Public Order Crimes - Prostitution, Abnormal Sexual Behavior ...

Public order crimes are actions that do not conform to society's general ideas of normal social behavior and moral values. Moral values are the commonly accepted standards of what is considered right and wrong. Public order crimes are widely viewed as harmful to the public good or harmful and disruptive to a community's daily life. In this chapter the public order crimes described include prostitution, paraphilia, and pornography, as well as alcohol and drug offenses.

Prostitution is selling or performing sexual acts in return for payment, generally money. Paraphilia is sexual behavior considered bizarre or abnormal, such as voyeurism (spying on another for sexual pleasure) or pedophilia (sexual desire involving children). Pornography includes videos, books, photographs, and other materials focusing on nudity and sexual activities.

While crimes against people and property (see chapters 4 and 5) involve actions considered wrong by any standard, public order crimes are defined by the social and moral rules of the day. For example, prostitution was licensed, legal, and socially acceptable in ancient Greece. Around 500 B.C.E. Pornographic literature that was confiscated throughout the year was torched by the New York police department, 1936. (© Bettmann/Corbis) prominent men in Greek communities openly went to houses of prostitution. Part of the money paid was applied to the building of Greek temples. Prostitution was considered morally wrong by most Americans in the year 2000. In the United States, prostitution is legal only in Nevada and then only at licensed houses, called brothels, located away from population centers.

Laws against public order crimes, also called "sin" crimes, are highly controversial. What is shameful and immoral is difficult to determine, and public order crimes are often committed by otherwise law-abiding citizens. The activities are carried out between willing participants. Public order crimes are therefore referred to as victimless crimes, except when children are involved.

Some argue that victimless crimes such as prostitution, pornography, and illegal drug sales should be legalized then controlled and taxed like the sale of alcohol and tobacco. Those with a different point of view stress that there is no such thing as victimless crime. They argue that prostitution and pornography are degrading and often dangerous. Drugs destroy individuals and their families, often leading to thievery for drug money, and even death from drug overdoses.