A_Lifetime_of_Crime

A Lifetime of Crime SOC305: Crime & Society July 31, 2011 Crime affects us all in one way or another. Exactly what is crime' Simply put, crime is an act that violates the rights of a person, or persons, or their property. In this paper I will discuss the costs of crime on society, the impact crime has on families, how crime impacts families, how children learn to become criminals, gangs, and other criminal careers. “Because crime affects us all, society has enacted laws designed to protect every man, woman and child. For instance, the person who shoplifts from the local department store causes all of us to pay higher prices for the products or services we need. When people shoplift it costs the company they steal from money because they had to pay for that product and they got nothing for it. They just lost money. Now they have to implement security measures to control their losses; and it is not cheap. They have to install cameras, hire security people to watch the cameras and walk the floor, insurance for those people not to mention the salaries for each of them. On top of all that, there is the cost of prosecuting all those shoplifters. Many companies spend millions every year to prevent theft. The money lost from stolen products, money spent on security and wages for the security staff has to be made up somewhere. Who has to make up the shortage' The honest shopper ends up having to pay higher prices for the products and services you want. However, the price you pay for crime does not stop there. You do not get off that easy. Once the lawbreaker is prosecuted, he or she has to be incarcerated. Housing, clothing and feeding criminals is expensive. In 2007, a local newspaper, The Sacramento Bee, reported that the average annual cost of housing prison inmates in the California prison system was $43,287 per inmate. In 2008, TV station WHAS in Louisville, KY reported that the average cost of housing an inmate was $20,000. WHAS also reported that Kentucky has the fastest rising inmate population in the country, causing huge money problems for the people of Kentucky. Crime costs all of us in higher prices for food, clothing, etc. and in taxes to pay for housing criminals once they are prosecuted.” (http://EzineArticles.com/2137228) How does a child become a criminal and who is to blame' The person who chooses to do the crime is to blame. It could have been born of peer pressure, a need, an accident turned into a game, the child may have seen a family member do it, or many other ways. Children raised properly have grown up to turn in to pedophiles, murderers, rapists, drug dealers, etc. On the other side, children who have grown up in pure hell have turned into wonderful, caring, people. At some point in our lives, we have to know (not learn) that we are in control of what we do. There are four main factors in how children become criminals. Parents try to be "cool" by letting children do what they want and the parents do not care, which makes the children think they can do whatever they want. Children with bad friends turn into bad people. Friends will influence them, and they will want to act cool and do what they do, and all the bad things they do a child will do them too. Friends might drink, smoke, and do drugs may ask their friend to join them, and soon enough they are in jail. The environment around them can seem tempting for some kids; like things they could steal, children they could rape, drugs they could do. Then they become criminals. Television shows like Lockup show people in jail and bad kids might attempt to be like them. Kids want nothing more than to fit in, and some will take desperate measures, and do criminal activities. Children need to think more and think before they do something. Kids want the best life they could have, so stealing things might make them think that they will have a great life, and lots of money but not think of the consequences. “For a minority teen in today’s society, it’s not uncommon to walk into a classroom and see boys and girls alike throwing up menacing signs. These signs can represent their gangs, cliques or their streets, which usually come along with clique or gang type behavior. Many of today’s youth are brainwashed and oblivious to the violence of gangs. Maybe they are blinded by all the “bling, bling.” It’s nothing for today’s teen to accept a gangbanging way of life; they embrace the “gangsta lifestyle” with open arms. Gangs are able to manipulate kids so well because they have been around for so long, and to the kids it’s nothing new. It is true that gangs have been around for hundreds of years. Gangs of the past and gangs of today all have one thing in common all they think about is money. It seems that gangs have arrived and took the world by storm. According to helpingyouth.com, there are an estimated 24,500 gangs and 1 million gang members, 400,000 being teens and 600,000 adults. About 147,000 of these gangsters are currently incarcerated. Most teens that join gangs are in underprivileged neighborhoods and have broken homes or have a struggling home life with little to no income. Gangs are able to influence teens because the kids see gangs are getting money and they want to be like that, but it is really not cool. The gangs come into neighborhoods, they have money, and fancy cars and the struggling boys and girls lacking a solid father figure see these gangsters as heroes or role models. The gangsters show the kids all the money they are making and the kids want that too so they say ‘Hey I got a job for you,” then it goes downhill from there. For some kids the gangster way of life is not an option. There are children born into heavily gang related families. These kids are basically recruited the moment they’re born. At last count 44 percent of gang members were Hispanic, 35 percent were African-American, 14 percent were Caucasian, 5 percent were Asian, and 2 percent were other ethnic groups. Today’s gangs do not just sit back and let potential recruits come and find them. There are cases when a gang will see a kid they are interested in and they will harass that kid and threaten him/her into joining that specific gang. Some kids join gangs because they are bored or to save their life because the gang members tell them they’re going to be lame and they’re going to get beat up and messed with if they don’t join the gang.” (http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/jaws/article_75b901bc-0fad-50ab-ac6d-53ae6caa7410.html) One question we ask is why are men more likely than women to commit crime' Some say it goes back to the cavemen, they hunted, kill, and protect with violence. Due to this behavior, women have become more docile over the centuries. Today men still have those violent tendencies but do not have a hunt to satisfy them, so, they turn to crime. However, in more recent years, women’s roles in society have changed and hence, they are committing more violent crimes. "The increase in the rate at which women are going to prison has outpaced that of men. Since 1981, the number of men being put behind bars has gone up 112 percent; the number of women, 202 percent. This corresponds neatly with the upward trend in arrest rates; the rate of increase for women is now nearly double that for men." (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n51_v9/ai_14719554/) For many, crime is a way of life; a career. They were never taught any other way of life. Their mothers or fathers were criminals so they assume it is the only way they can live. Others are jailed for smaller crimes, such as moving violations, and while in jail or prison have to commit bigger crimes just to survive. Many of these people are women. “The imbalance of power between inmates and guards involves the use of direct physical force and indirect force based on the prisoners’ total dependency on officers for basic necessities and the guards’ ability to withhold privileges. Some women are coerced into sex for favors such as extra food or personal hygiene products, or to avoid punishment. There are 148,200 women in state and federal prisons. In federal women’s correctional facilities, 70% of guards are male. Records show correctional officials have subjected female inmates to rape, other sexual assault, sexual extortion, and groping during body searches. Male correctional officials watch women undressing, in the shower or the toilet. Male correctional officials retaliate, often brutally, against female inmates who complain about sexual assault and harassment. The growth in incarceration has had its greatest impact on minorities, particularly African Americans. Women are most vulnerable to different forms of discrimination, including sexual harrasment or abuse. Women that do not fit the “norm”, such as lesbians, face increased risk of torture and abuse.. Women inmates suffering from treatable diseases such as asthma, diabetes, sickle cell anemia, cancer, late-term miscarriages, and seizures have little or no access to medical attention, sometimes resulting in death or permanent injury. Instances of failure to deliver life-saving drugs for inmates with HIV/AIDS have also been noted.” (http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/women_prison.pdf) With continuing issues such as these, it is almost understandable why the first time offenders become career criminals. After reading an article by Bradley Nickell, I found it more than helpful and decided that he said what I want to say better than any summarization. “It is essential in an ordered society to believe that citizens who do wrong can be rehabilitated. This must be true for a society to function properly. In the U.S., our sentencing structures and guidelines are built with this very thing as a foundation. However, there is a small portion of our society who despite all opportunities to rehabilitate, do not. This small portion of society who willingly choose to continue their lives of crime after having multiple types of intervention such as prison time, probation, alternative sentencing, drug court, inpatient drug treatment, etc..., are recognized as career criminals. For several decades, studies have been conducted on crime and causalities by various bodies including major universities, criminologists and even the U.S. Department of Justice. These studies have found that approximately 80% of all crime is committed by 20% of all criminals. Some of the studies have provided slightly different numbers but all of them have found that a small group of criminals commit a vastly disproportionate number of crimes than their peers. (Wolfgang et al ., 1972; Petersilia et al ., 1978; Williams, 1979; Chaiken and Chaiken, 1982; Greenwood with Abrahamse, 1982, and Martin and Sherman, 1986). These criminals are very antisocial and refuse any form of rehabilitative programs. The only time they might participate in such programs is when they are having their prison sentences shortened or risk of going to prison decreased because of their participation. They call it "buying time" because they know they are getting time off their sentences by participating in rehabilitative programs. It is not uncommon for law enforcement officials all across the U.S. to encounter criminals on the streets who have amassed 10 or more felony convictions and that have been to prison 3, 4, 5 or more separate times in their past. When their background is examined, it is always found that these criminals have benefited from weak plea deals on cases, dismissals of cases in exchange for guilty pleas in other cases and various other forms of settlements of cases based on judicial economy rather than the two things that should be considered the most, protection of society and punishment. Knowing all of this, it therefore seems to be common sense that law enforcement and the justice system should focus greater energy and resources toward those that commit the majority of the crimes. This is the very purpose of habitual criminal laws; to address the recidivists. In all 50 States and on the Federal level, there are habitual criminal laws of one kind or another. Some are very effective and some are not. 26 states currently have habitual criminal laws that include sentences of life without parole.”(http://www.articlesbase.com/criminal-articles/career-criminals-who-are-they-and-what-should-society-do-about-them-1012040.html#ixzz1V28gJSSO ) In conclusion, a life of crime is a hard one. There really is not gain in a life of crime, one way or another it will catch up to you. We can blame the parents, society, television, video games, friends, or many other things, but in the end, it is up to the person to decide to commit the crime. Nowadays, women are as violent and just as likely to commit crimes as men are. Some women can be worse; women seem to be more vicious than men are. The world can only wish to rid itself of gangs, as hard as we try, I feel they will be around for quite a long time. There is too much money and “fame” included with gang membership. References Parks, J. (2009, March 24). Crime and Its Impact on Society. Retrieved July 30, 2011, from ezinearticles.com website: http://ezinearticles.com/'Crime-and-Its-Impact-on-Society&id=2137228 www.helpingyouth.com KIMBROUGH, P. (2010, December 23). Gangs influence youth with money and power Retrieved July 25, 2011, from Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper website: http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/jaws/ article_75b901bc-0fad-50ab-ac6d-53ae6caa7410.html Chi Chi Sileo "Crime takes on a feminine face - rapid increase in number of women criminals". Insight on the News. FindArticles.com. 15 Aug, 2011. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n51_v9/ai_14719554/ http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/women_prison.pdf Nickell, B. (2009, July 3). http://www.articlesbase.com/criminal-articles/career-criminals-who- are-they-and-what-should-society-do-about-them-1012040.html#ixzz1V28gJSSO. Retrieved August 7, 2011, from articlesbase website: http://www.articlesbase.com/criminal-articles/career-criminals-who-are-they-and-what-should-society-do-about-them-1012040.html#ixzz1V28gJSSO