We are also concerned about the extent of the nation's illegal drug problem, much of which also involves violence. The U. S. has a very high crime rate, one of the highest in the world. One of the reasons for this may be the culture's emphasis on success, which in recent years had meant accumulating wealth and power more than it has meant anything else. Another factor involved in our high rate of violent crime is the widespread private ownership of guns. Crimes against the person involve either violence or the threat of violence, including murders, assaults, batteries, etc.
Property crimes involve the theft, misappropriation, or destruction of property belonging to others.
Deviance includes not only crimes but also other norm violations that are not violations of statutes but that people think are wrong and should somehow be punished. In pre-industrial societies, which depend heavily on shared moral values as the basis for the bonds that hold people together, what we call deviance is as much a concern as crime because deviance involves a rejection of the shared moral standards. Labeling theory emphasizes the role of somewhat arbitrary decisions to consider something deviant in creating deviance. It particularly emphasizes the reaction of others to an act. If no one attaches the label deviant to a behavior, no matter what it is, or if the label cannot be made to stick, the behavior is not deviant.