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Crime reduction and prevention
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Crime reduction and prevention
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Frank Trippett in his passage from “A Red Light for Scofflaws” argues that more ordinary citizens are breaking minor laws because they think violent crime is the only crime threatened by the law. He supports his argument by first explaining that more people have been littering, speeding, and making too much noise. Trippett has the right idea, but for the wrong reason. More and more ordinary people are breaking these so called ‘minor’ laws because they feel like they can get away with it. People think that if no one is around to see them do something how are they supposed to get caught. People know that if they did a violent crime they would get caught for it.
With the growing number people becoming scofflaws, or people who casually break the law, there is no doubt the society lacks nourishment and protection. The author explains in his passage why these people do break these laws, “Americans are used to thinking that law-and-order is threatened mainly by
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violent crime”. Trippett argues that people feel like those are the only thing the law cares about. In all reality human nature gives us the urge to rebel. One time me and my friend were coming home from a car meet and on our way home we run into our other friend on the road. We finally decided it was a good idea to street race. We saw no one on the road and just went we thought we could just get away with it. As we pull up to the next light there is a cop waiting for us and he pulled us over. We did not get in trouble but This shows that the cops definitely care about things other than violent crimes. For example if a kids parents went on vacation for a week wouldn't he at least think about throwing a party.
Invite all his friends over play music really loud and then someone shows up with alcohol or drugs. People just have the urge to rebel. Its that simple. Even before we raced that night Me and my friend looked at each other and said it was a bad idea. We knew we were going to get caught and we were scared to do it even before we did it. Human nature made us rebel in our mind we were like this is going to be fun, but we still were scared we were going to get caught.
In conclusion the author believes that ordinary people commit these so called ‘minor’ crimes because they feel like the law only cares about violent crimes. In all reality people do this because of our human nature. Our human nature makes us want to rebel. People also feel like they can just get away with it. Once they do get away with it there is no doubt they will do it again. Like being completely honest there is no doubt we will do it
again.
Crime and deviant behavior surprisingly helps increase “social activity” among various different people within a society. Therefore, crime and deviant behavior brings “people together in a common posture of anger and indignation…when these people come together to express their outrage over the offense…they develop a tighter sense of solidarity than existed earlier” (Erikson 4). For example, in the Steven Avery case, the people of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, all had very strong feelings of Steven Avery and his family, and as a result they were seen as deviant people in their own hometown. Those feelings towards him, and his family, would be a critical factor when he was accused of the horrendous crime (Making). Based on their feelings towards the Avery family, the society in which he lived developed the overall concept of us versus them (Erikson 11). Therefore, another concept that arises as a result of crime and deviant behavior is public temper, which is described as a “mutual group feeling” (Erikson
Shootings. Homicides. Bombings. It’s safe to say that crime is very abundant in today’s society, filling our news casts with daily reminders of the negative ora that is associated with criminal behavior. But why do people commit the crimes that they commit? Theologians have been studying crime for years, trying to determine the main reasons as to who commits crime and why. These theologians, such as Edwin Sutherland, Ronald Akers, and Robert Agnew, each take very unique view of criminal behavior, giving society many rationalities for these why people exhibit these behaviors.
People have, not too long ago, realized that youth and adults are very diverse and should not be treated the same. They gave no time for children to develop the “meins reis”, therefore, they were not given the opportunity to learn. People were not aware that the brain of the youth were not fully developed and were not given the chance of change. They thought that once guilty you shall remain guilty. For that reason they were considered adults, when in reality, adult criminals will only continue to infatuate their mind with evil. The new Youth Criminal Justice Act focuses on change and reintegration with society. We have learned that the youth have not fully developed and do not have the full ability to comprehend such judgements.
Well written procedures, rules, and regulation provide the cornerstone for effectively implementing policies within the criminal justice system. During the investigational process, evidence collected is subjected to policies such as Search and Seizure, yet, scrutinized by the Exclusionary Rule prior to the judicial proceeding. Concurrent with criminal justice theories, evidence collected must be constitutionally protected, obtained in a legal and authorized nature, and without violations of Due Process. Although crime and criminal activities occur, applicability of policies is to ensure accountability for deviant behaviors and to correct potentially escalation within social communities It is essential the government address such deviant behavior, however, equally important is the protection of the accused which also must become a priority when investigating criminal cases.
It is expected that at a young age, children are taught the difference between what is right and what is wrong in all types of situations. The majority of Supreme Court Justices abolished mandatory life in prison for juveniles that commit heinous crimes, argued this with the consideration of age immaturity, impetuosity, and also negative family and home environments. These violent crimes can be defined as murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault and the like depending on state law. With these monstrous acts in mind the supreme court justices argument could be proven otherwise through capability and accountability, the underdevelopment of the teenage brain and the severity of the crime. Juveniles commit heinous crimes just like adults
The social disorganization theory directly links social deviance (criminal activity) to neighborhood ecological characteristics. Thus, an individual's residential location can shape whether he or she grows up in engaging and participating in illegal activities. In The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, W.I. Thomas defined social disorganization as a “decrease of the influence of existing social rule of behavior upon individual members of the group” (Thomas DR: 4). The likelihood of an individual on the lower end of the economic ladder living in a crime ridden neighborhood is high. Therefore, the likelihood that individual will be involved in illegal activity when he ages is substantially higher because he grew up in that environment and sees crime just a way of life. In addition, individuals poor neighborhoods might engage in social deviance as a desire for security. The individual may be motivated by fear to avoid death by finding any means necessary to procure items for survival (W
Serious crimes such as murder, burglary and rape have raised questions as to whether the young offenders should face severe punitive treatment or the normal punitive measures in juvenile courts. Many would prefer the juveniles given harsh punishment in order to discourage other young people from engaging in similar activities and to serve as a lesson to these particular offenders. However, results from previous studies indicate such punitive measures were neither successful nor morally acceptable. Instead, the solutions achieved have unfairly treated the youths and compromised the society status (Kristin, page 1).
As minors commit violent crimes without being held accountable, they can grow up to be real criminals and they can be very dangerous. Without a solid foundation of what is right and wrong, these minors will grow up believing that their actions are the norm. For this reason, minors need to be held accountable. They need to be taught that they cannot get away with their crimes. In 2007, courts with juvenile jurisdiction handled an estimated 1.7 million delinquency cases. Delinquency cases include vandalism, shoplifting, robbery, and murder. These are just some of the crimes minors can commit. This was up by forty-four percent from 1985. If a minor grows up believing that crime is acceptable, they will repeat the pattern. Without interrupting the pattern and making them accountable, these minors will always have a twisted sense of right and wrong. A sense of what is right and wrong is important and can be learned at any age. Minors learn very young, what...
Kelling and Catherine Coles, released the definitive work on the broken windows theory: Fixing Broken Windows - Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities. In this work, the authors would go further, and demonstrate the causal relationship between violent crime and the not prosecution to misdemeanors. As the disorder leads to crime, tolerance for petty crimes and misdemeanors, inevitably leads to violent crime. The authors attribute the original “growth of disorder” in the 1960’s due the valorization and combination of decriminalization of public drunkenness and deinstitutionalize the mentally ill. The main window for this backspace in America were vagrancy and loitering laws. These both, opened a gap for the drunks and panhandlers take back the streets second the
The main aim of this essay is to describe two general theories of offending and then consider the extent to which they explain youth offending. This essay will firstly outline the context of the labelling theory then go on to discuss the way in which a label becomes a person’s master status in life. The essay will then compare the differences with primary and secondary deviance and define the term self fulfilling prophecy. The second stage of the essay will describe the learning theory, explaining the background including all the terms, classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning theory. Furthermore, it will then go on to explore the research and describe the extent to which both theories explain youth offending. Finally, the essay will compare and contrast the two theories and evaluate any of the assets or implications.
Goldston, B (2013), ‘Unsafe, unjust and harmful to wider society’: Grounds for raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales’, Youth Justice, vol. 13, no. 2, 111-130.
Youth crime is generally thought as being a very recent and modern day phenomenon, however this is widely untrue. Juvenile crime has been recorded ever since the early 17th Century and yet it has only been within the last 100 years that it has become such a significant issue with the general public (Goldson and Muncie, 2006). It is widely known that the present population are much more aware of youth crime and the implications it causes than ever before. There are endless theories as to why crime occurs and about the correct approach to combat it, the main conflict being over whether to treat young people as a threat or as a victim, which is a debate that still continues to this day (Omaji,
“Compares one set of findings on one society with the same findings on another society” (Giddens 33). These questions are prominent to figure out the distinction between society and an individual. Crime is defined as any action that defies the laws established, or the deviance towards society that results in criminal behavior. Comparative researchers can look at the Theory of Broken Windows, and compare the society and see the difference, to gain a social insight. Philip Zimbardo created an experiment where two societies; the wealthy community and the poor community. In both communities the cars were vandalized because one unrepaired broken window is a sign that no one cares, so breaking more windows, and committing more serious crimes in a rational
The media has been focusing a lot of youth crime, which appears me to be on the rise. To explore this I have chosen to do research on this and focus on my main question, “What causes a youth to engage in criminal activity?” the main focus of this essay will be on the background of crime and how youth crime has changed, the major factors of what causes youth to engage in criminal activity, media use and perceptions.
This increase in juvenile crime has struck a chord of fear in many people. Motivated by this fear, our society has to come up with a solution to this impending problem. While several suggestions have been offered, crime prevention is the most logical, effective and beneficial solution. Before going into detail about crime prevention, here is a little background information on juvenile crime. ‘Murders by young men between the ages of 14 and 17 jumped 161 percent between 1992 and 1993’ (Juvenile Crime, 1).