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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Criminality


Criminality can be defined as the state of being a criminal. Furthermore we can say that the way a person acts towards others in their community can either influence or become a complete catastrophe. For years upon years scientists ask “what compels a person to conduct in criminal behavior?” Is there really a sociological effect to criminal mischief? Is crime mostly related to what gender a person is born with? Why it is that adolescents are more likely to cross into a lifestyle of crime than middle age adults or seniors? Many issues are put forth and studied to try and reason an understandable explanation behind human instinct and crime.
The sociological effects of crime have multiple factors that may tie into account for the behavioral effect on society. “Primary or intimate groups like the family and peer group have an especially large impact on what we learn. In fact, association with delinquent friends is the best predictor of delinquency other than prior delinquency.”(Agnew, Robert 1992)
Social environments can play a role into how adolescents mature into today’s cultures and whether they will become a future generation of criminals. The social structure can either enable or disassemble an individual motive. All individuals are taught that crime is bad or told that it’s socially wrong. If you are exposed to crime, are you more likely to commit a crime?  Television, a motivating factor with repeat ion of advertisement and movies the criminals seem to possess a power greater than that of the highest Supreme Court judge.
The peer groups that an individual follows in their child to teen years can make them live a life of crime. If good and bad behavior is not taught at home before one make a turn to social independence it can have a negative effect on their lives later down the road.  The people you associate yourself with plays a key role on whether you fall into a pattern of criminal activity.
Peer pressure can play a heavy role when someone is trying to make others perceive them as important. Positive reinforcement in the negative fashion from their peer groups can have them on a pedestal. Making them feel as if they are climbing the social ladder to success. They may see a crime as shop lifting minor and attractive and not as major as someone who would conduct murder or armed robbery. With an absence of punishment, adolescents will feel as if committing criminal behavior is justifiable if they are doing it to gain an adrenaline rush or just for fun. A greater reinforcement should come from the child’s home. Bad behavior should come with strict punishment so they can understand that doing wrong can have severe consequences. Strong communication cannot be a lacking factor or else adolescences will see that crime can be justified in certain situations.
Young adults view crimes differently than those of an older age. So whether the justice system needs to fix the system so that crimes have a greater punishment on younger adults to see if it will play a factor into lowering the statistics of crimes needs further implementation. As for older adults, they have pretty much retired from the life of crime. For many older adults social security doesn’t amount to more than a mortgage check, or another week to live paycheck to paycheck. They probably would can gain more money from that income than they would if there trying to gain quick cash by robbing a bank. Older adults also have more disability and cannot maneuver as well if they were in their younger years. It would be almost impossible for them to completely succeed at bank robbery.
Some items that cause stress are economic status, age, stress, gender, community and biology. If all of these or some of them have a great impact is still to be determined, but there is data that shows that a link can be found between most of them.
Stress can have a big impact to lead people to robbery.  They can pay debt or sell drugs to pay bills. If getting money the legal way does not suffice, the only option will be to go the other route and attain money through illegal channels. They may have a good job but find themselves stuck in the middle class or lower class. Many younger adults who feel they have to commit a crime find that they can gain money only by stealing it from someone else. Young adults also want to become financially independent. They would like to achieve a monetary status from criminal activities because they feel either castrated from their parents or have experienced an unstable childhood which in turn can greatly multiply there stress factor.
“Certain individual traits—like irritability and impulsivity—increase the disposition for delinquency. Another key factor is whether individuals blame their strain on the deliberate behavior of someone else.”(Agnew, Robert 1992)
When stress enters the lives of older adults they may commit income crimes in order to provide for their family. The job they have cannot support the amount of bills and debt that is presented in their lives. They have a greater understanding for the actions they take. Although they might work hard at a job it might not generate the type of income so they can bring in enough money they need to buy glamorous items.
Society also places stress because it depicts that to become a man you need money, power, and respect. Some go out and try and achieve this either from committing robbery, theft, or murder. To become a “tough guy” can be a single most driving motivation for many people looking to gain respect from those around them. “While people have a general desire for status and respect, theorists such as James Messerschmidt argue that the desire for "masculine status" is especially relevant to crime.”(Agnew, Robert 1992)
Stress can make a person angry, violent and hostel towards other individuals. Many factors can bring about the effects of stress. “ Criminal victimization, physical punishment by parents, negative relations with parents, negative relations with teachers, negative school experiences, negative relations with peers, neighborhood problems, and a wide range of stressful life events—like the divorce/separation of a parent, parental unemployment, and changing schools.” (Agnew, Robert 1992)
Those who know how to deal with stress find that talking to family or close friends can help them cope with stressors in their lives. Those who don’t have the proper skills to deal with stress related incidents will find it easier to break out into negative characteristics until they obtain the desired effects they believe they should have from society.
In relation to gender it is known all throughout society that males commit more crimes then their female counterpart, but what is the exact reason behind the aggressive behavior of men? It’s not to say that woman do not conduct in illegal activity it’s just that most of the individuals incarcerated tend to be male in all age ranges. Consider that statistic data shows that females have a lower percentage of crimes compared to men in all ethnic groups and races. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2008). “Female representation has been greatest for minor property crimes such as larceny-theft, fraud, forgery, and embezzlement.”(Steffensmeier, Darrell, Allan, Emilie, 1996)
When women conduct criminal activity it is usually a minor crime. They also tend to steer clear of danger or the fact of involving themselves in deadly activities. Women generally earn less than men do because they tend to make only what they need and usually have better things to do with money. Men are motivated to earn far more than they need. Those crimes that are committed from a female consist of things like shop lifting or check fraud. When they are engaging in these types of negative activities, it may be so they can provide for their children and make sure that they have all the domestic goods to furnish for their kens. Women are not known to conduct in more high organized crimes like bank robbery or grand larceny. Compared to their male counterpart they are also less likely to become repeat offenders and find themselves back in the legal system.
  Most crimes committed by women are of less serious offences and less damage to property. Some of them find that getting out of criminal justice system is rather easy. While on the other hand when men engage in violent behavior and find themselves in front of the justice system they are almost guaranteed to receive a greater sentence. It might be because women are known to show more remorse or the fact that they bear children and take on household responsibilities. Females nowadays have had just a slight increase in their incarceration time and that may be due to the fact that there is a strict rule that is coming through the legal channels to treat females and males as equals counterparts. (Greene, Judith, Pranis, Kevin, 2004)
The biological effect is explained that since the beginning of human kind there has been a primary instinct to protect our mate and offspring.”Findings suggest that a biological background positive for mental disorders appears to be associated with an increased risk of violent offending in the children.”(Tehrani, A. Jasmine, Mednick A. Sarnoff. N.D). If there is a biological predisposition to crime it’s still to be determined and understood. Factors like social surroundings, childhood backgrounds and parental disposition may play a key role. Males have had a tendency to be a guardian to child and woman any other male that would enter the surroundings would be considered hazardous to the group.
Criminal behavior has been around for more than decades and will continue to evolve and shape as long as human kind still controls the ability to think freely. As a living, breathing and thinking society, we need to explore all avenues to take on such a serious issue. We can either lock up criminals for a life sentence to control their compulsions or we as a society that is free to think can begin to establish a new approach into the mind of those who are incapable of touching bases with their uncontrollable tendencies.


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