Crime Decline Genre Analysis

Crime and criminal activities have significantly fallen recently in the globe particularly in the developed nations. There is no defined reason as to why crime is declining of late. The decline in crime also does not take a specific writing style, and as such, some formats are employed. Due to this, I decided to choose three articles written by different authors in different writing styles but discussing the same topic. First, the article a local case study of the crime decline from the journal community saver by Clancey (2014) seeks to explain the reasons as to why there is a fall in local crimes. The second article was chosen explaining and sustaining the crime drop clarifying the role of opportunity related theories tries to explain the reason has to why there is the absence of the tangible reasons to the fall in criminology in some countries than others since mid-1990s (Tonry, 2005). This article is from the journal Crime prevention and community safety. The last article thinking about the fall in crime from the journal safer communities seeks to explain why there has been recorded decline in criminal cases in the U.K and other developed nations. From the way these articles are presented, it is clear that there is no universality in formatting and styling in the field of crime. This gives room for those outside the field of crime and criminal studies to easily access hence the onset of interdisciplinary discussions that may lead to loss of meaning in the legal sector since each and every individual has access to legal writings (Rawnsley, 2013). There is a significance variation in the styles used by different authors to publish content related to criminology. This is due to the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Both professionals in the field of criminology as well as professionals outside this field have meaningful contribution to understanding criminology through different writing styles as will be discussed in this paper, but there is need to harmonize the approach.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

While all the chose articles to have footnotes, the article explaining and sustaining the crime drop clarifying the role of opportunity related theories contains headnotes as well as endnotes. This is an indication that there is no set style in the criminal studies field. The articles also show how crime rates are paired with the outside fields. For example from the article thinking about the fall in crime indicates that crime rates fall as consumer goods are affordable. Mobile phones and computers are vulnerable to theft and burglary since some electronics are cheaper while at the same time others are not portable.

The three chosen articles start with an abstract. The articles; explaining and sustaining the crime drop clarifying the role of opportunity related theories do not have a well labeled abstract. The articles a local case study of the crime decline and that of thinking about the fall in crime clearly indicates the purpose of their studies. The articles are all divided into several sections and subheadings that are meant to break the small points of discussions from the main points. The subheadings elaborate matters of discussions in details. For instance, the article a local case study of the crime decline has multiple sections that outline and explain the abstract, the study area, the methods used to carry out the research as well as the findings of the research. The article explaining and sustaining the crime drop: clarifying the role of opportunity related theories has background information of the research problem as well as more information regarding the topic of discussion unlike the other two.

There is a minimal variation as far as the number of pages is concerned. The article by Clancey (2014), which has a total of 12 pages. The article thinking about the fall in crime has a total of 8 pages. The article by Farrel et al. (2010) has 19 pages, which is the highest. The difference in page numbers is due to; the existence of tables in explaining and sustaining the crime drop: clarifying the role of opportunity related theories; the tested and untested hypotheses as well as the endnotes. On the other hand, those of the article a local case study of the crime decline can be attributed to the the existence of tables as well as the map of the study area. The lengths of these articles are as required in the field of social sciences which requires that research papers should not be too short or too lengthy.

The articles employ citations and quotations as the proof of their studies. In the article Explaining and sustaining the crime drop clarifying the role of opportunity related theories more citations are used compared to that of implications of a local case study in the crime decline which also uses quotations. This is because the latter is a research paper and thus there is enough information acquired from the focus groups and the semi-structured interviews.

The articles are written in a way that is mostly understood by those in the discipline of crime and crime studies. There is also the use of abbreviations that can be easily understood by those who have the knowledge of law and criminology who are the intended audience. In most writings, both active and passive voices are used. The chosen articles there are not exceptional. The article thinking about the fall in crime employs both active and passive voices as well as that of a local case study in the crime decline while the article is explaining and sustaining the crime drop by clarifying the role of opportunity related theories purely employ passive voice. This depends on the nature of research whereby active voice is used for scientific research while passive for non-scientific. Visual components of writing are also employed in the chosen article specific to the article Farrel et al. (2010) and Clancey (2014).

All the articles use the APA citation style but the article explaining and sustaining the crime drop: clarifying the role of opportunity related theories uses both endnotes and headnotes while the rest use only footnotes. Integral citations are also used in the three chose articles as is in most research writings.

The articles present their arguments then present proves to their arguments using citations and also data from various sources. The article by Clancey (2014) uses results from the semi-structured interviews as well as those from the focus groups to strengthen their arguments. Tested hypotheses together with the untested hypothesis backups the arguments of the researchers of the article Explaining and sustaining the crime drop: clarifying the role of opportunity related theories. In the thinking about the fall in crime, authors tend to present their arguments by challenging the results from the various sources and give their points of view. Each of the articles employs the use of introduction, argument, proof and then conclusion criteria in its writing. Thus the authors too tend to provide a solution to the problem find unsolved problems and eventually provide the best way to tackle the problem.

The articles use different writing styles in general. This is a clear representation of the world of crime. Each article uses a different format because each article takes into account the set of rules used in the discipline that the authors paired with in writing their articles. For instance, in the article a local case study of the crime decline the set of rules used are those used in the department of law while the article by Farrel et al. (2010) employs that of psychology as in involves critical thinking of how crime rates drop in conjunction to the presence of opportunities.Thinking about crime drop article employs the use of the legal ways of formatting and styling in most cases.

Most written articles are meant for academic work as well as research. Therefore the absence of a universal set of rules is an advantage in that it gives permission to most interdisciplinary scholars who seek to know about crime rates. They get access to the knowledge of law formatting and styling since they are not restricted to any complex mode of writing, formatting, and styling.

However, having a universal set of rules makes a lot of sense in that it enables those in the legal department familiarize with the current trends in crime rates. All writings should therefore develop conventions that adhere to the legal law for example the articles Implications of a local case study of the crime decline and that of Thinking about the fall in crime that easily enables one to gauge what the article is all about unlike that of Explaining and sustaining the crime drop that puts into account how opportunities alter crime rates which are a psychological approach.

The chosen articles tend to explain the way crime rates change under different circumstances. Crime fall tends to be open for interdisciplinary studies where there is relevance regarding data exchange as well as personnel (Wiles and Costello, 2000). It is also a common life phenomenon that attracts frequent rating thus should be studied widely by all disciplines. The absence of well-confined rules also enables ease of access to other fields outside the Department of crime. This creates a linkage between the field of crime and other disciplines of study

In conclusion, therefore, there should be an off set rules and conventions when it comes to formatting styles in the field of crime and criminal related activities to ensure that those in the legal field familiarize with what they are supposed to do. Crime definition should also be adhered to despite their levels simply because some people around the globe do not understand the meaning of crime thus rating the crime trends tend to be hectic. Those from other discipline trying to carry out studies related to this discipline of criminology should also learn to do their writings in line with the legal format. This should as well be employed in all other fields to ensure uniformity when it comes to writing.

Reference

Clancey, G. (2014). Implications of a local case study for crime prevention practice and criminologies grand narratives. Retrieved from https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/12015/1/Clancey_GR_thesis.pdf

Farrel, G., Tilley, N., Tseloni A. & Mailley, J. (2010). Explaining ans sustaining the crime drop: Clarifying the role of opportunity-related theories. Crime Prevention and Community Safety. 12(1), pp. 24-41

Rawnsley, A. (2013). A crime mistery. it's going down but no one really knows why. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/28/crime-is-down-what-a-mystery

Tonry, M., (2005). Why europe's crime rates are falling? Criminology in europe, 8-11. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.umn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1505&context=faculty_articles

Wiles, P. & Costello, A. (2000). The road to nowere: the evidence of travelling criminals. Retrieved from http://library.college.police.uk/docs/hors/hors207.pdf