Victimless Crimes
Research papers on victimless crimes are typically composed for criminal justice courses and students that seek to have a career in law enforcement. The writers at Paper Masters will assist you with your research on victimless crimes and compose a project according to your exact specifications.
Victimless crimes are those actions, occurring between consenting adults, that have been classified as illegal by the justice system. Classic examples of victimless crimes include the following:
- Prostitution
- Gambling
- The use of recreational drugs such as marijuana
- Public drunkenness and vagrancy
Until recently, many consensual sexual acts between adults, including homosexuality, were criminalized in some jurisdictions.
The rationale behind the idea of a victimless crime dates back to John Stuart Mill, who believed that the individual was the most sovereign in society, and that application of the harm principle meant that, if there was no victim, there was no crime. There are many who continue to argue that various actions should be decriminalized for more practical reasons. First, most victimless crimes do not involve a complaining party other than the police. Second, such crimes involve the transfer of goods or services desired by the participants, and third, the social harm in a victimless crime is generally less serious than crimes involving a victim.
In arguing against criminalization of victimless crimes, the notion that such acts take place in private and unobserved by other citizens, opens up the possibility of law enforcement discrimination. In other words, in prosecuting victimless crimes, the police target minorities or are subject to bribery attempts in order to avoid prosecution. Further, using police resources to stop or prosecute victimless crimes often takes away such resources from solving more serious crimes.