Essay Topic Hub

Crime
Essays

7,004+ paper examples, study guides & outlines

7,004 papers
UG & Grad levels
Free to browse
What is Crime?

Crime is one of the most broadly studied subjects across academic disciplines, appearing in criminology, sociology, law, political science, and ethics courses. Students are drawn to it because it sits at the intersection of individual behavior and social structure, raising questions about why people offend, how societies respond, and whether justice systems actually work. Foundational thinkers such as Beccaria, Lombroso, and Durkheim appear frequently in coursework, and their competing frameworks — classical theory, biological theory, and biosocial theory — give students a rich theoretical landscape to navigate. The topic also extends into policy debates, institutional critique, and questions about what crime even means across different social and political contexts.

The papers archived here reflect a wide range of approaches. Theoretical comparison is common, with essays weighing classical, biological, and biosocial criminological models against one another. Others take a policy or institutional angle, examining issues like prison overcrowding, Miranda rights, and the roles of crime analysis in law enforcement. Some papers engage specific cases or media — such as the film about Leonard Peltier — to ground abstract arguments in concrete events. Historical and sociological analysis also appears, including work on radical criminology, family influences on delinquency, and deportation framed as a crime against humanity.

A strong essay on crime needs a focused, arguable thesis rather than a broad survey of the field. Evidence drawn from specific theories, documented cases, or policy outcomes carries more weight than general claims about society. The most common pitfall is conflating description with analysis — explaining what a theory says without evaluating its strengths, limitations, or real-world implications.

7,004 papers
Sort by:
Paper Doctorate
Robert Merton's anomie theory and John Gotti's organized crime
This is a criminology paper that looks into the aspect of crime and development of crime in various settings of the society by gangs. It looks at two personalities in the history of crime namely John Gotti and Jerome Skolnick and their styles of leadership in the gangs that that they led and the effect these had.
Essay Doctorate
Computer fraud and forensic investigation in U.S. v AOL
This paper examines the U.S. v. AOL case that involved fraudulent preparation of documents to inflate or overstate revenue and receive huge bonuses in return. The discussion examines how computers could have been used to carry out the crime, examples of certified professionals that could have been used in the trial, and the type of computer forensic skills and procedures that could have been used. The other parts discuss the documentation procedures that could have been used to document evidence and cases that have failed for inaccurate or insufficient digital evidence.
Research Paper Undergraduate
Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco: ethical analysis of early 2000s scandals
This paper is about ethics. There are several questions, all pertaining to different issues in business ethics. The Enron, Tyco and World com thing is covered, along with the teleological, deontological and virtue ethics theories. Several questions present scenarios to be evaluated for the ethics involved, like robbing a gas station (seriously).
Paper Undergraduate
Militarization of police in the 21st century and its effects
This essay discusses the very important topic of the militarization of local police forces by the federal government. The essay includes the terrorist attacks of 9-11-2001 as a driving force behind the violence and coercive techniques the police forces have adopted since that time. The essay concludes with a call for reason and patience as the situation unfolds.
Paper Undergraduate
Cyberbullying perpetrators and general strain theory among youth
Bullying is not a new phenomenon. Yet, today’s teens and children have to deal with an entirely new type of bullying online that is often more persuasive and even more harmful. The effects of cyberbullying are well documented. However, the reasons why so many youths today turn towards bullying each other online are often left of the discourse. In order to have so many victims, it is clear there are also a lot of aggressors. This research aims to explore the reasons behind some children turning to incidences of bullying others. It explores the problem through general strain theory, which essentially suggests that bullies themselves are victims of strain and thus take out their negative aggressions through bullying. Using a self reported survey with a Likert scale, this research aims to add more to the growing body of research suggesting why kids turn to cyberbullying.
Essay Doctorate
Prison nursery programs and mother-infant bonding in U.S. correctional facilities
The document considers prison nurseries and their effects, including their pros and cons. While prison nurseries are beneficial in terms of promoting the mother-child bond and reducing recidivism, they also create damage in terms of a child's ability to adjust to the outside world and their possible separation from mothers who are incarcerated for longer terms. The conclusion is that prison nurseries can be beneficial and must be implemented, but only according to strict rules.
Paper Doctorate
The U.S. Constitution's separation of powers and checks and balances
This paper deals with the separation of powers between the three branches of the government, the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative. The three branches each have powers and responsibilities. In addition, they have the ability to perform checks on the actions of the other two branches to make sure none becomes more powerful than the other two.
Thesis Masters
The June immigration reform bill: opposition and support
The immigration reform bill, passed in June, was the first major immigration reform initiative to have been accepted by either houses of Congress after many years of debate. "It addresses undocumented immigrants, legal…
Paper Doctorate
Federal mandatory minimum drug sentences and recidivism impact
This essay discusses a topic with regard to Federal Mandatory Minimum drug sentences and the impact they have on recidivism. By emphasizing the series of benefits associated with this system, the paper is meant to demonstrate that it seems perfectly normal for Congress to have implemented it during the 1950s. However, as the essay progresses it brings on the numerous drawbacks of mandatory minimums and the fact that they are actually probable to increase the number of individuals who continue to commit crimes once they get out of prison.
Thesis Masters
Digital forensics: sub-branches, applications, and investigation methods
This is a paper on digital forensics and loos at what this is and how different it is from the previous types of forensics. It indicates how science has helped develop forensics and the benefits that have come alongside the technology to barring of crimes within the contemporary society. It also looks at the challenges that the digital forensics has.