Critical Evaluation of Crime as a Social Problem - Coursework Example

Running Head: SOCIAL PROBLEM Topic: Social Problem Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction The world we are living in currently is faced by high levels of crime, which can be attributed to moral decay and advancements in technology as well as the lack of employment among the world’s population (Mathews, 2002). A crime is an action that is committed by a person or a group of people and which is against the set laws that are documented in a constitution. There are various categories of crimes depending on their magnitude for example the violent crime index and property crime index. Violent crimes are for example rape, murder, homicide, assault etc while property index crimes include and not limited to burglary, theft, arson, etc (Mathews, 2002). This essay is a critical evaluation of crime as a social problem in the society a well as the measures that can be put into place to ensure that the vice is contained for the welfare and the security of citizens in the world. Crime The rate of crime has risen significantly in the society. To some extent, this can be attributed to the invention of lethal weapons such as guns and ammunition especially during the world wars whereby the various super powers were battling over military superiority (Mednick, 2001). This saw the invention of weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear bombs, assault rifles, and grenades as well as other small arms such as pistols and bayonets. Whereas the initial intention of these discoveries was for the protection of the nation’s sovereignty through military empowerment, the end result was that the equipment found their way into the civilian hands either accidentally or through illegal means. For example, it is approximated that 190,000 weapons issued to Iraq forces in the year 2007 can not be accounted for by the US department of defense (Dunbar, 2006). Probably, the arms found their way into the wrong hands of illegal forces who pose a great risk to the security of civilians as well as government forces that are out to maintain law and order. People commit crimes due to a variety of reasons. These reasons are for example peer pressure (Mednick, 2001). This refers to the influence that people may have on the conduct of their friends who could be of the same age group as they are or even older who may decide to follow the habits of others without questioning the moral aspect of what they intend to do as long as it satisfies their worldly fantasies. Such groups introduces their friends to crimes such as drug trafficking which is a well paying but risky vice bearing in mind of the consequences that one would face once he is arrested. Once a person tastes the sweet side of the vice, it becomes difficult to move away from such bad company thereby graduating into a self nurtured criminal whose aim is only to acquire money through simple methods which does not require hard work (Mednick, 2001). With time, the person becomes a hard core criminal who cannot sustain himself through any legal means, a factor that has resulted to high school drop out rates as well as irresponsibility among the youth. Other factor which may make a person to commit crime is lack of education (Mednick, 2001). With the introduction of education, it became almost impossible for the illiterate persons as well as those who do not perform well in academics to secure decent jobs in the society. Even though this does not justify their decisions to associate themselves with criminal activities, it has contributed greatly to the rise in crime due to the fact that the cost of living has risen due to poor economic policies which do not address the problem of unemployment in the society as it should be. The factor also puts a great difference between the rich and the poor whereby those who manage to secure government positions as well as employment in the private sectors of the economy acquire massive wealth whereas those surviving on casual wages earn far much less than they can manage (Mednick, 2001). In addition, they tend to distribute wealth and resources among themselves leaving the low income earners to live under poor conditions thereby creating a rift between the rich and the poor. To sustain their families as well as themselves and with the motivation to bridge the gap, the poor people may be forced to take up any opportunity which may present itself provided it offers a chance to better their lives. To manage this problem, the government should ensure that it creates opportunities not only in the white collar jobs but also in the less technical fields such as Agriculture as well as providing subsidies to these people so that they can start their own businesses (Mathews, 2002). This may go a long way in cutting down the number of youths who are vulnerable to forces of crime while at the same time securing the future of the economy as well as future generations. The distribution of wealth should also be harmonized so that the economic rift between the rich and the poor can be removed thus ensuring that everyone lives a comfortable life regardless of his level of education or social status. The US citizens are allowed to own light weapons but which are registered on the government’s database thereby ensuring that they are not misused for example through criminal activities (Thachuk, 2007). However, such legislation may be susceptible to vulnerability due to the fact that it would be difficult to track the weapons in time in cases where a person owning the fire arm is robbed of the same by illegal gangs out to commit a crime. With such weapons in the hands of the civilians, civil wars and mass killings have risen in the recent past as well as terrorism activities masterminded by terrorist gangs for example al-Qaida (Lindsey, 2002). This is a criminal group that has killed hundreds of innocent people especially those who subscribe to the American antiterrorism policies towards such groups. A good example is the September 11 multiple attacks on the America’s world trade center and other government buildings whereby approximately 3000 people including the terrorists died (Dunbar, 2006). Similarly, the same terrorist group had earlier in 1998 conducted a similar tactical attack on the US embassies in Africa Kenya and Tanzania killing and injuring scores of innocent citizens (Lindsey, 2002). As a reaction to these unfortunate attacks, the US government was compelled to take lethal action towards the terrorists by invading Afghanistan where Taliban militia were supposedly harboring Al-Qaida’s activities and terrorists. With respect to America, statistics show that there is a case of murder reported in every half an hour, a woman is raped in every five minutes while there is also a possibility of theft in every ten seconds (Terra Eclipse, T.E, 2010). This has been attributed to the availability of weapons on the streets as well as poor policy formulation in matters that concern security. These are for example the banning of illegal drugs as well as alcohol, an action that critics point as the real causes for the formation of street gangs. It is assumed that the banning of illegal drugs and alcohol gives the opportunity to the gangs who take up the risk of providing such items without the knowledge of the security agents (T.E, 2010). In addition, banning the drugs only makes their prices to go up thereby forcing the addicts to commit robberies in order to afford the drugs. The best approach should therefore be to address the issue from a different perspective for example by supporting rehabilitation of such persons as well as providing moral support to drug users instead of criminalizing and pushing them away from the society. These criminal activities around the world have cost the victimized governments a lot of expenditure while repairing infrastructure and compensating the affected casualties and diseased families, monies which could rather be used in other developmental projects for example providing free education to the poor as well as food to the persons who live in the ASAL regions of the world (White, 2005). They have also led to tightening of boarder security thereby limiting the movement of persons from one country to the other especially to the terrorist target nations such as the US and its allies. The US government has also in the recent past been cancelling flights to areas that are identified to be security risk to its citizens on the account that there is no reliable security guarantee at the airports as well as in the interiors (White, 2005). Such an action though justifiable does not only hurt the economy of the receiving countries but also instills fear and panicking among the citizens as well as other developed countries who may decide to take the same action. The most affected nations are the third world countries, who depend on the developed countries for trade as well as aid. Such an action against them is bound to create an economic problem especially due to the fact that tourists from the western and European countries contribute significantly to the growth of the countries’ economies. The availability of small weapons has also facilitated insecurity in the society due to the rise of criminal activities such as car jacking and kidnapping as well as armed robbery. Criminals use the weapons to intimidate their victims into handing over their property as well as their rights, which if not done would risk the lives of the victims (Mathews, 2002). Were it possible that these arms could be retrieved from the civilian hands, such cases would be contained due to the fact that it would incapacitate the criminals therefore making them incapable of intimidating the society. This form of crime has also extended to higher levels whereby various cases of hijacking perpetrated by Somali pirates on commercial and military ships crossing through the Indian Ocean, have been reported (Kontorovich, 2009). This has frustrated activities along the ocean, especially due to the fact that several investors in the destination countries fear to transport their products in and out of their processing plants due to the possibility of them being lost to the pirates. This has led to the closure of several industries that depend on the water transport for their raw materials as well as transporting the finished products to the export market. As a result, several people have lost their livelihoods thus increasing the level of poverty as well as frustrating government’s sources of revenue which comes through taxation of such businesses. However, these acts of pirating ships have been countered through well coordinated military operations in the Indian Ocean, which have witnessed the capture of at least 20 criminals who have already faced justice (Kontorovich, 2009). This has been achieved through joint security oversight by several affected nations. Crime is one of the major causes of deaths throughout the world. The magnitude of some of the crimes is so great such that it makes them international in nature for example terrorism, genocide as well as economic crimes and crimes against humanity. Cases of mass killings in civil wars between warring communities have been reported in various countries thereby attracting intervention by the United Nations as well as the international community (White, 2005). These cases for example have been reported in areas such as the genocide in Rwanda as well as other historical events such as in Germany under the Nazi rule. Though these events happened long way back in history, cases of killings have been witnessed in various places such as Iraq and Somalia where innocent people continue to lose their lives to criminal activities (Lindsey, 2002). Several political and military leaders who are considered to be supportive of such criminal activities for example Saddam Hussein of Iraq have been arrested and prosecuted through the help of the US government which is committed to restoring peace and democracy in the world. A society that is filled with immorality lacks the potential to concentrate on more important issues of development. This is due to the fact that a high percentage of national resources are spent on recruiting new security personnel as well as sustaining the already existing ones (White, 2005). The international standard for security personnel to civilian ratio is supposed to be at least one officer serving not more that one hundred civilians. Considering the ever increasing population growth, it may be difficult for this to be practical based on the economic constraints being faced by the society. It also burdens the taxpayers with the responsibility of paying extra funds in order to facilitate the payments of security officers. Were it that there was no crime or the levels went down substantially, it would not be necessary to spend all these amounts of money on non profitable investments in security as well as justice and legal systems which are there to oversee the enforcement of laws through the administration of punishments to the offenders. The correctional facilities, most of which are filled beyond their capacity also require funding from the taxpayer’s money thereby putting more stress on the economy (White, 2005). However, it is not in vain that these facilities are established. They carry a lot of significance in the rehabilitation of criminals as well as withdrawing dangerous persons from the society thereby incapacitating them from being able to commit more crimes within the time they are serving in those facilities. The rise in crime rates has also changed significantly the way people lead their day to day lives most evidently by the way parents control the way their children carry out their playing activities. This is due to the fear that the children may be subjected to victimization by criminals especially those who are in the kidnapping business (Mathews, 2002). This is whereby criminals attack and abduct innocent children either by taking them into custody without the knowledge of the parents and later demand for huge amount of money as ransoms so that they can release their victims. In addition, it has been noted that even rogue family members sometimes fake such kind of occurrences so that they can gain from family wealth instead of struggling to create their own or to follow legal procedures. On the economic aspect, most of the house holds in America are now installing alarm systems in addition to human guards so as to protect their families as well as property from being robbed (Thachuk, 2007). This is a negative development in the sense that the money used to install these devices could be used in enhancing the livelihood of these families either by paying school fees or buying food. It can therefore be true to say that crime has had a series of negative consequences on the welfare of the society whether directly or indirectly based on the fact that it mostly occurs without the anticipation of the victims as well as the security agents and as such, people are forced to take measures of self protection, which are expensive to acquire. Drug and human trafficking has also been one of the disturbing crimes in the society (Thachuk, 2007). This is a crime that is conducted by people who are well organized especially where it occurs across international boundaries. It is not well established as to how these people manage to evade security checks at the boarder entry points as well as in airports where they are supposed to be noticed. These people are making a lot of money at the expense of the citizens knowing very well that they stand to destroy their lives. It is against the conventional laws, which exist among all the nations to sell addictive drugs to citizens due to their ability to destroy their lives as well as their productivity thereby slowing down the rate of economic growth especially due to the fact that it is very expensive to treat cases of addiction (Thachuk, 2007). Due to the reluctance of the government agents to control the entry of such drugs, it has become possible for addicts to acquire them from the streets or from well established drug peddlers. Conclusion The rate of crime has risen significantly in the society. The most common types of criminal activities which are reported to the security agents are for example and not limited to burglary, rape, homicide, car jacking, kidnapping as well as drug and human trafficking. These have been facilitated by the availability of weapons on the streets which are either acquired through legal or illegal means. This is in respect to the American culture which facilitates the ownership of weapons by the civilians provided they follow the set rules and regulations governing the ownership of such weapons. The invention of lethal weapons during the world wars whereby various superpowers were competing for military supremacy can be said to be the source of the current predicaments witnessed in various parts of the world whereby people are now able to commit mass killings unlike the era before the invention of these weapons. For example, terrorist activities have hit the news in the recent past with America and its allies being the worst hit by the activities. An example is the September 11 attacks on the US whereby scores of innocent people lost their lives while others sustained multiple injuries. Similar occurrences had been reported earlier in countries such as Kenya and Tanzania whereby the target was the American embassies in these countries. These and other crimes discussed in the essay have exerted pressure on the economy due to the fact that a lot of money much of which is acquired through taxation is being spent on non-profitable investments in security equipment such as alarms as well as hiring and maintaining security personnel. References Dunbar, D. (2006). Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Cant Stand Up to the Facts, Hearst. Kontorovich, E. (2009). International Legal Responses to Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, Libertarian Party Program on Crime, 13(2), 100-120. Lindsey, H. (2002). The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad, Oracle House Publishing. Mathews, R. (2002). Armed Robbery (Crime & Society), Willan Publishing. Mednick, S. (2001). The Causes of Crime: New Biological Approaches, Cambridge University Press. Terra Eclipse. (2010). Crime and Violence, Retrieved 15 January 2010 From Thachuk, K. (2007). Transnational Threats: Smuggling and Trafficking in Arms, Drugs, and Human Life, Praeger. White, R. (2005). Crime and Society, Oxford University Press. Read More