Running head: EPIDEMIC OF CRIME IN AMERICA

Epidemic of Crime in America Jerome Calderwood DeVry University

EPIDEMIC OF CRIME IN AMERICA Epidemic of Crime in America The United States of America is a great country as it was founded on the belief that all men are created equal, and the citizens are guided under certain rights outlined by the United States Constitution. For example the Fourth Amendment states that a citizen who is accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Some people take advantage of this and they work the system. With this working of the system crime rates increase. Let me pose this question what is crime? Crime is any action that is breaking any laws that we have in place. As society evolves there has been a change in morals in the United States. With every decade that passes the crime rate in America fluctuates in the past thirteen years this has been the case, the amount of crime; violent or not, rise in numbers. For example violent crime rates across the U.S. jumped by about 18 percent, and property crimes rose by 11 percent between 2010 and 2011, according to a report released Wednesday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. (Rudolf, 2012 Violent Crime Up). One of the reasons of the drastic change in crime rate is due to the advent of technology. Another reason that crime is on the rise is due to the media that we allow our children to view or listen to. Instead of throwing those who commit crimes in jails and prisons we need to address the problem and figure out ways to fix or reduce the epidemic of crime. Crime in America can be reduced through finding the underlying psychological reasons why a criminal committed a crime, developing reentry programs for those who are about to be released from incarceration, and most importantly creating community deterrent programs to educate against criminal activities. Before the issue of crime can be addressed properly there is a need to identify why crimes are committed. There are some theories why crimes are committed and some of them include psychological, environmental, and genetic. However, any theory can come around full circle and

EPIDEMIC OF CRIME IN AMERICA be said that there is some sort of psychological reasoning or defect that can cause a person to break the law. Once the reasoning behind the act or the willingness to act on a criminal thought is identified then we can start to examine how to fix this fixable problem in America. The first part of reasoning we need to understand is how the mind works. The human personality contains a three part structure that can attribute to criminal activities: instant gratification, ego and conscience. This could affect the thought process of a person and want them to seek out the gratification of getting the best of someone or the thrill of the act. However, people will have to either explore their conscience or ignore it. A persons past experiences throughout their lives mold their personality and in turn can mold what choices they are going to make. If a person has made good choices in the past then the person is less likely to engage in criminal behavior. However, if a person for example was abused as a child they are more likely to engage in some sort of criminal behavior. Criminals have a weak ego and they have damaged personalities. Personality theories attempt to explain how people acquire predispositions toward certain behavior. These predispositions are sometimes discussed in terms of personality traits, such as impulsiveness and stubbornness, or personality types, such as introvert and extrovert. (Ceriaco, Factors Influencing the Commission of Crime). Also, with the personality traits, a person is more likely to commit crimes when they have a family history of criminals. These people think that these actions are a product of society and in turn will continue the family business. If a person has good experiences, had a moral upbringing, and no family history of crime, then can they still be a criminal and commit crimes? The answer here is yes. Criminal activity is not just inherited from family members or based on past experiences, or even done as act of crying out. Criminal activity is not a natural urge in humans; it has to be learned from

EPIDEMIC OF CRIME IN AMERICA somewhere. In the past criminal activity was indeed learned from family members and passed down, until the circle was broken, this is not the case in these current times. The media that we subject ourselves to can indeed mold our personalities and can depending on cognitive level, allow the person to believe what they hear or see can be done in real life. The most popular music today is Rap Music. The lyrics of this type of music are vulgar, violent, demeaning towards women, and they also idolize criminal behavior including murder, rape, drug abuse and the selling of drugs. Some people do not have the ability to distinguish between the entertainment value of lyrics and movies and what real life is. Therefore, the person would want to act on these urges that are idolized in music and video, as they want to earn the satisfaction or boost their ego as their idols sing or do on the screen. There is a need to understand the offenders psychological state before any programs can be instituted to assist the offender in understanding that their behavior is not acceptable. The largest part of criminality is the persons or offenders level of cognitive function. Those who have a faulty ability to process information will misread social situations. This misread of social situations can force the individual to make the incorrect decision and thus causing a criminal action to be completed. A person who is depressed is more prone to engage in criminal activities. For example the shooters who were involved in the Columbine shooting were depressed as well as being psychopathic. Other mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can lead to criminal and violent tendencies. Before we can make sure an offender is ready to be released we have to first identify any mental illness or imbalance that the offender might have. Once these issues are identified, then we have to also identify the proper remedy of these issues. The remedies could be psychological counseling, medication or the combination of treatments. Once treatments are completed then the

EPIDEMIC OF CRIME IN AMERICA offender should be then moved to a reentry program. These programs are going to mold the offender to become a law abiding member of society. After any psychological issues are identified and remedied, the background of the offender must be identified. We would have to take in account how many times the offender has been incarcerated, if any members of their family have been incarcerated and if they are prone to reoffend. Once this is completed we then will have to mold the offender to reenter our society and become a productive, yet law abiding member of it. To help mold the offender, he or she must attend private, one on one psychiatry sessions to determine why the crime was committed. These sessions will help access any underlying issues that are currently present in the offender. These sessions will also answer the question if the offender will reoffend and how jail or prison changed their life. Once the sessions are completed then the offender can graduate to the next step. However, these sessions are not free and that someone needs to pay for these sessions. If the costs of these sessions are passed on to the tax payer the taxes will go up, so therefore the cost of these sessions should be passed, in part to the offender. These can be repaid after release, as a condition of parole is to obtain and hold gainful employment. After the psychiatrist passes the offender, the next step would be to access the educational level of the offender. If the offender has not completed high school then it should be mandated that the offender before release be offered G.E.D. courses to obtain his or her diploma as this is needed to obtain employment anywhere. If the offender has his or her diploma or G.E.D. then the institution can provide college level courses to prepare them for higher education. Also, part of this education will be skills training to help the offender obtain gainful employment in a field of his or her choice. Also, the jails or prisons can develop partnerships with businesses in the area, so that the offenders can obtain employment easier as some

EPIDEMIC OF CRIME IN AMERICA corporations will not hire anyone with a criminal background or felony convictions. Finally, there will be a need to educate the offender how their adverse actions have had a ripple effect and that not only the victims of their crimes are affected, but also their families and people close to them are affected as well. Reentry programs should be made mandatory and should be successfully completed before the offender is released in to the public. However, most people will be against these programs as they think that these will be costly to the tax payer, as the offender will not have any money to pay for these programs. Reentry programs will be designed to pass the cost to the offender. Once the offender has gainful employment part of their pay will be sent to the institution for these programs and as a condition of their parole will be to make sure payments are current. We also will have to educate the public that the offender will be paying for these programs and not the tax payer and that these programs will benefit the community and to help lower the crime rate as there will be a lower level of reoffenders incarcerated. The only way to help lower the crime rate is to educate the public. This includes children and adults. A program which is becoming a popular deterrent tool is a program called Scared Straight. This program introduces juveniles who show the signs of violent and criminal activity and then introduces them into a controlled, yet supervised prison population to show them the possible consequences of adverse actions. A part of the program is to make sure the juvenile sees what could happen and at the end of the day if the juvenile does not pass a test given to them by the group of prisoners then the juvenile will spend the next twenty-four hours behind bars. This is used to deter them from criminal activity and to stop violent behavior. While in school children should have assemblies that include speakers to talk about the consequences of crime and the possible outcomes. The speaker that goes to school should be a

EPIDEMIC OF CRIME IN AMERICA current inmate or past inmate who is qualified and went through education to become a public speaker. These speakers should also explain in detail their experiences and that the youth should not follow in their paths. The biggest deterrent to crime is a positive parental structure. There should also be parental education programs to assist the parents in teaching their children about crime. Also, these programs will show parents the signs of substance abuse. Also these programs will show parents how to nonviolently punish juveniles. These programs should be mandated through the healthcare that is provided from the employer. There are theories that contradict the theory that crime is a psychological issue. Paul Rock states: that people seek to commit crimes because it is profitable, useful, or enjoyable for them to do so, and that they will almost certainly break the law if they can. (Rock, Sociological Theories of Crime p.6). Instead of crime being a mental issue, it is a social issue that is caused by the environment around the alleged criminal. This also leads into another theory that crime is a rational choice made by the individual. As cities grow, it was held, so there would be a progressive and largely spontaneous differentiation of space, population, and function that concentrated different groupings in different areas. (Rock, Sociological Theories of Crime p.11). Therefore, the environment that people are in is a major cause of criminal behavior. Therefore, if someone is incarcerated, according to the sociological theory that crime is not a psychological issue and due to this issue the incarcerated individual knowingly and willfully put themselves in that situation. So, once released from incarceration, even with education and other programs the convict will reoffend and therefore any programs offered in prison or jail is a waste of money and time. However, the attitude needs to change in America when it comes to helping those in need. Those who are incarcerated are crying out for help and they are doing it the wrong way.

EPIDEMIC OF CRIME IN AMERICA Once one theory is accepted as a valid reason why a person would go against the society and break laws, then that society can accept that it is responsible to help those who are in need. The theories of crime all comes down to the issue of underlying psychological issues that are present in that person. There is a reason why people immigrate to America and that is our laws and our rights that we have. However, our crime rate is very high compared to other countries in this world. We have to realize that people make mistakes, and some people have a mental illness that will cause them to break the law and become a burden to society. We as a community of humans need to come together to help those in need. To lower the epidemic of overflowing jails, and crime we need to institute community deterrent programs and mold those who are incarcerated to become a contributing member of our society. By identifying mental illness and behaviors in all members of society will help deterrence and reoffending and will also limit criminal activity. We also have to monitor the types of media we allow ourselves to view or hear as the imagery of lyrics and above the cuff action in movies can affect our view on the world and reality. Once we realize that we should do our part in helping our fellow man and to educate those around us about crime and how to stop it, then we all can enjoy what this world and this life has to offer.

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References Ciraco, C (2007). Factors Influencing the Commission of Crime. Rock, P Sociological Theories of Crime. Rudolf, J (2012) Violent Crime Up in the US for the First Time in 2 Decades, Despite FBI Claims.