Crime in the Contemporary Society - Article Example

CRIME IN THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY Student’s name Code & Course Professor’s name University City Date Introduction The concept of crime is a type of human behavior that has begged comprehensive and deeply researched studies on the subject (Morris, 2013). Legally defined, crimes are omissions that have been forbidden by the law and attract punishment of various forms based on the type of crime that has been committed (Hagan, 2012). Behaviorally defined, criminality is the personality of an individual where the profiled person commits forbidden acts in the eyes of the law and the society (Hagan, 2012). In order to understand criminality, there is the need to focus on the vital attributes of the criminal behaviors rather than the specific acts of crime. Crimes elementally involve the use of force, stealth or fraud to obtain resources in a wrong manner (Morris, 2013). The behavior of criminals is primarily associated with low self control and among individuals who find criminality an enjoyable behavior. The trends of crime globally have increased with and the crime content has become alarmingly dynamic (Clinard et al., 2014). There are newer categories of offenders thus shaping a very novel kind of crime environment. Crimes associated with the economic sector, particularly in businesses have more than doubled. Additionally, organized crime has taken root and the number of individuals taking into crime as a kind of lifestyle is disturbingly large (Clinard et al., 2014). In a bid to fully understand the nature and implications of crime, there is a need to critically, analyze the different parts and factors that affect crime and identify how they work distinctly or together to influence crime. This retro respect paper therefore seeks to assess crime in the contemporary society and bases its discussion on class, gender and race and the association to crime. The following section gives a broadened view of the current society and crime. Crime in the Contemporary Society The current society possesses new strains the affect the financial, social and personal perspectives of individuals (Kendall, 2012). Consumerism has gone up and products and services that were once considered as luxurious now top among the list of consumer needs. With changing mindsets and ideals the contemporary individual is more demanding and expectant of much more than in previous eras (Kendall, 2012). As with the rise of all these factors, the rate and nature of criminality has equally risen with crimes taking a whole new dimension of organization and creative operation (Taylor et al., 2013). The lack of equilibrium in the social structure has caused a social fracture which could be the main foundation of habits leading to criminality. Inequality in the contemporary society has created boundaries, though not actually defined, where interactions between races and classes portrays the widely varied differences between the classes, genders and races. With so much to notice, the weaker social community is tempted to entertain thoughts of inequality based on their gender, their social class or their race (Kendall, 2012). This structural based rejection that is felt consequently results to resentment of the other divide and dramatically leads to acts of violence and crime. Gender and Crime in the Contemporary Society Based on previous studies, crime is highly interrelated with gender, particularly the male gender. The involvement of the male gender in crime is particularly attributed to the attempts to display their masculinity via crime and violence and the social barriers to fairness that have subjected them to unemployment and poverty (Barrack et al., 2014). Men are naturally expected to be stronger, being the more aggressive sex and be able to fend for themselves. However, when the forces get too strong combined with a personality that entertains the thought of gaining from the suffering of people, then they result to crime. With a culture that previously protected and watched closely over women, it had been difficult to find women criminals due to the nature of their activities and the restrictions based upon them by the society (Oakley, 2015). The liberalization of women additionally produced more positive results with more acceptances being gained in the employment market thus leaving little reason to resort to crime. This fact does not rule out the existence of women criminals. Being the more susceptible sex, research states that women make better criminals as they are never expected to have such behavior in the first place (Belknap, 2014). As such, they have more capability to confuse and commit crime more successfully than men. Approaches to studying crime and gender are mostly founded on socio-psychological factors. The discussion leans on the background of the criminal, the type of parenting, the social environment and personal factors that are highly likely to influence crime within the individual. Studies have shown that due to the greater exposure of girls to parenting more than boys, emotional bonding occurs and girls are able to exercise more control than boys (Barrack et al., 2014). The cultural definitions of men moreover present an image of competitiveness, aggressiveness, strength and independence. The interpretation of these attributes could easily lead to a man or a boy victimizing another individual to gain resources forcibly. Social Class and Crime in the Contemporary Society There exist five different adaptations to cultural and social values in which include conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion (Kwok-bun, 2013). This as a foundation to understand the behavior of individuals as associated to social structures. The same adaptations however vary on the basis of the perspective of the individual. The real victims of the structure of the social class are those at the lower class. Crime could be stated as a response to the strain that is caused by inequalities. The roles played by the higher class seem to be a factor that incites the anger on the lower class. The image of high class individuals comes out as rich, spoilt and lazy with the right connections and this perception is a potential threat to the existence peace in the society. The fear of increased threat and victimization acts to encourage prevention measures that are social in nature and this could include targeting a social structure through violence to make a living or simply act out of retribution (Marzbhali et al., 2012). The higher classes always place themselves in a position of power and consequently model the ideology of social concept (Barrack et al., 2014). The inequalities of the disadvantaged are then culturally reproduced by social and academic institutions to maintain the cultural supremacy system of the ruling class. The lower class is thus forced to act in a way that counterbalances henceforth the alternative of crime (Barrack et al., 2014). Race and Crime in the Contemporary Society In the society, when individuals are not provided with the means to achieve the goals required by the society, strain occurs and this sometimes leads to a negative effect (Staub, 2013). Based on the labeling theory, assigning significance of character, behavior or personality based on their background, color or personality greatly affect the way they view themselves (Roback, 2013). Street children for instance are always labeled as criminals. This in turn affects their thinking and they resort to crime with the idea in mind that whatever the case they will still be labeled as criminals. In the United States, the equality argument has been the most discussed principally because of the two main races that are found there; whites and blacks, and the others such as the Hispanics and the red Indians (Omi & Winant, 2014). The undeniable fact is that there can never be a perfect society where all individuals have equal chances of social and economic statuses. The stronger culture in the society always gains the upper hand (Barrack et al., 2014). Viewing the case of the United States, the black’s society might have achieved freedom and independence from the white man but the rates of discrimination have not really gone down. Initially possessing attributes of the lower class people; the poverty, unemployment and life in degraded environments exposed them to criminal behavior. Despite the liberation, independence and equity forums, the primacy of crime among the black race still remains. Conclusion The paper discussed the crime in the contemporary society and the social constructions of race, gender and social class. The study looked at class structure, racial justice and the genders, focusing on the systems of privilege and inequality based on these social constructs. The prevalence of the factors in the organization of crime has remained despite efforts to punish and correct crime. It therefore goes further to say that these forms of justice act to the disadvantage of the criminals affected. It also shows that crime based on gender, race and social class is deeply rooted and close to a culture where the criminals feel that they are doing the right thing by acting up against their unequal on the other side of the divide. This research thus proposes the integration of social control policies to create a social balance even though imperfect where individuals are not tempted to get into crime in order to survive. Reference List Barak, G., Leighton, P., & Cotton, A. (2014). Class, race, gender, and crime: The social realities of justice in America. Rowman & Littlefield. Belknap, J. (2014). The invisible woman: Gender, crime, and justice. Cengage Learning. Clinard, M. R., Quinney, R., & Wildeman, J. (2014). Criminal behavior systems: A typology. Routledge. Hagan, F. E. (2012). Introduction to criminology: Theories, methods, and criminal behavior. Sage Publications. Kendall, D. (2012). Sociology in our times. Cengage Learning Kwok-bun, C., & Plüss, C. (2013). 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