The idea of crime has troubled many people for many years. The way various people define crime, variation of crime in different places, reasons why people participate in crimes, and other issues in crime have troubled scholars. The contemporary definition of crime is any act or conduct that is not allowed by law. Every country has its laws that guide the conduct of its citizens. For example, in most countries murder is defined as a crime and is prohibited. In a study of crimes, it is evident that crimes vary from one society to another and from one time to the other. This leads to a view of crime as a socials construction since it is given its definition by society. Just as in crime, institutions associated with crimes such as prisons can also be viewed as socials constructions. For a long time in United State, crimes have been associated with Blacks. In public prisons, there is a high presence of blacks. This invoked questions on crime definition and laws in the country.
Discussion
The history of the United State shows varying definitions of crime with time. At the same time, ideas on institutions associated with crimes have also changed with time. Composition prisons and punishment offered to different crimes over time is the best way to view changing perspectives of crimes over time (Richie 123). In history, crimes have been associated with race, ethnicity, gender, age, and poverty. Associated of Blacks could be motivated by historical slavery that led Blacks to be viewed as of lower value than other races. In society, the strong and the majority are responsible for defining laws. In such a case, the minority and the weak are forced to live with the rules set by the strong and the majority. Thus, Blacks were a minority in the society and were relatively weaker than the other parts of the community, the laws set defined their conduct as criminal.
Blacks in America have been oppressed by the socials and political systems in the country. The Socials system denied Blacks access to some services or privileges. For a long time, Blacks were not well represented in the political system of the country (Rosenblatt 48). Due to these injustices, many Blacks were involved in public protests. The majority in the society could not stand protests from Blacks and this led to the crimination of these protests. If the Blacks were involved in making laws, they would not have made laws that would lead them to be sent to prisons. The definition given to the crimes and the laws made against the crimes were unjustly made and were oppressive to Blacks.
The unjust economic system is one of the motivations that lead individuals to be involved in crimes. In the United States, economic resources are not well distributed among different ethnic communities and races. Since independence Blacks have been among the poorest in the country and have been associated with crimes. The criminalization of poverty has a long history; most times in history the poor were associated with crimes. For example, Britain’s Industrial Revolution led to the enrichment of some individuals while leading others to adverse poverty (Rosenblatt, 51). The people who led to poverty due to this revolution were associated with crimes. Almost all people convicted of crimes during this period were those among the poor. The ruling system went further to categorize poverty as a crime and made specials prisons to handle these poverty criminals. In America, poverty among Blacks leads them to be involved in activities that are defined as crimes. For example, due to lack of income, some Blacks involve themselves in drugs and burglary (Ritchie 78). The society which denies them the opportunity for employment and source of income then comes into defined laws that lead them into prison.
Prisons can be viewed as institutions that are used to punish people involved in crimes. In the United States, it is maintained that there are no prisons; instead, the Department of Corrections is responsible. Thus, according to the definition, prisons are viewed as correction facilities that aim at correcting those involved in crimes. In their creation, prisons were intended to render people docile so that they could be used for some other motives (Foucault 232). Later, they were used by law as a penalty for crimes. Today, prisons are viewed by society as a way of punishment and not as a corrective measure (Angela 96). Prisons are intended to punish those involved in crimes and deter people from crimes. This intention is not attained; instead, crimes and prisons have been used discriminatorily leading to the imprisonment of people from certain ethnicity and race.
Conclusions
Crime, criminality, and prison are socials construction. As a social construction, crimes do not represent what is wrong per see but what is considered to be wrong by the majority of the strong in the society. Prisons are intended to put away those individuals whose conduct is considered to be wrong from society. Definition of crimes and composition of prisons in the United States have been unfair to the Blacks. Society criminalizes conducts by the Blacks while ignoring social, economic, and political justices that lead them to such conduct.
Work cited
Rosenblatt Elihu. Criminal injustice: confronting the prison crisis: Sabina Virgo, “The Criminalization of Poverty. New York: South End Press, 1996.
Foucault Michel. Discipline & punish. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.
Richie Beth. Compelled to crime. New York: Routledge, 1996.
Angela Davis. The Prison Industrial Complex. Malden: Blackwell publisher, 2001.
One of the social crimes whose prevalence is gaining popularity is intimate partner violence (IPV). The word intimate violence is best fit as compared to domestic violence basing on its accurate definition of the perpetrator/victim relationship. Within this definition, the word intimate partners implies those individuals who are dating or were doing so at some point in time, married couples or those who were married, and also includes the type of relationship i.e. same sex or opposite sex marriages. Also, this definition does not include parents, brothers and sisters or grandparents. This research paper will try to identify the demographic and historical differences within the perpetrators and victims of this social ill. It will also try to identify the existing literature concerning the topic and how the trend has been changing. In addition, it will identify the theories of crime and hence ascertain why more and more people are engaging in this crime.
Historical and Demographic Distribution
The rate of IPV varies greatly within different ethnicities, ages, gender etc. the greatest difference could be identified in the gender identities of the victims. For example, the NCJRS report of the year 2000 reported that 25% of women reported being sexually or physically assaulted by either their partner or a former partner. This could be compared to 7.6% of men who reported being assaulted in the same report. Of those who reported being raped or assaulted, 1.5% and 0.9% of women and men respectively reported to have been assaulted within a period of 12 months before the report was released. The report hence finalized that the approximate number of women and men being raped or physically assaulted by their current or former intimate partners annually in the United States was 1.5 million and 834,732 men respectively. These findings were a back up of the findings offered by the National Crime Victimization Survey which also pointed out that women were at a greater risk of being victims of IPV as compared to men. This was however in contradiction to the survey by National Family Violence Survey which on its part indicated that the rate of violence against intimate partners was equal for men and women (Tjaden $ Thoennes, 2000, p. 6).
On their part, the New Mexico IPV Death Review Team (2002) also had their own statistical data. In the year 2001 and 2002, the total number of autopsies carried out was 31 of which 23 consisted of females. All these were deaths related to IPV. Although one case remains open due to its nature, the remaining 30 cases pointed out that women were the most likely victims of IPV. According to the statistics, 77% of the cases were reported by females while the male cases consisted of 23%.
Apart from gender disparities, the ethnic classifications also pointed out disparities. The NCJRS report points out that the group that showed the least cases of IPV within the minorities was women and men from the Asian and the Pacific Islander ethnicities. On the other side, the highest rates of IPV for both men and women were reported by African-Americans and American Indians and Alaska natives. These differences disappeared when other factors like socio demographic variables were made constant (Tjaden $ Thoennes, 2000, p. 4). On the other hand, the New Mexican IPV Death Team (2002) identified that the number of the highest cases of violence was reported by the Hispanics who accounted for a total of 50%. The Anglo accounted for 36% while the African Americans accounted for 7% and the final 7% went to the American Indians. While the geographic location of New Mexico could have had an impact on the data, differences could be ruled out in the number of cases based on the ethnicities.
Age also points out great disparities. The report by the New Mexico points out that the victims of IPV had an average age of 34 years with the youngest being 17 while the oldest was 59. On their part, the perpetrators had an average age of 37. The following table was offered by the New Mexico IPV Death Review Team in 2002.
The report by Tjaden $ Thoennes, (2000) points out that the number of women who experienced more chronic injuries as a result of IPV was greater than the number of men in the same category. It was also pointed out that 41.5 % of the women involved in physical assault ended up with injuries. On their part, only 19.9% of men sustained injuries out of the physical assault. The report finally points out that the rate of violence was more likely fro women living with female intimate partners as compared to those living with male intimate partners. The number that reported being assaulted physically or being raped or stalked was about 11% for the females living with females and 30.4% for women living with men. Contrary to this, the prevalence rate of IPV for same sex male partners was higher as compared to their counterparts who had female intimate partners. The report indicated that 15% of men who were intimate with men pointed out being raped, assaulted physically or stalked. This was almost double the number rate of those who were intimate with female partners who reported a 7.7% rate.
It is clear from the statistics offered by the New Mexico IPV Death Review team that the rate of violence related to intimate partners has been increasing. In their report that covered the IPV prevalence from 1994 to 2002, the number of homicides reported in the investigation department that were related to IPV was 38%. 1994 and 1996 exhibited the lowest percentage with the percentage number of IPV related as compared to all the homicide reports being 32. The years 1999 and 2000 provided the highest percentage at 48. This shows that the rate of IPV could be increasing with time (NMIPVDRT, 2002, p. 5).
Theories of Crime
The need to apply scientific findings, assumptions and techniques in the study of human behavior came into existence in the late 19th Century when scholars revolted against the perspective of rational choice. The scientific perspectives was not at par with the assumptions of the rational choice which pointed out that human beings always seek for pleasure and tried to avoid pain. Being creatures that care about the future, human beings would therefore do anything to ensure that they ascertain a good future for themselves. This could be done by all means were it not for the powers of the state which acts as the regulator of this desire. As a result of these contradicting perspectives, theories were developed to explain the human behavior in a scientific scope that would not be similar to the rational choice. Several theories were developed. Among them was the Social Disorganization Theory (Hirschi).
The Social Disorganization Theory
This theory was not based on the real nature of the human being but on the disorganization of the human social set up. According to the theory, the causes of human disorganization were the aspects of mobility and heterogeneity. This theory was greatly influenced by the classical theory of rational choice. Just like the classical theory, the social disorganization theory purported that the wants of the body are far much more than the means available for attaining them. The theory goes on to point out that an individual usually knows that by using illegal means, the wants could be achieved. Before choosing on a certain illegal means, the individual would have weighed the costs and the benefits and ascertained that the benefits outweigh the costs (Hirschi, p. 108).
However this theory was subjected to criticism by sociologists who pointed out that it failed to show a factual picture of the human nature and the society. They also refuted the theory pointing out that it termed the differences in social set up for weaknesses. Finally, the theory was refuted for its assumption that “…natural propensities are deviant.” (Hirschi, p. 108) Due to the defects detected in this theory, more theories were developed. In the new theories, the developers tried to incorporate the perspectives of the classical theory of rational choice. Another theory that was brought up was the Social Control Theory.
Social Control Theory
The fifties and sixties came up with the development of the social control theories. These theories were based on the individual’s tendency to base their decisions on a course of action on the benefits and costs related to it. In addition, they based their decisions on whether the course of action was legal or illegal and therefore chose the means that looked much likely to offer the greatest pleasure. The several specifications within this social contract theory including the one specified by Hirschi highlighted the factors that played a role in the decision making. Among them were an individual’s attachment to other people or an institution, whether the individual is committed to a certain line of conventions, an individual’s involvement in non criminal activities and the individual’s perspective towards the validity of norms in moral terms. These factors could also be viewed as the individual’s interpersonal attachments, his economic investments, his moral considerations and constraints in terms of time (Hirschi, p. 109).
According to the theories, the stronger the individual’s relation to these factors, the lesser the chances of his involvement in crime because he would not find the benefits to outweigh the costs. In one of the branches referred to as the pure control theory, it is believed that every human being can involve himself in a crime provided the price is right. The price here stands for the benefits expected and the likelihood of being caught or detected (Hirschi, p. 109).
Strain Theory
This theory of crime has its basis within the theory of “anomie” by Durkheim. It is founded on the concept that crime is a consequence of social forces. Within the concept of strain, there is the structural strain and the individual strain. Structural strain occurs when the regulation mechanisms of crime fail to play their role and hence implicate negatively on the individuals’ perception of their needs. Individual strain implies the hardships and difficulties that individuals pass through during the day to day struggle to meet their needs. One of the greatest contributions within this group of theories is the ‘means-end theory of deviance’ or Merton’s strain theory. This theory is built on the fact that the society’s structured beliefs of economic success and the social structure’s distribution of develop gaps which eventually lead to crime. Due to the least possibilities of attaining economic success within the lower class, they tend to involve themselves in crime and hence a concentration of criminal activities within these neighborhoods. The societal definition of success and the unfortunate social structure hence puts pressure on the less fortunate who continue harboring aspirations of success despite their failure. This continuous strain for success eventually makes an individual deviate. To curb crime will therefore call for an organized effort in rewarding non economic pursuits (Hirschi, p. 109).
Application of Theory
How does this theory relate to IPV? It is clear that the strains of the society caused by the need to attain economic success eventually lead to frustration and strain. It is from this frustration that most of the individuals eventually look for an outlet of the frustration. This translates to their decision to engage in violence against their closest people. Feeling that the society is unfair to them and they can do nothing about it, they feel weak and helpless. When they meet their spouses who are in this case weaker than them, they have to prove that despite being weak compared to other successful members of the society, they are stronger than their spouses. To show this, they engage them in violence. Therefore, this violence is perpetrated just to prove that they are not the weakest of all creation and to relieve the frustration from the unfair society.
Research methodology
To come up with data for this research, I engaged in two methods. I used direct interviews. My interview entailed a sample which consisted of a thousand respondents in down town Chicago. In my sample, subjects had to be eighteen years and over from both sexes. The sample had four hundred and fifty men and five hundred and forty women who were directly contacted either through face to face interviews or through the telephone and e mail addresses. The remaining ten were interviews carried on professionals in the fields of domestic violence and gender violence.
This method was chosen because of its advantages. Firstly, it allows for the interviewer to guide the interview process basing on the responses of the interviewee. In case of an ambiguous statement, clarification is instant. In addition, if the respondent understands the purpose of the study, he can offer very elaborate answers that will be very important for the analysis of the interviewer. Use of personal interview was also very appropriate because the research topic was sensitive and using other methods would have led to inaccurate answers due to embarrassment. Using private interviews allowed the respondent to open up and express his feelings (Oatey, 1999).
The research carried out by the New Mexico IPV Death Review Team has been used extensively within this work. Despite this, there are several draw backs within their methodology. For example, they relied greatly on the information and reports offered by to the investigation department in New Mexico. Using this method offers two draw backs. Firstly, the information offered concerning the demographic distribution of the cases would be impaired. For example, New Mexico could be a region that is inhabited mostly by Hispanics. This could result in most cases being reported concern Hispanics. As a result, Hispanics would be viewed as the most likely ethnicity to engage in IPV. The second draw back in using this method concerns those victims of violence who sustain minor injuries or emotional abuse and who feel that such injuries are too minor for them to report. Also there are those who might feel embarrassed to report cases of abuse and rape. Accordingly, these cases will not be reported and thus will not be reflected in the within the research findings.
Literature
Several studies and researches have been carried out concerning this topic. While the statistics may vary in some incidences, others merge correctly. For example, most of the studies have pointed out that most of the victims of IPV have always been women while men came as the most perpetrators. It was also evident that the average age of the perpetrator and victims was almost equal. While the New Mexico IPV Death Review Team report gave an average age of victims being thirty four while the average age of the perpetrators being thirty seven, the report by Colorado gives statistics of 36 for victims and 38 for perpetrators. With such a small difference in age, it is possible that the young adults are the most perpetrators of this crime (Project Safeguard, 2007).
However, there are some differences exhibited in the statistics. For example, while the report by New Mexico IPV Death Review Team point out that the percentage of IPV related cases was increasing since 1994, the statistics by the Colorado show that the rate of IPV related cases were reducing since 1978. The New Mexico report shows that 1994 experienced the lowest number of cases which accounted for 32% of all the murder cases while the rate increased to 48% in 1999 and 2000. In contrary, the Colorado report shows that the number of cases in 1998 was lower than the number of the cases in 1993. They also point out that the number of cases fell in 1993 and 1997 by an estimated 9.5 for every 1000 women. They further point out that the number of murders in 1998 was quite lower standing at 1,830 as compared to those exhibited in 1978 which accounted for 3,000 women. These statistics point out that there could be regional differences that would probably be attributed to the specific socio-demographic causes in the different regions (Project Safeguard, 2007).
Conclusion
From the research, it is clear that domestic violence is rampant within the United States of America. It is also notable that this crime is perpetrated by all people from all regions, social status, economic power, ethnicity etc. the only difference could be identified by the comparative rates. For example, the rate of perpetration and also most of the victims are from low income earning and less skilled women. It is also notable that women make the greatest percentage of the victims.
Although there are several theories of crime, the strain theory seems to be a good explanation of the causes of this crime. Most people are likely to engage in the crime based on the stresses of life that they are going through.
Finally, it is worth noting that there are several differences in the statistical data that could be attributed to the different socio demographic characteristics of the several regions. While other statistics might show an increase while others are showing a decrease, the fact remains that the average shows an increase in the crime. It is therefore important that the government intervenes so that women and children who happen to be the greatest victims of this crime are helped.
References
Bauer, M., Crandall, C. and Sklar, D. (2007). “Getting away with murder: Volume V”.
Hirschi, T. (1969) “On the compatibility of rational choice and social control theories of crime.” Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Hirschi, T. and M. Gottfredson “The distinction between crime and criminality.” In T. F. Hartnagel and R. A. Silverman (eds.), Critique and Explanation: Essays in Honor Of Gwynne Nettler. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Project Safeguard, (2007) Fatality Review Project Denver, Colorado.
Reppetto, T. (1974) Residential Crime. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
A number of states have newly passed legislation concerning the illegal methamphetamine drug (Robin Carnahan, 2010). One of the legislation demands that property contaminated through the production of meth is placed on publicly accessible online registry to warn prospective client. In addition, there is yet another legislation that requires that those individuals implicated with either the possession or manufacturing of methamphetamine are placed on a registry. Such a registry should be accessible to the public online over a given time.
Controlling the Crime by Registration
The notion of placing the names of meth offenders on register is gaining popularity. Based on Kari Huus report (2006), four states have formed legislations to develop internet meth criminal registry. Momentarily, two states are at the commencement of completing similar laws whereas a lot other proposed bills are hanging awaiting the beginning of new government session. Nevertheless critics argue that registries raise legal issue over little public protection. This is in addition to the fact that they may be accompanied by adverse consequences.
According to Jonathan T., these registries would lead to a category of people who would face difficulties in securing jobs or acquiring rental houses. Moreover, the possibility of ex-criminal to acquire jobs or residential houses will lead to increased chances of crime. In 2005, the state of Tennessee became the first to establish a criminal registry for meth felons. At the time, the state had one of the highest rates of meth abuse. The effect of the drug has adequately been felt even in seemingly rural regions, where addiction is exacerbated by risk of food contamination by methamphetamine in homes. At the moment there are nearly 400 meth felons in Tennessee. The state laws, in line with the other states that have also established similar laws regarding the conviction of meth felons, only take into account those individuals who are already convicted of either manufacturing or trafficking meth, and not those caught possessing the drug. However, in the methamphetamine scenario, this implies that also people who cook meth in their home sink for individual consumption could be placed in the registries.
According to critics these registries offers little help to the public because it does not give the photograph of the offender and it does not dictate them to disclose their identity to authorities when they relocate. In fact Bill Piper, director of national affairs at the non-profit drug policy regards it as symbol of false accomplishment for the politicians. He further argues that instead of investing on registries, the government should invest on public education and providing top treatment options to combat addiction. The state of George is at the moment preparing to establish strict registry laws that would ensure that the manufacturers of meth are retained on the created list for a period of not less than seven years. In addition, there are also plans to ensure that the registry also has the victims’ latest address and photos. On the other hand, in Indiana law makers are contemplating how far to go with the introduction of a methamphetamine registry. Minnesota was scheduled to begin its registry towards the end of 2006 while Illinois was planning for March 2007. The state of Montana includes methamphetamine criminal on its internet list of violent and sexual offenders.
Conclusion
Ludendorff (2008) argues that Methamphetamine is a drug that poses a big challenge to the legislators, health care practitioners, social service providers, as well as the criminal justice system. In states experiencing serious meth problems, registries provide opportunity for general public, landlords and employers to guard themselves against harmful effect of meth consumption and manufacture. According to Mike Coan (Georgia state rep.) who is chairing meth registry legislation, registration of meth offender in the national database helps to inform the public members of community meth manufacturer or sellers.
Reference List
Carnahan, R. (2010). Methamphetamine Registries, Web.
Ludendorff, A. B. (2008). Methamphetamine Offenders’ Registries: Are The Rights Of Non-Dangerous Offenders Cooked? Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy, Web.
Kari, H. (2006). Crime and Court: Internet Listing Have Popular Appeal, But Do They Really Protect the Public? Web.
The act of having a breakdown of social values and also norms can be defined as anomie. This term was put across by a sociologist from France by the name of Emile Durkheim who wrote a book entitled suicide in the year 1897. In the modern world, this term can be further described as a lack of etiquette in one word or poor social codes of ethics (Messner,1989). In most cases, people are viewed in regards to the standards of codes of ethics that society expects of them.
There is a standard of ethic, norms and values that the society expects to see reflected on each individual and when this is not seen then issues related to the individual is approached from a different perspective because this is a condition that is nurtured (Messner, 2010). Many theories have been developed to explain the relationship between crime, anomie’ and weakened social ties in social institutions.
Anomie and Crime in America
America has not been spared by the issue of increased crime rate and a state of norm-lessness. This is seen every day as robberies, divorce rates, murders, rape cases and suicide cases among others increase day after day. Different theories have been developed to explain this. One of the major theories is on anomie’. The state of anomie in America according to Merton is a result of a strain caused by her goal of attaining economic success in a time when opportunities to achieve such are limited (Merton, 1998). Since society is divided into classes, those in the lower class are limited from accessing the opportunities or resources necessary to meet the goal legitimately.
As this happens, there is a strain that results in weakened social ties in the social institutions beginning from the family unit. Individualism takes root as people focus on attaining the goal while disregarding attached norms which govern the means in a society (Messner,1989). Economic institutions become dominant due to weakened institutional ties. This is frustrating and people opt to overlook the norms in the pursuit of meeting their goal of economic success. It is this imbalance among social structures that result in high crime rates (Messner, 2010). The higher the imbalance among social structures, the higher the crime rate.
America holds the economic goal of attaining economic success at the state level. This is narrowed down to individual levels where individuals are expected to work hard and achieve economic success. However, with the increased population and competition for natural resources, very few people have the opportunity or means to attain this success. Economic success is emphasized such that individuals think this is the only means to reach their self-actualization stage.
According to Merton, striving to attain economic success in a situation where opportunities and resources are limited results in a strain (Messner, 2010). Individuals to whom opportunities are not available to seek other means to attain this success. Though it is emphasized that economic success will be attained through hard work and schooling, these opportunities are not available to all. As a result, individuals seek other means without necessarily caring about the process followed to attain economic success.
The existing strain between attaining the goal and the limited opportunity result in individuals opting to follow cruel or illegal means so long as they attain their goal. This results in weakening of norms hence a situation of norm-lessness or anomie’ (Messner, 2009). The pressure to achieve economic success does not allow those in the low class to hold on to the norms to be followed in attaining economic success.
The only option then becomes adopting cruel and illegitimate means to achieve success. According to Maslow’s hierarchy theory, unmet needs motivate people to act in a given manner to ensure that these needs are met. One of such needs is self-actualization which cannot be realized without economic freedom. Since these people do not have legal means to meet their needs, they opt to engage in criminal acts (Merton, 1998). The anomie situation makes people free to use any means to gain wealth or attain financial freedom. The result of this is high crime rate.
Increased population in the country increases the competition for available resources. This is especially due to increased number of immigrants in the country seeking employment opportunities. Since there is increased competition for employment opportunities, employers take advantage of this and lower the payment rates (Graham, 2002). Employees then become frustrated since their payment is not enough to meet their needs. The employees also experience pressure as low financial status is associated with laziness. This pressure makes them seek alternative means of earning. They are torn between following norms and pursuing their goal of attaining economic success. When such opportunities are not available, they tend to corrupt existing systems so as to get extra finance to meet their needs (Graham, 2002).
They can opt for corrupt deals that give them some extra cash. This marks the beginning point of criminal acts. The more times one commits such a crime, the further they move from following norms and developing sensitivity to crime. It reaches a point where crime is considered a normal operation not only in these institutions but also in institutions that ought to correct individuals who break the law (Graham, 2002).
The value of the success goal in America results in individuals being less concerned with appropriate means by which they are to attain this goal. The end is pursued regardless of the means applied as emphasis on the goal result in people being obsessed with the idea of success (Messner, 2010). The range of behaviors to be adopted is limited hence weakening of norms. In addition, family members spend less time together as each gets busy trying to make ends meet. This means reduced time to instill norms in the young ones. They are left to learn and choose the best all by themselves. This weakens family ties which in turn weakens norms.
Children feel free to do whatever will lead them to success hence resulting in increased crime. In my opinion, it is the stress caused by the pressure to attain economic success that separates children from their parents resulting in a situation of anomie.
In an institution such as the family unit, the cost of education makes it hard for some to educate their children. These children still remain part of the team that should attain economic success for the dream of the country to be realized at the national level. Parents experience strain as they see other children go to expensive schools up to the highest level of education. This pressurizes them to seek alternative means of meeting their financial obligation.
The existence of norms cultivates social order and trust among the members of a given society (Messner, 2010). This means that anomie results in a situation where trust dies and social disorder takes control. Employers feel that their employees are likely to steal from them while employees feel that their employers will not pay them as per their work thus do not work hard and seek every opportunity to steal.
Information-based economic pulls a lot of women to industries and other potential employees. The outcome of this is that the family unit is neglected as both men and women seek opportunities to earn income. This weakens social ties thus resulting in anomie’ (Messner, 2010). Mental labor has been substituted by physical labor necessitating the need for more employees. According to Fukuyama, most losers in the strife for economic success are men of low economic status and women who have children and are of low economic status. The majority of those that engage in criminal offenses are from among these groups of individuals.
Conclusion
In conclusion, America will continue to experience a high crime rate so long as she emphasizes attaining economic success in a state where opportunities are limited. However, she can control this by seeking means to create employment, provide better working conditions as well as payment terms and strengthen her security. In addition, there is a need for her to control immigration as overpopulation has been a major cause of unemployment. Though other theorists have tried to explain the increased crime rate, Merton emphasizes that the other theories only add more information to this explanation but cannot substitute it.
References
Graham, D. ( 2002). Collision Course: The Strange Conversion of Affirmative Action and Immigration Policy in America. New York: Oxford University Press.
Merton, R. (1998). Merton and contemporary sociology. New York: Transaction Publishers.
Messner, S. (1989). theoretical Intergration in the study of deviance and crime: problems and prospects. New York: Suny Press.
Messner, S. (2009). the sociology of sports: an introduction. New York: McFarland.
Messner, S. (2010). Crime and The American dream. New York: University of Michigan.
Generally, a common way to perceive the dynamic between men and women in the context of crime and deviance underestimates women’s capacity to be self-sufficient and expects to see the predator-prey relationships between the genders. Gender expectations define women as vulnerable people and automatically assign them a victim niche, while men are generally regarded as people in power and potential danger to women. Therefore, the main difference between genders concerning crimes and victimization derives from the imbalanced power dynamics established by society.
A general dynamic within crimes displays that most victims of the assault caused by a person of the opposite gender are women (Andersen & Witham, 2011). However, the prosecution process has two common variations of interpreting victimization. On the one hand, certain people initiate victim-blaming and base their arguments on misogynistic claims related to women’s sex appeal. On the other hand, once the case concerns a woman who potentially assaulted someone, many people could argue that women are not capable of committing serious crimes. This opinion is majorly based on the stereotypes about the feminine characteristics of women and their soft nature.
For instance, in the recent case of Lisa Montgomery, who killed a pregnant woman, some people claimed that she should not have been punished strictly due to her mental health condition (Hart, 2021). However, when men commit similar crimes, people rarely speak up about their mental health. Thus, due to gender-specific expectations, women are more vulnerable and prompt to irrational decisions based on external and internal factors than men.
Nonetheless, in both scenarios of prosecution interpretation, people partially base their arguments on outdated gender expectations rather than focusing on simplistic evidence. As a result, the severe binary expectation of how men and women should behave according to their feminine or masculine features is the primary element that leads to gender variations in the prosecution and context of crime. As a result, the fairness of judgment within the prosecution is often biased by gender-specific stereotypes.
References
Andersen, M. & Witham, D. H. (2011). Thinking about women: Sociological perspectives on sex and gender (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
There are many different kinds of crime, and criminologists usually classify them into various categories. An example is property theft which involves taking something from someone else without permission. Property crime refers to criminal conduct that does not directly harm a person but targets private assets (“Sociological theories of crime,” 2021). According to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), theft is a property crime committed to obtain possessions, money, or other benefits (U.S. Department of Justice, n.d.). In this instance, the offender is referred to as a thief or a con artist. Generally, the individual has contempt for cultural and social norms and values.
In recent years, researchers have determined that crime results from sociological factors. As a result, theft can be explained by various theories and concepts. First is the social disorganization theory, which states that crime occurs in dysfunctional communities. According to the model, an individual’s residence has a significant role in determining their likelihood of becoming engaged in criminal enterprises (Zhao & Tang, 2018). For example, a person from a region with high rates of drug abuse, school dropouts, or single-parenthood is more likely to steal. Second is the social strain hypothesis, in which society emphasizes success and everyone is expected to attain life goals. However, the social structure of opportunity is often uneven and prohibits most from attaining their dreams, making them resort to illegal channels to achieve their goals (Zhao & Tang, 2018). Generally, these people are put under great stress and frustration, which may cause them to act inappropriately.
The third and final is cultural deviance theory, which combines the first two. Essentially, this is predicated on the notion that people from various cultures or social strata cannot concur on what constitutes appropriate behaviors (Zhao & Tang, 2018). Individuals who lack acceptable societal means of achieving their goals and community support are likely to engage in illegal activity. They believe in toughness, getting into trouble, and street smarts as core values. As a result, such people are likely to be involved in property theft and unlawfully obtain what does not belong to them.
There are multiple reasons why women are often the victims of violent crimes. However, the leading cause is the lack of adequate prevention measures and victim-blaming. According to researchers, violence perpetrated by an intimate partner affects three out of ten women over their lifetime (Johnson et al. 3). Since severe violent outbursts often correlate with domestic abuse, the reason why women are affected is the inadequate response to such situations. Law enforcement, family, and friends often chose not to pay attention to women in violent relationships, which is another cause of the number of crimes related to femicide to increase.
Another fundamental reason why such atrocious crimes happen is the overall marginalization of women in society. Females are considered to be the weaker sex, which implies a sense of power and control for the opposite sex that may interpret these notions as tools to take advantage of the victim. The fact that the media and police are not paying as much attention to the problem as needed also creates a gap that is not being addressed.
There would be fewer crimes against women if the issue was properly addressed. Harsh sentences for the perpetrator, media coverage, and more discussions on the topic of femicide would create a safer society that would not tolerate such atrocities. As the community is mainly quiet in regards to these critical issues, the number of crimes increases, and no improvements are possible. This is why it is vital to address the problem by talking about it and punishing the criminals with harsh sentences. A zero-tolerance policy that would condone physical, sexual, and psychological abuse towards marginalized groups of people (women of color, lesbians, poor women, etc.) is also vital since the groups of females mentioned above are more prone to experience severe abuse.
Work Cited
Johnson, Holly, et al. “Intimate Femicide: The Role of Coercive Control.” Feminist Criminology, vol. 14, no. 1, 2017, pp. 3–23.
Drug use is a contentious issue being debated all around the world. It becomes even more adverse when it comes to expectant mothers who use substances. Overall, there is no agreement on the question of moral or legal justification for drug use, especially during pregnancies. Whatever the case may be, pregnant women with drug addiction exist, and governments and medicine have to address the issue. However wrong or illegal it might seem, drug consumption during pregnancy is a crime that should be prosecuted, but it does not mean that drug addicts should be restricted in receiving medical care during pregnancy.
First of all, the unregulated consumption of drugs is a crime, regardless of the abuser’s circumstances. This becomes critical when the person with a drug consumption history is expecting a child. As Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2010) wrote, “the effects of many drugs on the fetus are unclear” (p. 67). This implies that the health condition of a child is a matter of probability. By deciding to continue misusing drugs, women undergoing pregnancy increase the likelihood of damaging the fetus. Consequently, they should be subjected to prosecution for illegal drug use and risking their child’s life up to the termination of parental rights.
Secondly, holding mothers accountable for drug abuse does not resolve the matter of the child in a womb. Denying these women prenatal care can lead to abortion, birth of children with deficiencies, and more drug consumption. This raises a moral dilemma concerning the responsibility for a child’s well-being.
A mother who decided to misuse drugs put her health as well as her unborn child’s health in jeopardy. However, that does not downplay the responsibility of a government that denies such women health care. Using drugs does not guarantee a damaged child; moreover, drug addicts are not the only group who receive inappropriate support while expecting a baby. This is why governments ought to provide everyone with an opportunity to successfully carry a child.
Thirdly, there is a matter of the effect the drug use has on the fetus. The effect of substances affecting unborn children is not certain. Even an actively engaged in drugs mother has a chance to bear a healthy child. This means that it is too early to equate prenatal drug usage with child abuse. As Schriver (2011) said, “the purpose of human behavior and the social environment content within the social work curriculum is to provide us with knowledge for practice” (p. 526).
It means that by refusing to neglect women who suffer from drug addiction, hospitals can increase the number of cases, based on which they can conduct more thorough research. Ultimately, they could give the lawmakers better understanding of the essence of this crime.
Overall, although drug use itself is a crime, the addicts should not be restricted in receiving medical care during pregnancy. Substances affect vital organs, reduce life expectancy, and bring about chronic diseases of the person who is misusing them, but the changes in the development of fetus caused by drugs are not certain.
The only dependence that can be stated is that substance use during pregnancies is more likely to negatively affect the childbirth. At this point it is premature to state a correlation between mothers’ drug abuse and fetus well-being. Nevertheless, expectant mothers should be aware of their direct legal and moral responsibility for their unborn children and repercussions of their actions.
References
Schriver, J. M. (2011). Human behavior and the social environment: Shifting paradigms in essential knowledge for social work practice (6th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.
Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2010). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (9th ed.). Brooks/Cole.
The nature of human nature will never be known, but this has not prevented philosophers and thinkers from attempting to explore it. There is a plurality of opinions about what man ultimately wants and strives for. The classical school of criminology, based on the ideas of Beccaria, postulates the freedom and rationality of human life (Stohr & Walsh, 2018). In other words, the individual tends to make his or her own decisions and weigh their consequences throughout life — as a consequence, the classical school recognizes that crimes tend to be committed consciously and are the result of free will. However, this concept does not apply to those criminals who may have committed negligent homicides: statistics report that about 14 percent of inmates in the state do so (Carson, 2019). Closely related to the rationalism of the human person is the idea of free will agents, which view individuals as bearers of personal decisions: the individual chooses between good and evil based on their own moral system. An alternative view of the decision to commit crimes is the pleasure paradigm put forward by Bentham (Stohr & Walsh, 2018). The philosopher was convinced that people tend to be guided by the principles of personal pleasure and satisfying the need for pleasure while committing crimes — episodes of bloodthirsty and most immoral atrocities can be reliable evidence of this theory (Johnson et al., 2005). Based on the above paradigms, it is pertinent to conclude that there is no universal answer to the question of the re-education of criminals. On the one hand, if the core of committing crimes is the moral values or rational decisions of the individual, then re-education seems to be a feasible strategy. Satisfying pleasure may seem like a much more difficult but still possible problem for re-education since underlying psychobiological patterns can have extremely strong roots in the socialized individual. On the other hand, there is no guarantee that the offender has a sincere desire to re-educate, which means that any re-education practices may not be effective. Also to be considered are crimes committed accidentally in which the motive was not conscious; for such offenders, re-education may not be helpful because they had no evil intentions. Consequently, the concept of re-education is not universal and must be adapted to each offender individually.
References
Carson, E. A. (2019). Prisoners in 2019. U.S. Department of Justice.
Johnson, R., Dobrzanska, A., & Palla, S. (2005). The American prison in historical perspective: Race, gender, and adjustment. Prisons: Today and Tomorrow, 22-42.
Stohr, M. K., & Walsh, A. (2018). Corrections: The essentials. SAGE Publications.
In the Napoleon Beazley case, the interactionist perspective caused Napoleon Beazley to murder John Luttig. Primarily, Napoleon Beazley’s interactions with society of which it makes people behave toward each other. Society shapes how people behave, and this could be why it was Napoleon Beazley was involved in the murder of John Lutting by first being involved in the carjacking. The aim of the case of Napoleon uses sociological perception to explain why he murdered John Lutigg.
Sociological Perspective
During the times of Napoleon Beazley, the society was that of survival and committing crimes as a group due to peer pressure and the strive to get money. Beazley was not 18 years when he committed the carjacking, but he and two other youths to Tyler, Texas. Beazley’s friend, Cedric Coleman, drove, and Cedric’s younger brother, Donald, was with them, of which the group could be ascertained to be committing a crime. Napoleon Beazley borrowed her mother’s car and followed John Luttig, who was driving a Mercedes. The accounts of Cedric and Donald Coleman testified against Beazley, and this affirms that Bezley was murdered reaching 18 years.
During the times of Napoleon Beazley, the youths had experienced unruly cognitive development that resulted in biological phases of human development that may have negatively influenced him to commit the offense. The social constructions during Beazley times were demanding individuals to try to have good cars so that they could brag about it during school. It was this vital urge that Napoleon Beazley decided to commit the offense of carjacking, and it was found that he had the intention of murdering by shooting John Lutigg in the head.
The social inequalities that led to the murder of John Luttig are that Napoleon Beazley was living in a society where people struggled to make a living. Beazley, although from a two-parent family, showed off with the Mercedes that he saw John Lutigg was driving, and this may have made his plan on how he could steal it. The social constructions during his time did not allow him to own one because he was still studying and hence did not have the income to purchase the Mercedes. This social issue caused him to carjack John Putting to steal his car. The guilt that Beazley could also be a result of the desire to be admired by people in the school, of which he claimed that by getting Mercedes, he could take it to school to show off car to the students.
Conclusion
The society of Napoleon Beazley allowed persons under the age of 18 years to be tried for murder charges. Beazley was a person who committed the crime, and he got victimized for doing that even if there were the issue of filing a person for cases that entailed murdering John Luttig. Primarily, allowing the prosecutors to continue with the point made society aware of why persons under the age of 18 need to attend counseling sessions on issues relating to crimes. If Beazeley could have observed such assertions, then some of the problems that he was fighting at the time could have been solved, particularly those relating to high school life and crimes. Therefore, the social perception of Napoleon Beazley’s crime was that he was still a juvenile, and hence his social life contributed significantly to his death.
