Criminal Behavior in the Community - Essay Example

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IN THE COMMUNITY Affiliation Criminal Behavior in the Community The focus of this paper is burglary. For the purposes of this paper, burglary shall be referred to as the breaking and entering of a dwelling with the intent to commit a crime. The burglaries discussed in this paper have been restricted to the ones that take place in dwelling homes or apartments. This paper has analyzed the causes of burglary using two etiology theories, the theory that crime is a result of poverty and the routine activities theory. A literature review of the statistics of the burglary rates has also been done. The statistics indicate that the male gender is the highest perpetrators of burglary. However, the incidences of burglary are on the decrease in the United States. Lastly, various prevention measures for the crime of burglary as well as their success levels have been identified. Introduction In the 21st-century crime rate has increased leading to a lot of insecurity tensions in many cities of the world. Some nations have tried to improve their security status by employing a high number of security personnel ranging from police, the different departments of Army among other security trained organs. In modules 1 and 2, I selected burglary as a criminal behavior having particular interests me. I have used the FBI UCR program in making a further investigation on this behavior. In this Psychology paper, I am going to give a deeper analysis of burglary using the etiological theory that poverty causes crime. I will also give an analysis of the prevention, intervention and treatment specific to burglary. Analysis of Burglary An individual is said to have committed burglary when he or she gets into a building with a predetermined and preset idea, as well as the willingness and plan for committing crime (Canter & Alison, 2000). The particular crime in this case is conductive theft or felony within the building. In this case, the building can get considered as a private one owned by an individual, and the owner in this case is the only person with the right for entrance. The building may also be considered a public one but got closed and the public cannot enter into it for certain duration, due to some stated reasons. Majority of the perpetrators of this crime are male, and there are very few reports showing the involvement of the female fender in this particular crime. This is based on the fact that this kind of criminal behavior demands some energy and physique to undertake some of its processes requiring force (Catalano, 2010). Since majority of men are more muscular as compared to the female sex, they find themselves in a better position to commit burglary than the female sex. From the records by the FBI, I found that majority of those who get involved in burglary are the African, Hispanic and the Latino Americans. This can get attributed to the fact that majority of youths and other young adults from these three races tend to get into groups and spend the best of their time together. It is in these groups where they take and abuse drugs, alcohol, forming a lot of peer pressure towards this kind of behaviors crimes. Poverty is equally a contributing factor to this crime as the people would be tempted to steal so as to make a living. Majority of those aligned to court with the cases of burglary are of between ages of 22-40. Some of the FBI officials argued that it is within this age bracket that you find individuals thinking in more irrational ways, as well as easily getting influenced by others. 90% of those who commit burglary are economically unstable and do not involved in any economical activities that may give them some income. In other words majority are lazy individuals who get unemployed and are not willing to indulge in any employment activity, even if offered to them. This kind of crime attracts different penalties depending on its magnitude and its misdemeanor levels (Mawby, 2001). The penalty to this particular crime varies across a number of states, as well as other factors in the case. In some cases it may lead to jail or prison penalty, especially for a case of a felony burglary offence. It may also lead to fines, and these fines are significant ones ranging from $1000 to $100,000. It may also lead to restitution, especially in cases where there is no property damage or loss. Other restitution may involve the offender getting orders by the jury to compensate for the damaged or lost property. Others may also attract probation penalties. Statistics of Burglary in the United States The Department of Justice of the United States was responsible for the compiling of statistics of burglars under the effect of drugs or alcohol. Among 95,189 burglars who were on probation in the year 1995, 23.3% were dug addicts while 38.5% were alcoholics. This made the percentage of the burglars who were using alcohol or drugs to be 49.4%. This was the greatest recorded percentage of offenders as compared to the people who had committed other crimes apart from burglary. The Uniformed Crime Reports of the United States indicated that 356,000 burglars were arrested in the year 1997. The Albany Sourcebook recorded that the number of burglars reduced significantly between the year 1971 and 1997. 202.9 people per 1000 and 134.2 people per 1000 were arrested for the offence of burglary in 1971 and 1997 respectively. This showed a clear decline in the number of people that were being arrested for the offence of burglary. The Albany Sourcebook recorded that in 1997 the burglars who were arrested in the cities of the United States were 179,013. The suburban areas recorded half the number of burglars in the cities indicating a total of 87,237 burglars. The number of burglars in the rural areas was comparatively very low with a record of 25,149 burglars. The number of burglars declined in 1998 as reported by the Uniform Crime Reports. The number of burglars arrested in 1998 was 333,700. A study carried out by the FBI in 1995 on five cities in America indicated that Des Moines city had 1430 burglars of which 691 were females while 727 were males and the gender of the remaining 12 was unknown. Grand Forks city had 316 burglars of which 116 were females while 200 were males. In short, all the cities studied recorded a higher number of male burglars as compared to female burglars. This was however with the exception of Greenville, South Carolina city which had more female burglars than male burglars by 50. As the populations of these cities increased, the number of burglars equally increased. A study conducted by the Department of Justice in 1992 showed that the younger people engaged more in burglary as compared to the older people. This was more especially because of the coming into force of the National Crime Victimization Survey. The department indicated that the only older people who engaged in burglary were male persons of the black origin aged between the ages of 65-75. These older people were also likely to have an income of 25,000 US dollars, divorced and living in the urban areas. The Department of Justice also indicated that the number of burglars in 1998 were 4,054 as compared to the burglars in 1997 who were 4,635. This was a decline in the number of burglars. In 1994, the New York Crime Statistics gave their report on the number of burglars. The report indicated that the number of burglars in New York were 163,890 in 1994. The same statistics showed that the number of burglars in New York in 1997 were 119,084. This shows that there was equally a decline in the number of burglars in the United States. It is possible that the number of burglars in these statistics would have increased if there were proper reporting mechanisms for the same. The underreporting rates are high because of a lack of proper mechanism to report the same. Etiological Theories of Burglary To analyze the causes of burglary, I will employ the use of the etiological theory that crime in society is as a result of poverty as well as the routine activities theory. Cromwell (1991) indicates that most of the existing burglars are drug addicts. They will therefore resolve to this criminal behavior in order for them to get the money to purchase these drugs. Cromwell equally indicates that the burglars are in most cases concerned with the immediate satisfaction that they will get from their criminal behavior such as revenue to sustain their living. Future consequences of the crime are not put into consideration. Reppeto (1974) agrees in entirety with Cromwell and states that these people are involved in burglary activities because they need to quench their desire for money. Scarr (1973) indicated that burglars are motivated by three main elements. The first one is their desire to have money with which to buy the drugs that they are addicted to. Secondly, they are motivated by their desire for money so as to lead a sophisticated and luxurious lifestyle without working for it. Lastly, social motives also play a major role in the criminal activities that burglars take part in. these social motives would arise from their peers, social status as well as felonious sub-cultures. The fact that these studies indicate that the burglars commit crimes as a result of their desire for money, then it is clear that poverty issues are involved. This desire for money is fueled by the need to buy drugs. Most research studies indicate that more than 50% of burglars commit the crime so as to buy the drugs that they are addicted to. If they had the money to purchase those drugs, then maybe they would not have committed burglary. But because they are poor and they lack the money, they result to burglary so as to get it. Burglary is aggravated by the desire for money, as Cromwell (1991) stresses. A study carried out by the FBI indicates that most of the burglaries committed are done in the cities and big towns. This is in comparison to the rural as well as suburban areas. This therefore gives a clear picture of the Burgess’ Concentric Zone Model. The model acknowledges that the people subjected to severe poverty reside nearby to the cities. It can therefore be rightly argued that the reason as to why most of the burglaries take place in the cities and major towns is because of the presence of a majority of the poor people who live near the cities. Reductions in the amount of crime can only be attained in a society when there is economic growth and the poor families gain financial stability (Chamlin, 1998). Financial stability will enhance the self-worth of the burglars and they will stop to take part in criminal activities. Statistics have indicated that the rates of burglars over the past ten years have gone down. This can be attributed to the growth in the economy as well as the reduction of unemployment rates. This can be translated to mean that the people subjected to poverty are being elevated from their poor conditions. They will thus have no desire to steal if they have the money that they need at their disposal. This explanation clearly shows that there is a relationship between burglary and poverty. In addition, burglary is the only felony that is inspired predominantly by demanding economic needs, unlike robbery and homicide (Baumer, Lauritsen, Rosenfeld & Wright, 1998). The use of crack cocaine has a major influence on the number of burglaries that are committed in a particular area. Crack is highly addictive and once taken, the person gains a desire to get more. This will make them to involve in burglary in order to get the required amount of money to buy the drug. Baumer (1998) states that in the wee hours of the night burglary rarely occur as most of the residential buildings are often occupied. It is also indicated that the use of crack cocaine is at its peak at this time. Routine activities theory also offers a good explanation behind the occurrence of burglary. The theory states that perpetrators of crime are motivated to commit the crime when there are no appropriate targets and skillful custodians. Mustaine (1998) shows that the presence of an alarm for burglars is likely to reduce the likelihood of burglary victimization. This theory also gains support from the explanation that the old people in the society are more vulnerable to be victims of crime than the young people. During bad economic times the rates of burglary would go down (Fowles & Merva, 1996). This is because there is no suitable target at residential buildings as many people would be guarding the homestead. This Routine Activities Theory however contradicts the theory that poverty causes crime in this aspect. Biological, Social Learning and Sociological Theory of Burglary Sub-cultural theory elucidates burglary delinquency arguing that definite subcultures or in the social order have approaches and morals that are favorable to burglary as well as vehemence. The principal emphasis of this theory is, nevertheless, on juvenile wrongdoing because the subsidiary theorists trust that if this antisocial arrangement can be organized and tacit, it will discontinue or abate the prospects of the conversion from teenage criminal to really, proficient typical criminal. This relates most in the perspective of burglary where the crime commences in most cases at the teenage age and matures into a skilled burglar. Prevention, Intervention and Treatment Mechanisms for Burglary Prevention of burglary can be done through the use of community prevention. This refers to the capability of occupants to collaborate to address crime in their communities, for example through the Neighborhood Watch program. Burglary can also be prevented by the use of police to arrest the perpetrators of these crimes and put in place deterrent measures for the same as well as the use of social prevention in which the people can intervene to arrest the burglars and even incarcerate them. Lastly, burglary levels can be reduced by the use of home programs. This is whereby various homes come up with specific measures on how they can effectively shield and protect their property against burglars. Anger management classes should be introduced for the burglars as a treatment mechanism. Empathy training should be equally emphasized. Treatment Success and Recidivism Rates of Burglary Research indicates that the use of community prevention adds little or no value in the decrease of burglary in the community. This is because this prevention mechanism is done on a voluntary basis and most people may not have the incentive to take part in it. The home program may equally not succeed as the burglars will force their entry into a residential place if they have the desire to obtain money. The success of the social prevention mechanisms is also low as the cases of burglary are underreported. However with proper implementation, the social programs can offer a long-term solution to the burglary cases. The police also face challenges in deterring burglary as the cases of burglary are underreported (Portland State University, 2010). Conclusion From the foregoing analysis, it is clear that the burglary levels have gradually declining. This would be contributed to the growth of the economy. Although poverty is a contributing factor to crime, it would be extremely difficult to argue that it is the sole cause for burglary. This is because there are other contributing factors like the social and economic conditions of the people (Bonger, 1996). All in all, poverty can either cause crime directly or indirectly. The Routine Theory and poverty are therefore perfect explanations for the cause of burglary in a society. Future research needs to be done on the risk factors of burglary, etiology of burglary as well as appropriate treatment measures for the same. This will be very significant in reducing the burglary levels in the society. References Baumer, E., Lauritsen,J., Rosenfeld, R. & Wright, R.(1998). The influence of crack cocaine on robbery, burglary and homicide rates: A cross-city, longitudinal analysis. SAGE Publications Bonger, W. (1996). Criminality and economic conditions in criminological perspectives. SAGE Publications Canter, D., & Alison, L. (2000). Profiling property crimes. Aldershot: Ashgate. Catalano, S. (2010). Victimization during household burglary. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Chamlin, M.B. & John, K. (1998). Casualty, economic conditions and burglary. Wiley Online Library. Cromwell, P.F. & Olson, J.N. 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