Why People Commit Crimes - Admission/Application Essay Example

HERE HERE YOUR HERE HERE Crime is the result of individuals making choices to commit crime; it is not the result of their social circumstances. There is often a great deal of sociological discussion regarding why people commit crimes, with theories offering that criminal behaviour stems from frustration created by difficult financial circumstances to even parental failure to provide a moral and ethical upbringing. It might even be argued that criminal behaviour is a result of social circumstances, such as youths committing theft in order to be accepted by certain in-groups who might value the thrill of the crime. However, many of these (and other) theories seem to provide criminals with the excuses they require in order to justify why they have made the decision to commit certain crimes. It would be particularly easy to simply suggest that due to psychological trauma during childhood, it created a sense of unbalanced morality which acted as the catalyst for criminal behaviour. In reality, however, criminal behaviour is simply the result of individuals making the personal choice to commit a crime and these actions are rarely, if ever, justified by psychological or sociological circumstances. As one example, it would be important to identify street crimes, which are those crimes which are often found in urban regions such as robbery, drug dealing, street gambling, or even prostitution. Sociological experts might suggest that it is due to the stresses involved with barriers in urban regions, such as poor educational systems and high drop-out rates, which drive youths into these street crime activities in order to make rapid cash. In poorer urban areas, youths are often exposed to media which depicts more affluent students wearing various designer clothing varieties or having access to the newest and most sophisticated technological products. These types of images reinforce that the poorer, urban youth is underprivileged in many ways, creating various animosities against their more affluent peers and they are simply acting out in an effort to experience the perceived joys of having more upscale merchandise. However, in today’s society, there are many different types of social programmes which provide youths and young adults in poorer areas opportunities for advanced education or specialised training in skilled trade areas. With these types of programmes in existence today, there is really no sociological excuse to commit street crimes, such as robbery, as there are government-sponsored systems available which provide youths with alternative methods for escaping the frustrations of poor urban lifestyle. Therefore, urban crime and street crime is simply a choice and cannot be justified by sociological circumstances. White-collar crime, such as investor insider trading or reporting false earnings in order to drive up the company’s stock value by deceiving investors, is another type of crime which occurs in more developed nations. Other forms of white-collar crime can include bribery of various public officials in order to receive favours, embezzlement of corporate funds, price fixing, or even false advertising of products in order to drive up higher consumer sales volumes. These types of crimes are often conducted in the pursuit of ensuring that the criminal receives higher financial compensation or secure a more prestigious job position within a specific company. A sociological advocate which might believe that corporate environments create anxieties and pressures to conform to senior-level mandates regarding profitability might suggest that white-collar crimes was a result of simply trying to appease the business’ lust for profit. The stress of meeting profit expectations would appear to be a social circumstance which acted as the catalyst for conducting various white-collar crimes. However, after situations with highly-publicized white-collar crimes such as Enron, most businesses have well-developed codes of ethics or ethical policies which dictate what is considered to be acceptable business behaviour. Therefore, when a white-collar crime is committed, such as embezzlement, it is generally an effort to pad one’s one financial portfolio and the motives for these actions are most definitely self-motivated. It cannot be said, concretely, that white-collar criminal behaviour is a justified result of social circumstances. Drug abuse, another type of criminal behaviour, is often considered to be an outcome of poor social environments, such as being unable to cope with the loss of a loved one or being unable to adapt to difficult living situations. Some sociologists might also offer the power and inequality in life, such as being unable to land a higher-level promotion in a business, can create certain stresses and anxieties which make a person become dependent on drugs in order to combat their internal struggles for equality. However, drug abuse is not the norm in society and there are many individuals who face the same struggles in terms of trying to become more influential in the workplace and those who have to deal with power inequality in daily living. These individuals do not necessarily turn to drugs, but rely on other support groups in order to cope with their problems stemming from power and inequality. Therefore, people who turn to drugs because they cannot handle their social circumstances are making the choice to simply use chemical agents to manage their complex emotions. It is a choice to turn to drugs, as there are many different social support networks, hotlines, and even governmentally-sponsored programmes which offer absolutely free assistance to people who are considering turning to drug use. Failure to look for alternative methods might actually show a weakness of personal character as they choose the most convenient and easy method for handling internal conflict. In today’s society, there are also a great deal of hate crimes which occur, which can include carrying out abuses, assaults, murders, or just verbal harassment against individuals which do not fit another’s stereotypical view of what is considered acceptable social behaviour. For example, a homosexual man might be assaulted by a heterosexual man simply because the assailant does not fully understand what homosexuality consists of and they are threatened by this aspect of society for their own personal reasons. Road rage is another example of hate crimes, which often occur due to stress and frustration in highway situations such as when an individual fails to abide by the rules of the roadway. Most individuals, as the social norm, would be able to simply calm themselves in the event of frustrating roadway scenarios and maintain their composure to avoid committing a crime against the highway perpetrator. However, the heterosexual assailant and the road rage deviant make the decision to act inappropriately, acting on their initial impulses rather than weighing the situation out in their minds to weigh whether committing a crime is worth the rather fleeting gratification which might come from the act. These situations, among many potential other hate crime scenarios, occur simply because the individual decides that the short-term gratification for the crime is more important. There is no social circumstance which can justify hate crimes and it is plainly a decision which ultimately ends up jeopardizing others in society. There are also those types of criminals which act out against society in a form of rebellion because they believe that society has become too institutionalized and they do not believe that the social norm is acceptable. These attitudes may have been developed because they were exposed to harsh punishments as a youth for breaking even the most minor of rules or have experienced some sort of social barrier to achieving their personal goals. Rebellious crimes can include any number of scenarios, however they are conducted simply to illustrate that these individuals are dissatisfied with the broader social norm. Sociologists who believe that social circumstances have driven these crimes might offer any theory to explain these criminal actions such as living in a life-long poverty-stricken environment or have been stifled by mentally ill parents or parents which are far too controlling. However, as an individual grows into young adulthood, they have begun to develop the talents and biological processes necessary to balance their actions with their thoughts and determine whether criminal behaviour would be worth the potential outcome, such as receipt of jail time or other socially-mandated punishments. Therefore, when they have committed a crime as an act of rebellion against society, it is a choice to do so where they have determined that the message they are trying to send against society is much more important than the potential outcomes of these behaviours. No matter the type of crime committed, it is very rare that social circumstances can be used to justify why these behaviours occurred. With the growth of better government-sponsored counselling and assistance, along with career-related programmes which provide low-cost or even free educational assistance, social circumstances do not necessarily have to be long-term detriments to an individual’s lifestyle. If they are willing to explore more positive alternative options for improving their sociological environments, they will likely succeed without having to resort to criminal behaviour. Conducting a crime is simply a matter of choice and these actions are not, generally, the result of social scenarios. Read More