Applying Symbolic Interaction Theory - Research Paper Example

Street Crime: Applying Symbolic Interaction Theory Generally, the term street crime refers to any crime committed in a public place, targeting civilians and/or public property. According to the webpage of UK based charity “Victim Support”, street crime is defined as a term under who’s umbrella come a variety of crimes including “antisocial behavior, pick pocketing, alcohol and drug related crime, street prostitution and curb crawlers, muggings, gang fighting, violent on-street theft, intimidation and threats” (victimsupport.org.uk, street crime). Street crime also includes acts of vandalism and the act of graffiti on walls and other public property. Street crime is particularly an important area to tackle because high numbers of street crime in specific areas can ruin the quality of life of the people working and/or living in that area and give that area a bad reputation which might lead to the general downfall of the area once it is classified as a ‘dangerous place’ due to its reputation with street crime. Street crime does not come under organized crime, even if it is a criminal profiteering racket run by drug dealers on the streets, it will still be classified as street crime. However, Brown (2001) suggests that street crime should be taken under the category of white collar crime and thus treated accordingly. Though overall USA has the highest numbers of crime in the world, in the past few years the rate and severity of street crime in the country has decreased. From 2009 to 2010, the number of robberies across the USA decreased by 10% (Wood, 2012). The general downward trend in criminal numbers can be attributed to better policing methods, improved technology to assist policing and higher degrees of incarceration for criminals (Wood, 2012). An article on NBC News identified the 10 most dangerous cities in America based on statistics provided by the FBI. It was noticed that cities with higher crime rates also had higher rates of poverty and unemployment. According to this survey, the three cities ranking highest on crime were Flint, Detroit and St. Louis respectively (Sauter., et al). According to Forbes however, the highest ranking city according to crime levels was Detroit (Fisher, 2012). Of the contemporary theories that study sociological phenomenon, symbolic interactionism introduced by Herbert Mead in 1969 is one that can be used to study the sociological phenomenon of street crime. Basically, the symbolic interactionism theory says three main things; firstly, that human actions are based on the meaning they associate with those actions, secondly, this meaning is derived from the interaction between people in a society and lastly, these meanings are modified according to the experiences of the individual performing the actions. Further, Mead’s theory of symbolic interactionism has some basic assumptions; that the individual is a social entity that is he/she interacts with others in social settings. The individual is also a thinking entity, which means that as well as external social interaction with others, an individual engages in internal discourse with himself/herself. An individual’s definition of their environment is not a direct calculation but a measurement through experiences in and of that environment. Furthermore, that basis of the actions performed by the individual in a society is the result of what is occurring in that society at a given point in time and thus is relation to or because of those particular events. Lastly, the symbolic interactionism theory defines individuals as active and not passive entities who are not conditioned but generate their action responses according to their social situations. Looking at the phenomenon of street crime in the framework of the symbolic interaction theory we see that it can indeed be defined as a social interactionist phenomenon. Research conducted on this topic by Silverman (2003) talks about street crime and culture with respect to the social interaction theory of sociology. This paper shows how sometimes “reputation concerns” may actually support the culture of street crime in the impoverished classes. People who engage in street crime do so to make money or gain respect among their societal circle where status is not attributed to factors associated with status in social circles from a different economic background. Research has also shown that while the number of people who resort to street crime is relatively small, the larger number is representative of the proportion of the population who resort to violence as a status seeking tool in a society where poverty and unemployment are common and there are little if any other means to gain deference from the society. Numerous other research on the topic shows that participation in street crime is most often directly related with its economic payoffs. This also explains why the practice is more common in neighborhoods where most of the residents are from a lower socio-economic class and/or unemployed. This indicates that street crime may be a behavior resultant of the “culture of poverty”. A common street criminal engages in street crime dependant on how likely the victim is to resist, what gains he will get from committing that crime and how it will enhance his ‘street credibility’. If the reputation element is absent from the equation, street crime becomes dependent upon the size of the “street element”. It was also seen that street crime is dependent largely on two basic factors; economic returns from the street crimes and the social structure fo the community or society in which the street crime is being committed. It follows that, street crime actually decreases in situations where the returns from the criminal activity are abnormally high, however street criminal activity has been seen to experience an increase in situations where the societal connections are tighter. The problem of street crime is increasing over time and so are the consequences pertaining to it. Street crime has an overall negative effect on the whole community increasing fear and residual economic costs. Several surveys have been carried out in the communities to find out the effect of street crime on the general public. It has been generally found that it increases the level of fear in the locals of the community. A British Crime Survey carried out in 1981 found that 34% of the individuals were scared of walking in the streets alone. Another survey carried out by Merseyside found that 45% of the total respondents were scared of street crime in general (Evans 38-39). In general it can be seen that the fear of street crime can lead to many other problems such as avoidance. In this regard a research was carried out by the British Crime Survey which found that 2% of the people avoided going out in the dark due to the fear of street crime (Evans 38). Not only does street crime spread fear but it also affects the businesses on a micro level. The residual costs are also seen as affected by these street crimes. Businesses or retail stores are closed down due to an increase in the street crime. This can lead to a slight fall in the economy of the overall nation if crime becomes more prevalent (Friedrichs 52). It also affects the general environment of being safe in the community and the people are not able to lead a life normally. It has been seen in some cases that people undergo anxiety and restlessness after going through the street crimes. Many people cannot forget the incident and are rather too frightened by it to go out again in the same situation. A solution to this problem becomes necessary at this point. Street crime has increased to such alarming levels that many governments have curbed out the possible solutions to the problem. The strategies adopted by the governments are widespread at the grass root level so that the problem can be rooted out. However in this whole scenario it is also seen that many are trying to politicize street crime for their own benefit. The possible solutions to street crime have been laid down in the forms of raids, third party policing and crackdowns. Crackdowns are operations conducted by the local police on places where are most vulnerable to the problem of street crimes. They are usually carried out to curb out the problem of drug trafficking in the streets. However they are seen to be unsuccessful in solving the drug problem but are rather effective in addressing the serious concerns of violent crime in the street. Third party policing is another way to solve the street crimes. In this operation the police partners with a third party to root out the problem of street crime. The program helps to deal with the street crime that is related to drug offences. It also helps to solve the problem of the associated criminal problems in the long term. Raids are another form of operations which are carried at the hot spots. Hot spots are usually referred to as places where the culprits of the crime reside or hang around. These raids are also successful in addressing the problem of street crime (Soole et al 10-19). Another form of an operation to curb out the problem is devised by the police department which is known as problem oriented policing. The approach has given the various aspects of street crime so that a strategy in this regard can be sought out by the police. The impact of lightning in the streets has been given much importance these days. According to a Crime Prevention expert Professor Ken Pease, lightning can not only reduce crime in the night but it can also decrease the street crimes carried out in the day. Improved lightning would help the police and the community to recognize the individuals who are carrying out the crime and the police would have more of a vision to keep a check on streets for the culprits. These people once caught will not attempt to commit the same crime as they would be sentenced for a particular span of time. Professor Ken emphasizes that these lights can give an opinion to the culprits that the police is more alert and the offenders would be caught at any given moment. In cases of better lighting the community would also know that the police are working towards a safer environment and hence they would look forward to report in all the crimes that are committed (Clarke 5-6). In conclusion, although society has responded to the current problem regarding street crime, the response is inadequate at best. For example in the case of USA as quoted by Forbes and NBC News, although the overall crime statistics have decreased as compared to the numbers decades ago, the numbers still remain pretty high in cities like Detroit. Instead of paying special attention to eliminating street crime, police departments are laying off personnel in light of budget cuts which means there will be lesser officers patrolling the streets and could result in increasing cases of street crime. If situation stays as is, there is little chance that the phenomenon of street crime can be remedied, much less eliminated. References: Victim Support. “Street Crime”. Web. 3rd April 2013. < http://www.victimsupport.org.uk/Help-for-victims/Different-types-of-crime/Street-crime > Brown, D. K. “Street Crime, Corporate Crime and the Contingent of Criminal Liability”. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 149, No. 5. 2001. Pdf. 3rd April 2013. Wood, D. B. “US Crime Rate at Lowest Point in Decades: Why America is Safer Now”. The Christian Science Monitor. 2012. Web. 3rd April 2013. < http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0109/US-crime-rate-at-lowest-point-in-decades.-Why-America-is-safer-now > Sauter, M. B., et al. “The Most Dangerous Cities in America”. NBC News. Web. 3rd April 2013. < http://www.nbcnews.com/business/most-dangerous-cities-america-832351 > Fisher, D. “Detroit Tops the 2012 List of America’s Most Dangerous Cities”. Forbes. 2012. Web. 3rd April 2013. http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2012/10/18/detroit-tops-the-2012-list-of-americas-most-dangerous-cities/ Evans, David J, David T. Herbert, and Nicholas R. Fyfe. “Crime, Policing, and Place: Essays in Environmental Criminology”. London: Routledge, 1992. Print. 3rd April 2013. Top of Form Friedrichs, David O. “Trusted Criminals: White Collar Crime in Contemporary Society”. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. 3rd April 2013. Mazerolle, Lorraine, David W. Soole, and Sacha Rombouts. “Crime Prevention Research Reviews No.1: Disrupting Street-Level Drug Markets”. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2007. 3rd April 2013. Bottom of Form Top of Form Clarke, Ronald V. “Improving Street Lighting to Reduce Crime in Residential Areas”. United States, 2008. Print. 3rd April 2013. Silverman, D. “Street Crime and Street Culture”. National Poverty Center Working Paper Series. 2003. Web. 3rd April 2013. < http://www.npc.umich.edu/publications/working_papers/paper4/03-4.pdf > Read More