CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
I’ve been traveling this week and couldn’t help but notice the sound of police sirens in the distance during most of the night. I know we all try to block out the thought of crime and violent crimes as we sleep in our nice homes and safe hotel rooms. The truth is, that crime is rampant not only in big cities but in all American cities. In fact, we may rapidly reach the point where we simply can’t build enough jails. The government has already moved to hiring private companies to manage jails and retention facilities. Also, who wants a new high security prison in their neighborhood?
What is crime and what causes it ? Since the beginning of time man and society have established what is socially acceptable and what is not. Thru a system of laws and morals, people define the behavior that a society as a whole finds acceptable and not acceptable. Sometimes these guidelines vary from society to society, but for the most part everyone is aware of the “rules”.
For as long as there has been standards and laws, there have been those who choose to violate those laws and standards. At some level, we all may break the law at some point, perhaps run a stop sign or travel at 5 miles per hour over the speed limit. However, if enough people choose to violate the more serious of these guidelines, the social fabric of the community tends to break down.
In order to maintain the laws and standards of the society, some type of Justice System must be put into place. It can be as simple as a rag tag vigilante group or as sophisticated as our modern Law enforcement and Judicial system. The main tools we have used to combat crime have been mostly unchanged for generations:
Education: Awareness is good, but you can’t teach morality
Social pressure: only works on people who give a damn
Fines and other financial forfeitures
Imprisonment- that is so costly and has such a high recidivism rate
Capital Punishment- with its negative social connotation, but zero recidivism rate
In the end the only thing that seems to have an effect is to make the fear of punishment greater than the desire to commit the crime. (hence the phrase: don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time)
If each society has well known laws and standards, that leads to the question as to: What is the Logic, Motivation, or Mindset that causes an individual to act “outside the law” ? Here I have listed my “top dozen” precursors to crime. (in no particular order)
1> Pre-meditated actions: Ahh…The bank robbery, the Scam, drug smuggling, the perfect crime. Unfortunately nothing ever seems to go as planned. The would be criminal knows he may be caught but weighs out the Risk/Reward ratio and decides to take a chance
2> Spontaneous actions: Not premeditated, but acted on when the opportunity presents itself. Also common when the participant thinks he has little or nothing to lose.

3> Criminal predisposition: Some people are just wired to taking the easy way out. They look at every situation with an eye towards taking unfair advantage. The rules only apply to “the other guy”. Steal its Easy money
4> Crimes of passion: Another spontaneous action crime, however they usually have a more compelling reason and is often an action that the individual would not engage in, if cooler heads prevailed (often quite violent)
5> Competing evils: There are situations that present themselves where the individual must decide between two choices that could both be considered illegal, and a split second decision is made.
6> Group or mass actions: Being social animals we sometimes get caught up in group actions. A simple example is when one person crosses a busy street while the crossing light says don’t walk. For some reason the rest of us feel compelled to also cross at the same time. A more serious example is often seen in riots, where a few individuals break windows or cause damage and the behavior quickly spreads. At some level we feel it must be ok..everyone is doing it.
7> Rationalization: Many people can rationalize almost any behavior. These rationalizations include: I deserve that possession more than them, they owe me, and it’s just this once..does that make me a bad person?
8> Mental illness: The individual that commits the crime is judged not to be in control of his/her mental capabilities…In simple terms, they can not distinguish between good and bad…A real lawyer’s favorite in the court room.
9> Inherently Violent: I know the peace lovers find this hard to understand but some people are just inherently violent and it just doesn’t take much to set them off. I don’t believe these folks can be educated or reformed; violence is their answer for most problems and it’s just part of their psyche.
10> Predatory mind set: A close cousin to the inherently violent. These folks are like wild animals, they are predators that like to feed on the poor and helpless in our society. They commit the crime…because the can.
11> Under the Influence: Weather its drugs, alcohol, or other mind altering drugs, many crimes are committed by individuals that are high. Increasingly drug and alcohol are at the root of many of our most serious crimes.
12> In search of drugs: People who spend half their life’s under the influence of drugs, easily spend the other half of their life’s in pursuit of those substances. It’s a vicious cycle that usually ends in a life of crime, imprisonment, or death. The addictions are so strong that they are willing to go to any depths to get their fix.

Fortunately most of the people of the United States are law abiding citizens, and our legal system has its checks and balances. In the final analysis, I guess the issue of crime and punishment is one we will be dealing with for a long, long time.
Please feel free to contact me at: pooritalianboy@gmail.com

P.I.B.