What is the problem of defining crime in terms of historical/cultural issues?
Because social and cultural perceptions of crime change as society changes – when i was growing up, calling people names was viewed as a bit of fun, yet now it is a hate crime. Citizens and police officers were happy to hit or detain young thieves and vandals if they were caught, now it is called child abuse. As our society becomes more multicultural, we run the risk of being too positively orientated towards certain minorities, with the result that certain crimes may be committed with impunity by certain groups of people simply because they feel more protected by new equality laws, and less likely to be prosecuted.
