3. Describe the various explanations for the age of desistance from crime. As age increases, criminal behavior decreases in frequency and seriousness. Ones identity in ages 17-20 begin to realize their life going nowhere and must make necessary changes to achieve success. The decision to give up or continue with crime is based on a person’s conscious reappraisal of the costs and benefits of criminal activity. Its not just aging that brings on desistance, but also the fear of punishment of being charged as an adult, rather than a juvenile. Crime is onset according to one’s peer relationships while it is desisted according to one’s peer relationships. Life course accounts of desistance asserts that there are multiple pathways to desistance which are consistent with the idea of informal social control. Examples like work, marriage, and community.…
The deterrence model is the idea that the fear of punishment will prevent criminals or potential criminals from committing a crime. There are two different types of deterrence, which are general and specific. General deterrence is the preventing crime among the general population. The general public includes only those who have not committed a crime before. Specific deterrence is trying to prevent a specific group of people or specific person from committing a crime in the future. The deterrence model has been noted to not be effective. The deterrence model is half way effective because it does put fear in some people, but it does not exemplify all the many reasons people commit crimes. Many criminals or potential criminals may fear being…
The aim of this essay is to compare, contrast and evaluate two sociological theories of crime causation and two psychological theories of crime causation.…
Most individuals would agree that the media has an influence on us, although they themselves claim to not be influenced by its effects. The representation of crime and criminals has provoked consternation. It has been suggested that such representations inflate our fear of crime far beyond our actual risks of becoming victims. Those who are least at risk of being a victim of crime, old people and females, are those who live in most fear because it is young men that are more likely to be victims of crime (Hough and Mayhew, 1983; cited in Muncie 1996, p.56). Moral panics are also a topic worthy of discussion as some, such as Stan Cohen, suggest that their origins are within the media and are the root of our ‘fear’ of crime.…
Historical theories of punishment were based on the concept that applying fearful consequences to criminals would discourage any potential offenders. During the late 1700’s, a criminologist by the name of Cesar Beccaria argued the fact that the death penalty served no purpose as a form of punishment, let alone as a deterrence to criminals. He advocated to reform the criminal justice system through penology, concerning specifically with punishment and deterrence (Beccaria, 2009). In the following essay, Beccaria’s theory of punishment will be thoroughly…
Psychological Explanation is based on someone's mental behavior. A person's personality and learning factors can cause them to commit a crime. According to some early childhood experiences it can have a major effect on personality and development. Also according to Psychological Explanation crime is stemmed from abnormal urges and desires.…
Since the 1960s the fear of crime has created dominant parts of the criminological landscape and it has also created a major role in crime policy. Over the past half-century there has been an increasing concern internationally when it comes to the fear of crime. Ferraro (1995) says that the definition of fear of crime is simply ‘an emotional response of dread or anxiety to crime or symbols that a person associates with crime’. Talking about fear of crime raises questions like ‘what does it mean’, ‘how do you measure it’ and ‘how does it start’. Fear of crime is so important that about 300 scholarly books and articles base their focus on it also ‘one of the strongest reasons to study fear of crime is the impact it has on the quality of life or what Conklin (1975) calls the indirect cost of crime in society. ‘Findings from the 2003/04 BCS showed that two key factors associated with increased levels of worry about crime…
The Oklahoma City Bombing was a very eye opening event in American history. Timothy McVeigh bombed the Federal building, resulting in 168 deaths and many more injuries. Timothy McVeigh meets the criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder due to his lack of remorse and thinking of doing justice to the government.…
First, the pros of incarcerating the elderly criminals will be discussed. Contrary to popular belief that after a certain age criminals stop committing crime, the age of elderly offenders ranged from 60 to 99 years old which shows that no matter how old someone is they may still commit crime. Also, 86.36 percent of elderly offenders knew their victim personally (Patel 442). This is a scary statistic for friends and family that are close with elderly criminals. The first pro for incarcerating the elderly is that in a study conducted between 2006 and 2010 rape against young females was found in 31 percent of the elderly incarcerated, 36 percent of elderly incarcerated were found guilty of murder or attempted murder, and 4 percent were found guilty of selling minor girls (Patel 443). This shows that they are dangerous criminals no matter what age they are. The people that argue that elderly people are harmless are clearly wrong. Rape and murder are some of the most serious crimes in society; if someone is able to commit such crimes they are able to serve time for those crimes. Furthermore, because society is aging more and more, criminals are committing serious crimes at an older age.…
number of elderly prisoners. The nature of their offending and the fact that many victims…
Mass hysteria is fear or emotions that take a person by surprise. These emotions can cause a person to do something erratically, and the Axeman of New Orleans caused nothing short of it. In 1918 the first of his encounters occurred when he chiseled out a panel to the front door of a grocer and killed both tenants. The story spread to headlines as people holding the same occupation barred up their windows and doors. This fear was spiked after a month of quite and intisapatince. The crime was committed every time, in the same way leaving his weapon of choice behind, the Axe. Within a year the attacks continued leaving police baffled and setting fear at an all time high in the young city. The news spread word as an eerie letter was received at…
In the pure state of nature, all humans are of equal mind and body, meaning that no one has a distinct advantage or disadvantage against another. The state of nature is also referred to as the state of war in which every man will fight and try to protect what they deem as theirs. Thomas Hobbes, a seventeenth century philosopher, described this as bellum omnium contra onmes, meaning the war of all against all. Due to everyone attempting to fight everyone else to stay alive in a pure state of nature, societies and civilizations cannot form. So is there a way to keep the peace and let mankind develop into its full potential? Hobbes uses an idea of giving up individual powers to one person or an assembly of men as in the form of sovereignty. The sovereignty will be able enforce the peace with unlimited power. The sovereignty acquires these powers as individuals give up particular freedoms.…
Juvenile offending increases to a peak in the adolescent years and then decreases in early adulthood. Criminal behaviour in offenders decreases in age from the mid twenties which has been proved fact using evidence from psychological, sociological and interactionist theories of crime. There is adequate evidence for all three theories of crime to explain this finding. In this essay it will be argued that each of these theories of crime can adequately explain crime desistance. Discussed…
It seems like danger in America has increased, although it is actually peoples fear. A prime cause of people’s misconceptions of danger media is delivered and is followed through by political leaders. Throughout the book, The Culture of Fear, Barry Glassner describes the United States as a country engulfed by fear. Glassner exposes individuals with the “peddlers of fear”, which are most support groups, politicians, TV news reporters, and even some published work. Glassner shows how Americans spend a great amount time worrying about things shown in media that are not necessarily issues that the public should worry about.…
Over the past several decades attitudes towards law enforcement have changed tremendously. Law Enforcement officers are looked down upon by most people because of wrong decisions made in the heat of the moment by a growing percentage of police officers. Those wrong decisions that some have made, have had a huge impact on the nation because lives were wrongfully lost. In order to prevent needless killings, all law enforcement officers should be required to take fear training classes to make better decisions under times of pressure. This could result in the saving of many lives, while changing and restoring attitudes towards policemen.…