Causes of Crimes - Research Paper Example

? Causes of Crime Compared to other developing and developed nations, the US records the highest cases of homicide. In comparison toLatin America, however, the US records a much lower rate of homicide. The standard unit of gauging homicide rate is per 100, 000 people in any country (Brearley 2012). In the year 2011, the murder rate in the US was 4.8 percent per 100,000 people (Brearley 2012). This value recorded as the lowest rate since 1963. The 1980s recorded as the darkest years of US in term of homicide rates. In the 1980s, the rate of homicide in the country was at its highest peak. The murder rate in US during this Dark Age was at 10.2 percent per 100,000 people (Brearley 2012). In 1957, however, US recorded the lowest rate of homicide at 4.0 percent, in comparison to last year when the homicide rate in the country recorded at 4.6% (Brearley 2012). A brief overview of the statistics provided on homicide cases reveals a gradual increase of homicide rates from the 1950s, all through the 1960s until it peaks in the 1980s. From 1990s, the rate of homicide drastically reduced until it leveled in the early 2000s (Brearley 2012). I concur with the statistics provided; the 1980s marked the period subsequent to the Second World War. During this period, most developing nations like the US focused on development and laid less emphasize on humanitarian activities. Hence, crimes committed against humanity augmented during this period. Insecurity and poverty during this period also contributed the influx of homicide cases in the 1980s (Brearley 2012). Through the 1990s, as nations became economically stable, they invested more revenue in battling crime. Consequently, this contributed to a significant reduction of homicide all through the 1990s, until the present situation (Brearley 2012). According to a research carried by Science Direct, homicide offenders fall into four categories. The first category of homicide offenders covers individuals who commit homicide catalyzed by a prior argument or altercation (Duwe 2007). The second class of homicide offenders involves individuals who commit the crime while undertaking another crime such as burglary (Duwe 2007). Individuals who commit homicide related to domestic violence or marital issues fall in the third category of homicide offenders (Duwe 2007). The fourth category of homicide offenders covers individuals charged with the offence subsequent to a crime incident (Duwe 2007). Individuals who perform homicide while undertaking another felony occupy the largest position in the spectrum of homicide offenders (Duwe 2007). Individuals who commit homicide prior to an intense argument follow suit at 27% of all homicide crimes committed in the USA (Duwe 2007). Domestic violence homicide offenders occupy approximately less than 10% of all homicide cases while individuals who accidentally commit homicide fall at 17 % (Duwe 2007). In terms of race, homicide cases record highest within communities of the black race. In the 1980s, for instance, the rate of homicide committed by offenders of the black race only, recorded at 48.40 % (Duwe 2007). In the period ranging from the 1980s to the year 2004, offenders of the black community have committed approximately 50.50% of homicide cases in the US (Duwe 2007). Until 2004, the white race has committed approximately 46.8% of the homicide crimes (Duwe 2007). Asians so far have committed 1.2 % percent, while Native Americans occupy 1% of homicide offenders (Duwe 2007). In terms of gender, males occupy approximately 89 percent of homicide offenders (Duwe 2007). Females account for 10 percent of homicide offenders (Duwe 2007). Most homicide offenders are youths but not necessarily juveniles. Adults between the age of 18 to 34 account for approximately 45% of homicide cases, while firearms record as the most employed weapons in committing homicide (Duwe 2007). Crime falls in the category of deviant behavior that contradicts normal living. Psychological theories seek to explain factors that lead to deviant behavior such as homicide. All psychological theories that seek to explain the causes of crime have fours factors in common (Siegel 2012). First, the individual in question is the fundamental reason and point of reference to the psychological analysis (Siegel 2012). Secondly, all theories concur that personality plays a crucial role in determining behavior and that thirdly criminal offenders partake in criminal activities because of personality dysfunction (Siegel 2012). Fourthly, these three psychological theories agree that mental illness, hostile living conditions and presence of morally insufficient role models are some of the factors that lead individuals into committing crime (Siegel 2012). Psychoanalytic theory developed by Sigmund Freud is a theory that attempts to explain why individuals commit crime. According to the psychoanalysis theory, all humans have a subconscious mind that suppresses natural desire and want (Berger 2000). In the same light, humans have natural instincts of committing crime (Berger 2000). The society suppresses criminal tendencies in human beings at a tender age through socialization (Berger 2000). On the contrary, if a child grows up in a society that supports and upholds crime there is a higher chance of the child developing into a criminal (Berger 2000). The theory adds that individuals who project their personality deficiencies or disturbances outward often engage in criminal activities (Berger 2000). Cognitive Development Theory developed by Lawrence Kohlberg is a second theory that seeks to explain the psychological causes of crime. This theory argues that criminal tendencies develop according to how an individual organizes thoughts in regards to morality and law (Siegel 2012). According to this theory, normal reasoning consists of three stages (Siegel 2012). The first stage of normal reasoning also known as the preconvention stage covers obedience and punishment avoidance. Individuals attain this height of moral reasoning at the onset of middle childhood (Siegel 2012). The second stage of moral reasoning known as conventional stage occurs at the conclusion of middle childhood, and it covers expectations subjected to an individual by parents or other significant people in the individual’s life (Siegel 2012). The third stage of moral reasoning known as postcoventional occurs at the height of adulthood and covers all social responsibility (Siegel 2012). The theory of cognitive development argues that individuals, who do not pass through all stages of moral reasoning, get stuck in one phase development, and venture into crime as a measure of fulfilling their personal inadequacies (Siegel 2012). Third psychological theory known as the Learning Theory explains the causes of crime through behavioral analysis or psychology (Gottfred 2012). According to Learning Theory, an individual adapts behavior through the punishments or rewards that the behavior derives (Gottfred 2012). An individual, therefore indulges into crime by observing consequences in terms punishments and rewards that other individual’s acquire from engaging in that criminal activity(Gottfred 2012). If robbing a bank for instance, results into quick easy money, an individual will engage in bank robbing despite the dangers associated with the vice (Gottfred 2012). Out of all the psychological theories discussed in this essay, the Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory best explains why individuals commit homicide. This theory explains why most homicide offenders are of the black race. This is because most homicide offenders from the black race grow up in violent communities, where crime and violence are the order everyday life. In the same light, these individuals grow up accepting crime. This theory also explains why most cases of homicide trickles down to domestic violence. Homicide offenders in stressful and unhappy marriages project their anger and frustrations outward by committing homicide. References Berger, S. (2000). Prior self-disclosure, and actual confiding in an interpersonal encounter. Journal of Small Group Behavior, 555-562. Brearley, H. C. (2012). Homicide in the United States. New York: Patterson Smith. Duwe, G. (2007). Mass Murder in the United States. Kansas: McFarland. Gottfred, M. R. (2009). A General Theory of Crime. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Siegel, L. J. (2012). Criminology:Theories, Patterns, and Typologies. New York: Cengage Learning. Read More