FREE ESSAY ON CRIMINOLOGY

CRIMINOLOGY

Criminology
One of the biggest issues in America today is crime. It is a large problem that continues
to erode our country economically as well as morally. Because of the vastness of the
problem, many have speculated what the cause for crime may be in hopes that a solution
will be found. Many believe that a bad family life, location of residence, and poverty
hold a few of the answers to why an individual becomes involved in criminal activity. 
Crime has been a major problem addressed in every presidential campaign for about three
decades. This is because the American people are sick of the ever growing problem and
seem to be voting for whoever claims to do the most about it. Major criminal justice
functions such as correctional facilities, the FBI, and the Judicial branch have all,
according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, had increasing budgets for the past
15 years. The problems persist and we still scream for more crime prevention. Why does
America experience such problems? There are many theories. 
The theory that holds the most validity is that many criminals have had a bad family life
in one way or another. They have had few positive role models while growing up. John J.
Dilulio, Jr., a scholar on crime policy, summed it up in one of his articles:
[b]ased on my own reading of these studies plus about fifteen years 
of observation and interviews inside scores of prisons all across the 
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country, I would posit that the hair-trigger mentality, the gang-related 
behavior, and the murderous violence itself emerge from the same source, 
namely the simple fact that inner-city teenagers have had few, if any, adults in their
lives who gave them unconditional love, taught them right from wrong, and reared them
accordingly (6). 
Dilulio's article states that Seventy-five percent of the most violent incarcerated
juveniles are children who were abused by a family member (6). Dilulio also went on to
say that half of all youth in long-term juvenile facilities have had immediate family
members incarcerated (6). Almost all other theories can relate to this one. 
If individuals grow up in an abusive home there is a greater chance that they will
develop a defiant individualist character (Jankowski 23). The main authority figure or
figures in their life have mistreated them, which leads the individuals to question
everything that all authority figures say. This includes moral standards. Authority
figures have not looked out for the individuals' best interests in the past so the
individuals develop a mistrust of authority. They are not convinced that anybody besides
themselves knows what's best for them. These individuals become self reliant at quiet an
early age and decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. They also learn how
to think quite rationally so they can calculate what they are sure will be the best for
themselves at that point in their life. They may have been brought up in a family that
did teach them right from wrong, but because that family failed miserably in other ways,
the individuals 
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question the morals they were taught and may decide for their economic and social
wellbeing that crime is the best route to take. 
Place of residence can also make a big difference in the degree that the individual
becomes criminally involved when coupled with an abusive family history. If in the event
that an individual does decide that crime is the best way for them to get ahead in life,
it is a lot easier to get criminally involved in an area that possesses a high crime
rate. The tricks of the trade, so to speak, are much more readily available in a city
where most crime occurs than in a far off suburb. For example, even if one does figure
out how to hot-wire a car on their own, where are they going to take it after the fact?
The car is hot (it has either been reported stolen, or soon will be, to the police, who
will put out an APB on the stolen car) so one doesn't have much time to get rid of it.
The longer one is on the road, the higher their chances are of passing a police car on
its regular route. There are many examples like this. The individual needs to know where
one of the many chop-shops (illegally run business of disassembling stolen cars and
selling the parts) in the city is. Information like that is not disclosed freely. One
must associate regularly with people who know these things. Unless one has quite a bit of
criminal experience, their illegal expeditions will be hindered very much if they don't
live in or regularly visit an area that has a large amount of criminals. 
Poverty is another issue that can, with the help of family problems, become detrimental
to children. Lots of stress is put on parents who live in poverty. In some cases this
stress is then taken out on the kids, amplifying the already present conditions of a 
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dysfunctional family. In an area of poverty there are a scarce amount of resources. Many
people work very hard in low-paying jobs that are not going anywhere. The defiant
individuals look at the adults around them who are stuck in this cycle and make their own
assessment. They may decide that they don't want that lifestyle and fight to avoid it. In
doing so they may see crime as the only way out of their community. 
All of these answers lead one to ask the question of what is being done about these
problems. It is not as simple as passing a bunch of new laws and strictly enforcing them.
According to Gennaro F. Vito, studies prove that enforcing status laws (2) among juvenile
offenders can actually cause more crimes instead of preventing them. 
Churches and community leaders in areas of high crime have begun to do things to work
with kids. An article in Time magazine told a tale of community leaders who are working
to improve these by creating workshops for kids, setting up after school programs, and
even organizing summer camps. These programs are teaching kids ways to have fun and how
to get involved with good things, not bad (Smolowe 1). Above all, the programs involve
adults positively interacting with the children of these communities. By giving the kids
unconditional love, interacting with them in a socially correct way, and being positive
role models, community leaders can help break down the assumptions many of these kids
may, or will have, about authority figures. As I discussed earlier, conceptions that a
child develops about authority can play a big part in whether or not they develop a
defiant character. 
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Steps, although small, are being taken to decrease poverty as well. One reason for the
scarcity of resources in impoverished areas is because the economies there have
stagnated. No new money is put back into the communities because banks in these areas, if
they exist, are making very few loans to them. Instead, they have been turning the
deposits of the poor communities into loans for the suburbs. This is illegal under the
Community Reinvestment Act, but according to Mike Shea, executive director of housing for
ACORN (Association of Community Organization for Reform Now),it is happening across the
country. One example of this is The Market National Bank, located on the south side of
Chicago. According to an article by Theresa Puenta, a writer for the Chicago Tribune, The
Market National Bank in the fiscal year 1996 collected a total of 560 million is
deposits; part of this amount coming from the slums of Chicago's south side. The article
also said that within the same year, over 700 loans were made to mostly white, up-scale
suburbs while only 2 were made to the poor areas on the south side that consisted of
blacks and Latinos. The number of loans the bank made to it's surrounding communities did
not meet the percentage required by the Community Reinvestment Act. The percentage
required was not met so recently ACORN has forced The Market National Bank, by
threatening a lawsuit, to put more money into it's surrounding communities in the from of
loans for the fiscal year of 1998 and beyond (Puenta, par.1). This will begin to
eliminate the stagnation that the communities economies are experiencing, which may help
the crime rate decrease in these areas because eventually, 
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the future will not look so bleak that individuals living there feel that crime is the
only way to avoid the cycle of working hard in low-paying, dead end job. 
Some criminologists and sociologists will tell you over and over that crime followers
poverty. Douglas S. Massey, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, is convinced
of this (Dilulio 4).However, it is only one part of the puzzle. Crime can not be directly
linked to poverty. In the first half of this century, southern black communities lived in
extreme poverty, but they had relatively low crime rates. The many Chinatowns scattered
across the country are very poor but have, for the most part, very low crime rates. 
Crime in America is still a problem. However, for the last few years we have begun to see
a steady drop. Crime has decreased as much as 10% since 1994 (Key). Many criminologist
and sociologist are baffled as to exactly how many things are responsible for the
decline. Have the old theories that were acted on begun to show results or is it the new
steps taken in crime prevention? Nobody knows for sure, but one thing is for certain: we
can not abandon our efforts in this study if we hope to unlock the answers to these
questions. 
. 
Bibliography
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The Crisis July 1997 104.1 p4
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rates of serious 
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Journal of Housing and Community Development Jan-Feb 1996 53.1 p42
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against their
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Human Organization Winter 1995 54.4 p373
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CQ Researcher Oct 13, 1995 5.38 p899
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Law Review May 1995 143.5 p1275-1284
Baumer, Eric Poverty, crack, and crime: a cross-city analysis 
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency August 1994 31.3 p311
Shea, Micheal D. Personal Interview. 8 Mar. 1998