Psychological Effects of Crime and Methods for Reducing Crime Rate in Kingston-Galloway - Coursework Example

Psychological Effects of Crime and Methods for Reducing Crime Rate in Kingston-Galloway Neighborhood : Tutor: Date: Psychological Effects of Crime and Methods for Reducing Crime Rate in Kingston-Galloway Neighborhood Introduction When people live in their different areas of residence, some of the positive events that happen is that they develop interdependence, which is necessary for fostering a peaceful coexistence. However, as population grows in a region, different vices often tend to emerge, causing people to look for alternatives for safer living. One of the things that affect the quality of life when people live in their communities is crime (Prasad et al 2013). Criminal activities often results in the death of people as well as destruction of property that range in hundreds of money. Many governments often allocate huge amounts of their national budget in ensuring that the country is protected from all forms of criminal activities in order to attract domestic and international investors. Crime, in the ordinary language, refers to any kind of an unlawful activity that are punishable by the state. When it comes to aspects of modern criminal law, crime does not have any universal and simple definitions that are widely accepted. However, for the sake of clarity, statutory definitions of crime have been established in order to assist in correcting such evils as they happen in the human society (Prasad et al 2013). In this regard, the most famous view that is held by most people is that crime is a special category that has been brought about by law. One of the proposed definitions of crime or criminal offence is that it is a very harmful act that happens not only to individuals, but also to the community, large society and the states at large. For this reason, such kinds of acts are often forbidden by the law, and whenever they are noticed, they are heavily punished by the law. This paper examines some of the psychological effects of crime to people that perpetuate it as well as to the victims of the criminal activities, focusing on some of the approaches that can be used in reducing the rates of crime in the Kingston-Galloway neighborhood. The state and crime The concepts that some kinds of acts like rape, theft murder are prohibited have continued to exist across the world. What makes a precise definition of crime is enshrined in each country’s legal provision of criminal law. Inasmuch as there may be a catalogue of various crimes commonly referred to as the criminal code (Moser & Mcllwaine 1999), when it comes to countries that have common law, often few or no such wide-ranging statutes often exist. In many countries globally, the government has the right to restrict an individual’s liberty severely in case he commits a certain crime. In the modern societies, certain procedures and regulations have been devised in order to aid in making investigations and thereafter trials done after enough evidence has been gathered over certain incidences of crime, which are purported to have taken place; these rules are suppose to be adhered to strictly (Moser & Mcllwaine 1999). When an offence has been detected and enough evidence attached to it, the person found to have committed the act can be sentenced to various forms of reparation like community sentence or imprisoned depending on the magnitude and nature of crime committed. There are incidences where certain crimes call for life imprisonment and execution, especially for countries where jurisdictions allow for such provisions. Incidence of crime can be said to happen across the world. However, there are certain places that have increased cases of criminal activities, especially where the legal muscles are found to be weak, including security surveillance by the government or authority in power. For such places, inhabitants always live in extreme fear because of loosing precious properties and items and even death. One of the areas that have been known to have extreme cases of criminal activities is the Kingston-Galloway neighborhood, which is found Toronto, Canada. Kingston-Galloway Neighborhood and Its Peculiarities Every country in the world has certain special features that make different and unique from others in many aspects. Canada, just like any country in the world, has certain features that distinguish it from all other countries within its neighborhood. In the same way, many of the cities and towns in this country have their special features. For instance, the Kingston-Galloway neighborhood found in Toronto is often a place that is full of synergy for many nations to be particular. One needs to understand that in Canada, the Kingston-Galloway is often referred to as a district located in southern Scarborough (Nabi 2010). This so called district has managed to receive the Priority Neighborhood designation going all the way since 2005, having been separated from Toronto City. With time, this area has been applauded by many people in its development of different social relations, something that seem to attract many people in this area (Cosy 2014). It should be known that at present, the total population in Kingston-Galloway is standing at around 28,042 people (Waller 2006), who represent many nations, something that explain why this region is highly multicultural. Alternatively, Scarborough has been described as very beautiful region in Toronto, which is very green with livable territories. The Kingston-Galloway neighborhood has been regarded as a very conducive place where children can be raised with much ease and comfort. It should be noted that due to the highly complex demographic surrounding of the residents of this region, high crime rates have been recorded in these neighborhoods, which have become an issue of great concern among the residents. This means that people have been finding it difficult to manage their routine activities of life for fear of losing their lives and property (Cosy 2014). The increase in population has been blamed for this alarming concern, which threatens to affect the city in various ways including its social and economic prospects of development. Psychological effects of crime Any form of crime often comes along with significant and varying consequences on the victims of such activities, their friends and family members as well as the larger community. The impact that crime has leads to various psychological, emotional, financial, physical, spiritual and social consequences among others. This is perhaps the reason why all forms of criminal activities should be condemned and people found perpetuating these acts jailed and made to serve long sentences and stiff penalties (Nabi 2010). Millions of people across the world have lost their lives because of the criminal activities, something that the residents of Kingston-Galloway would never want to experience. Violence and criminal activities have great psychological impacts on people, whether they are exposed to the activities directly or not. When a friend of close friend ends up being hurt or killed after being exposed to criminal incidents, it is natural that people tend to have stings feelings and other effects from such activities (Andress 2009). Some of the natural psychological effects of criminal activities include anxiety, stress, shock and fear among many others. Additionally, after any form of criminal activity, an individual’s sense of safety is often shuttered making them feel quite insecure wherever they are. They often end up imagining that they are much vulnerable, powerless and helpless cause them to have extreme anger and feelings of outrage. Some people that are caught in the line of criminal activities, especially for the victims, they have suffered from nightmares at night and even when they tend to subconsciously flashback the actual experiences. These people often tend o re-live the actual experiences for a very long time, something that causes them difficulties in sleeping and bad dreams. They end up feeling tense, numb, startle much easily and display hyper-vigilant behaviors. Several instances have been recorded of criminal activity victims having memory blocks as far the actual incidents are concerned, they often tend to lose interest in certain activities, especially those that may have associations with places crime or bring memories of the actual crime they suffered from. Additionally, victims of criminal activities often tend to avoid certain things and places that bring memories of criminal activities, which make them tend to have sudden angry outbursts. Others reactions that they often exhibit include disassociations, withdrawal symptoms, depression and amnesia (Asad-Lari et al 2010). Generally, some of the important body functions like the ability to sleep, eat, concentrate and think end up being concentrated. Children tend to exhibit similar reactions like adults; however, they may sometimes have extreme reactions like bedwetting especially for the toilet-trained individuals (Asad-Lari et al 2010). Children can sometimes decide to stop talking, become very clingy and stutter. For older children, they can end up having thoughts and feelings of revenge while others may sometimes feel guilty if their activities injured their fellow friends. All these are natural reactions that happen among people that face criminal injustices or tend to perpetuate such activities on their fellow friends. When most of the above reactions exist in an individual for quite a long time, certain psychological complications tends to emerge in their general well-being. When a person continues to feel to be in danger and is continuously being frightened by certain issues, it means that the person is suffering from Posttraumatic Stress symptoms. These conditions often end up leading to cases of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, better known as PTSD (Johnson 2010). It is therefore important to note that PTSD often happens after an individual has been exposed to or witnesses various forms of criminal activities like murder, extreme physical harm or threats. The PTSD symptoms often start to show after various kinds of traumatic experiences have been done, while some people recover from these incidences fast, others can end up having lifetime complications or even death (Johnson 2010). When the distress seems to persist, people’s physical health ends up being compromised; in this regard, some people end up developing diabetes, heart problems and even hypertension, which ends up leading to death of the victims. How to reduce criminal activities in the Kingston-Galloway neighborhood From the foregone discussion, it is evident that crime, in its diverse forms should be avoided by all means in order to create peaceful human societies that advance economic and social development. The responsibility to reduce crime, not only in the Kingston-Galloway neighborhood, but also in the larger Toronto city and Canada lies with all people and not just the police and other law agencies (Cowen & Parlette 2011). All people need to collaborate in efforts of ensuring peaceful coexistence and harmonious living. The process of reducing criminal activities can be achieved by among other things, establishing community triggers that can deal with some of the persistent antisocial behaviors that are identified as soon as they arise. It is important that all people in the Kingston-Galloway neighborhood to combine their efforts in creating and advancing community safety partnerships as well as crime commissioners so as to work together in devising some of the local approaches in dealing with various criminal issues that include various kinds of antisocial behaviors (Asad-Lari et al 2010), alcohol and drug misuse. Additionally, it is important that Canadian authorities establish various national referral mechanisms in order to help tract criminal activities as soon as they are reported and thought to have happened in different places (Cowen & Parlette 2011). These mechanisms can help in gathering and sharing information concerning potential victims and perpetrators of criminal activities. The district authorities should come up with serious and highly organized criminal strategies that can be effective in dealing with the ever increasing incidents of criminal activities. Conclusion In conclusion, it is important to note that criminal activities are significant detractors to economic growth and development, which need to be dealt with effectively in creating peaceful coexistence among the different human societies across the world. In any country, the presence of peace is essential in attracting local and international investors that advance social and economic growth, which means that the need to ensure security is paramount for all people in the country. It is important that people help the police and other security agencies in providing intelligence reports about cases and incidences of crime so that effective measures can be taken to curb the menace. References Andress, L. (2009). Healthy Urban Planning: The Concept, Tools, and Application. Texas: University of Texas Medical Branch, Center to Eliminate Health Disparities. Asad-Lari, M., Vaez-Mahdavi, R.M., Faghihzadeh, S., Montazeri, A., Farshad, A. A., Kalantari, N., Maher, A., Golmakani, M.M., Salehi, G.H., Motevallian, S.A., & Malek-Afzali, H. (2010). The application of urban health equity assessment and response tool (urban HEART) in Tehran; concepts and framework. Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 24(3): 175-185. Cosy S., 2014. Toronto’s Shifting Demographics. Retrieved from: Cowen D., & Parlette V., (2011). Toronto’s Inner Suburbs: Investing in Social Infrastructure In Scarborough. Cities Centre, University of Toronto. Retrieved from: Johnson, C. (2010). Police Use of Intelligence Networks for Reducing Crime. El Paso: LFB Scholarly Pub. LLC. Moser, C., & Mcllwaine, C. (1999). Participatory urban appraisal and its application for research on violence. Environment & Urbanization, 11(2): 203-226. Nabi Y., (2010). Kingston-Galloway Priority Area Profile. Retrieved from; Read More