Crime, although generally considered a less than desirable feature of
society, is pervasive in our culture.  From pop culture and media
representations romanticizing organized crime and serial killers to
news reports of school shootings, we are almost perpetually reminded
of the presence of crime in our society.  We become so familiar with
crime that we rarely pause to think about it in any meaningful way
until we are directly confronted with it.  But, what is crime?  This
question appears to be overly simplistic and obvious at first
glance.  However, during the course of this class, we will discover
just how difficult it is to define crime.  In part, this difficulty
exists because what is defined as a crime differs across time and by
culture.  Beginning with the premise that crime is socially
constructed, we will examine criminological theory and attempt to
come to an understanding of what constitutes a crime, why people
commit crimes, how we measure criminality, how our legal
system/media/society as a whole responds to crime, as well as
examining the different types of offenders/crimes.