n Bo sto n: Little , Bro wn a nd Co mpa ny, 1979, p.38 15Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, International Students Edition, Oxford University Press, 2000.
16Montero and McDowell 1986,op.cit. p.385 17Robert H. Laurer, Jeanette C. Lauer, Crime and Delinquency in Robert H. Laurer, Social Problems and The Quality
of Life New York:McGraw Hill Companies, 1978, p.94 11
In the other hand, In the chapter Development of Criminology on Richard Quinneys Criminology has been explained that one of the early groups of criminologists saw crime as
produced by the “disharmonious” way in which social forces or institutions were not soundly constructed, or when their functions were not realized competently and responsibly, and when the
patterns of behavior characteristic of groups of people differed from predominating standards, crime was a natural consequence.
18
Phelps and Henderson in Contemporary Social Problem said that crime is the most readily defined by an enumeration of the specific offenses that are considered by society as contrary to
public welfare. Crime is any violation against public policy, and especially against the criminal law.
19
Through those explanations, the writer sees that talking about crime is not only related to the action that contradictory with the law and constitution. It is also related to the condition of
unstable social or political life in the country, for example when the parliamentary institution doesn’t responsible to their duties causes the problems that couldnt be achieved by the government.
In this condition, crime is one of the consequences for that country as part of social problems that need a solution to bring the country back to the peaceful condition.
18Richard Quinney 1979, op. cit. p.42 19Harold A. Phelps and David Henderson, Contemporary Social Problems New York: Prentice Hall-inc, 1932, p.441
12
D. The Varieties of Crime
