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Have you ever pondered on why individuals crave the fear and adrenalin in committing a crime? Or how individuals get so frightened on the thought of crime? As I came across multiple quotes this is the one that stuck out the most; “The world is filled with violence. Because Criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose.” -James Earl Jones. Those problems occurred in the book Native Son, where the main character Bigger, is faced with many crimes he created for himself. Bigger robbed many businesses within his neighborhood as well as killing two human beings. As a citizen he committed many crimes throughout his community, craving the excitement in immorality. The quote mentions guns and how criminals carry concealed weapons, which reflects back to Bigger. As a character in a book, he represents individuals in our society today by carrying around a gun as a safety mechanism. The book shown Bigger never had a good home life, was highly uneducated and had a very low income. All of those issues caused him to commit a variety of crimes to receive what he desperately needed in life. Bigger shows for the whole group of zealous criminals; as someone with needs and wants, not achieving what they need one will go without hard work and dedication to steal someone else’s to get by, such as Bigger did. At the same time the Dalton’s, which is the family Bigger worked for never carried around a gun, had all the education supplied to them and had a …show more content…
To say the most, both are simply people. The two different groups of people are all the same functioning human on the inside. These two sets of individuals will have family, friends and ones who care deeply about them in their lives. After stating both sets are people, it is right to say both that a thought process and a reason behind
Notes of a Native Son is a nonfiction essay written by James Baldwin. The essay is about how Baldwin felt about his father and how he felt after his father had passed. Baldwin also realizes and comes to terms with many things during that time period. Racism is also one of Baldwin’s principal themes and uses it in many of his essays. Rebecca Skloot similarly wrote about a woman from near that time period. Skloot wrote an excerpt titled “The Miracle Woman”, the woman’s name in this piece was Henrietta Lacks whose cells would go on to live much longer than she did. Henrietta was a strong willed woman who had many children and knew when things weren’t right, so when she felt something was wrong with her uterus she went to the hospital and was diagnosed with cervical cancer. During Henrietta’s surgery a doctor took a slap of her uterus and grew her cells in a laboratory which became one of the most important cures and tools in medicine.
"Being Prepared in Suburbia" is an essay by Roger Verhulst published in 1992. The purpose of this essay is to show how guns can change a person's mind and emotions. Throughout the essay, Verhulst shares personal examples of his beliefs of gun ownership and personal examples of how his life changed once he bought a Crossman Power Master 760 BB Repeater pump gun. After purchasing the gun, he believed that the reason people like guns so much is because of a passion that gun owners feel. He stated, "This is the feeling that explains their passion, their religious fervor, their refusal to yield. It's rooted in the gut, not in the head" (Verhulst 342). He also realized that personal thoughts and morals about gun ownership change for a gun owner, and, in a sense, how the gun has authority over an individual's life. For example, "But a roving opossum that took up residence in our garage for a few cold nights in January undermined my good intentions" (Verhulst 341). Honestly, those are only excuses and not legitimate reasons. A strong person would not go against his or her beliefs and would know that using a gun should only be for a specific and valid purpose. Throughout the essay, he believes the weak gun legislation and the problems with gun usage are because of a passion that you feel in your gut; in reality, it is a lack of self-control.
Tio Hardiman, the creator of the Violence Interrupters Program, said, “You can give them a history lesson. Your daddy was violent, your granddaddy was violent, and your great granddaddy was violent. And now your brothers are messed up because you misled them” (James et al., 2012). He is describing how violence is a learned behavior from your family and close peers. Hardiman goes on to tell a little about his own family’s history with violence. When he was fourteen, a man tried to hurt him in the streets, but his stepfather killed the man right in front of him, and he recalls feelings good about it. This family taught him violence was okay through their own
Racism has existed through the world for centuries and has been the primary reason for numerous conflicts, wars and other human tragedies all over the planet. From 16th to 19th-century blacks were taken from their homes and families and taken for the slave trade. They were often overworked, beaten and killed. Being black was not the best thing you could be in 1950’s. Racism is not something that is inborn, it is what people created. In the article, “We’re all racist. But racism by white people matters more”, Mona Chalabi says “I don’t think white people are born with some sort of racism gene – the main thing that explains those different scores is the way that society has geared up our brains differently.” It is our society that is ignorant,
Recently, the effect that violent media has on society has been the focus of many psychological studies. According to an article published in the New York Times, research has found that: “Exposure to violent imagery does not preordain violence, but it is a risk factor” (Pozios, Kambam, Bender, 2013). There has yet to be a direct link between violence actually causing people to go on these massive shooting sprees that have been so common lately. It is natural and understandable for the
This paper explores three criminological theories as to why Jeffrey Dahmer committed his crimes. Although these approaches vary in terms of defining the cause of crime, one thing is certain, there is no single cause of crime; the crime is rooted in a diversity of causes and takes a variety of forms depending on the situation in which the crimes occur. However, the published articles vary in their definitions and uses of Criminological Theory. Rawlins (2005) suggest that the criminal phenomenon is too complex to be explained by a single theory. Other theories suggest differently and; therefore, have varying explanations. This paper examines the Psychological, Biochemical, and Social Process theories to slightly explain Jeffrey Dahmer’s actions.
For decades researchers have speculated about the relationship between levels of violence, and societal conditions such as poverty, urbanism, population composition, and family disruption. National and international level research has concluded that each of these factors are related to crime rates and their trends overtime (Avison & Loring, 1986; Lafree, 1999, Lauristen & Carbone-Lopez, 2011). To examine these factors more closely we should recognize that they are the foundation of many criminological theories, both motivational and control, applied to the macro and individual level. Specifically, these include social disorganization theory (Shaw & MCkay, 1942), anomie-strain theory (Merton, 1968), violent subcultural theories (Anderson, 1999), social bond theory (Hirschi, 1969), self-control theory (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990), and biosocial perspectives (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1983).
To begin with, numerous reasons for why a child acts in the manner he exhibits and why he continues to exert such dangerous and even fatal schemes. Recent research shows that factors ranging from inherited personality traits to chemical imbalances and damages suffered in the womb can increase the odds that a child will become violent (Johnson 234). Experts argue that no one is predestined to a life of crime. They believe that influences such as repeated abuse, extreme neglect, poverty, media violence, and easy access to guns play the major role in molding children into criminals. The father of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer wonders, "If potential for evil is in the blood that some of us pass on to our children" (Seifert 23).
Criminal behavior is adapted through exuded actions of significant others (Schram & Tibbetts, 2014, p.217). Criminals are not born, they are created. Both nonverbal and verbal communication is pivotal within interaction that influences criminal behavior, along with personal groups. Being that adolescents are easily molded, it is very common that individuals can easily be coerced into participating in deviant activities. If individuals see the benefits of their peers stealing without consequences or repercussions, would it be surprising if they began to steal as well? They are persuaded in the direction of motives that seem favorable CITE 4. These principles also correlate with the crime of murder. If the media broadcasts countless stories of people who commit murder with the justification of self-defense, it is logical to assume that individuals will begin to use that claim. Since the George Zimmerman case surfaced, there have been countless killings of unarmed minority teenage
The question of whether or not man is predetermined at birth to lead a life of crime is a question that has been debated for decades. Serial killers are made not born; it has been demonstrated that a man 's initial years are the most vital years. A youngster 's initial couple of years is a period of experimentation, a period to make sense of things for themselves, a period to set up the bits of the riddle. Like a newborn child, the mental health is reliant on its environment. A youthful youngster 's mind resembles a wipe; it gathers data through perception. The surroundings of a serial killer as a little child can enormously impact the way he or she will go about his or her life and his or her style of murdering. Certain experience, for example, youngster misuse, divorce, liquor misuse, tyke disregard, as well as medication misuse, can be negative to the advancement of a little child. Numerous serial killers were illegitimate kids. Due to their childhood and early backgrounds, serial killers swing to crazy murdering frenzies.
Unfortunately some crimes are driven by needs of survival; despite the consequences one can infer that once given little options a person will do whatever means necessary in order to survive it’s instinctive.
Raine states: “ So, in the 1950s, little toddlers were playing outside, putting their fingers in dirt, putting their fingers in their mouths and absorbing the lead. Twenty years later, they became the next generation of violent criminal offenders because violence peaks at about 19 or 20. Then what happens is in the 1990s violence begins to come down, as it's been doing. What's partly explaining that? The reduction in lead in the environment (Raine, NPR).” This shows a biological connection to serial killer behavior. Temporal lobe or amygdala damage can show signs of psychopathy, which can lead to serial killer behavior (Kiehl, Bates, Laurens, Hare, & Liddle, 2006). Violent behavior has also been linked to deficiency in serotonin and high level of testosterone. Growing up in an unhealthy environment is also common in most serial killers. Sexual abuse, physical abuse, and mental abuse in a childhood home breeds serial killers. If someone grows up witnessing violence, it ingrains in their minds that violent behavior is okay. Before a serial killer commits a crime, they may be quiet, reserved, and keep to himself. In this stage, they are usually going on with their regular lifestyle. After a crime, they may taunt the media/police with notes and clues, as well as go on a killing spree. This is because some killers become obsessed with the urge to kill. Some may go as far as contacting the victim’s family. A fantasy is an elaborate
In these cases, the culprits were seemingly normal people that displaced their aggression on innocent bystanders for a variety of reasons. What is the cause of this unleashed aggression toward society? How can we come to explain such acts of aggression and violence? Are they a result of societal influences, or are some individuals biologically predisposed to crime? This paper attempts to analyze some of the prevailing theories of aggression. The theories can be classified into three groups: innate or biological theories, drive theories and social learning theories. In light of the evidence produced for each, it is my goal to formulate a conclusion about which particular theory seems most substantiated and reasonable.
Being unable to think complexly limits the amount of possible solutions to a problem. Violence is the popular solution to many problems because it is the easiest. But to think at a more complicated level, one must possess cognitive skills. However, most shooters thinking in such a way lack cognitive skills and related to their development. Therefore, it is a cause and effect situation leading to the pull of the trigger. Shooters pull the trigger back for a quick resolution and euphoric rush, which is only temporary. Then, subsequently, they feel nothing more than shame as their punishment is set before them. Flamo says it’s best in The Interrupters (2011) when he reflects on his life, “Like, wasn’t none of that worth it. ‘Cause out all the stuff I had to do and done back then, I ain’t got nothin’ to show for. None that I done negative. My friends in jail. My friends, drug addicts or whatever.” This proves that in the moment it may seem to be the best solution, but it is not. The shooters need to think long term and
It was then that I first started to consider what causes man to become so enraged as to commit atrocities of the mind, body and soul. Violence - pure and simple, is intrinsic to humanity. It almost goes unnoticed as a way of life in many communities. Drive through North Philadelphia on a spring afternoon and witness what appears to be life disappearing, receding under the concrete and graffiti. Look closer and witness the bullet holes in the walls of homes and cars. Still, there are other communities, such as North Brooklyn, where the rate of crime has been diminishing for the past twenty-five years. It seems, in fact, that violent crime does not behave as predicted. Social scientists have begun to suggest that, in fact, violent crime needs to be viewed much like an infectious disease. Simultaneously, neurobiologists have developed intricate research models and techniques to examine whether or not there are biological triggers that cause individuals to act violently.