If you search the word Crime in Google the first definition that will pop up is “an action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law.”(Google search engine) Now this doesn’t sound fun, in fact, that’s why most of society avoids breaking the law. There are those who commit crime regardless of the risk. Breaking down crime into sub categories, society is inundated with all kinds of different crime. The focus for this paper is Theft. People often wonder, what motivates criminals to commit theft? The answer is difficult and must be examined by what type of theft or thievery is committed. Some of the most recognizable types of theft are bank robbers, con artist, art thief, and a simple pick pocket.
First off, Bank robberies. Bank robberies back in the early 1930s had been a booming business to get into, due to the fact that the great depression was in full swing and jobs were a luxury to have. People needed money fast and in the article by Allan May and Marilyn Bardsley, they state that the banks painted a target on their backs by *“…having miserable public relations problems during the Depression. Many of them failed, sweeping away the life savings of millions of hard working people. Those that stayed in business foreclosed on people's homes, farms and businesses…” Many Americans believed that there was *“…even a touch of Robin Hood…” to the bank robber. (*Allan May, Marilyn Bardsley Criminal library “Little Bohemia”) Many of the bank robbers believed in this theory themselves. They believed that they were stealing from the bank which stole from the people, believing that it was almost their moral obligation to take the money. The Great depression caused a great deal o...
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... steal money which they inevitably usually close the bank down and people lose their jobs. Con artist deceives people. It’s a game to them. They steal from businesses and people causing vulnerability which lead to asset losses and debt. Art thieves are selfish, cause museums to lose credibility and objects of interest, which inevitability loses visitors and donations which keep them afloat. Pick pockets steal money from hard working people who make an honest living. They can make people feel exposed and vulnerable to the world and ruin credit they have worked there entire life to build. Nothing good comes from thieves. They only cause Manheim in people’s lives and hurt the economy. They all are greedy and selfish in their own way and could represent a mosquito to society: they only suck the life and money out of it and the world would be a better place without them.
Robert Merton (1938) argued that members of American society are socialised to want the culturally defined goals such as the ‘American dream’ where success is attributed to material wealth. When they are denied access to the legitimate means, they resort to illegitimate means such as criminality and deviance to attain what they have been taught to want. (Lanier&Henry,1998) It could be argued that America is organised for crime due to its overwhelming significance placed on material success. This may explain why America has the highest rate of imprisonment, in 2000 approximately two million men and women were serving prison sentences. (Fleisher&Decker,2006) Similarly, Toy and Stanko (2008) identify that being part of a society that attributes achievement with material wealth are other factors which may influence becoming gang affiliated. (Harris et al, 2011)
The great depression was a very hard time to make money. A good example of this is in the story ¨Digging In” by Robert J. Hastings. In this story it explains how hard people had to work to make money. The dad of the family sold iron cords door to door, bought a horse to break gardens, picked peaches, raised sweet potato slips, hung wallpapers and even painted a house for 5 dollars. Their mom also tried her best to save money. She usually kept the electricity and gas bill to 1 dollar. They all tried their best to survive the great depression. Some people had actually had hope.
Today, it is seen that during the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt had led America out of the economic disparity throughout his bold actions and promises that fueled the hearts of numerous Americans. However, President Roosevelt was not the only figure to be considered as the ‘hero’ that swept the country out of its misery. There were several people who helped contribute to the change in America’s culture and to the improvement in society. During the Great Depression, two notorious, lovestruck criminals, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, had lasting impacts on much of the nation’s law enforcement, society’s values, and the growth levels of entertainment and economy. Together, the couple led several Americans out of the Great Depression
In addition to biological and psychological elements, there are the social factors that can influence people to engage in criminal activity. As a matter of fact, social and economic pressures play a major role in the cause of crime, since people are more likely to break the law when they have nothing else to lose. Therefore, the biological, psychological, and social factors should all be considered when trying to establish a reason for every crime. Word Count = 1,378
Crime and Everyday Life chapter two, The Chemistry for Crime outlines the various components of a crime. Noting that offenders are just one small element to any crime. In all honesty offenders are a variable waiting for time that all the elements are in place. Violent, predatory crimes only occur while an absence of guardians around a target. Clarke named the check list for a target or hot product as, concealable, removable, available, valuable, enjoyable, and disposable. Equally, fights develop in the absence of peacemakers and a present crowd. Illegal sales crime all depend on the setting that offers coverage and removed management. The Chemistry for Crime argues that everyday life tempts as well as diminishes the potential for crime, influencing
Winfree, T., & Abadinsky, H. (2nd Ed.). (2003). Understanding Crime: Theory and Practice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth publishers.
On an October morning, the United States woke up and realized that the stock market had crashed. Everyone was shocked and confused. The people lost most if not all of their possessions. The Great Depression was during the 1930s and made people do, think, and feel in many ways they hadn’t. They had to conserve what they had and most of the time it was nothing. They felt sad, scared, and confused in a different way. It wasn’t just the people it was the government, the police, the authority, and even the other neighboring countries of the United States. According to Maury Klein in Rainbow’s End she says, “Black Thursday, 1929. The market opened, said one broker, ‘Like a bolt out of hell.’ The dreaded tsunami of selling crashed down at once. Never had so many orders poured in so fast from so many places; 1.6 million shares changed hands in the first half hour alone and the pace never slowed. No sooner was a phone hung up than it rang again.” The rich became poor. The poor became poorer. The people with money were scared to share it thinking they might lose all of it. No one trusted anyone except themselves and their family. Money is the key to survival in this world. But during that time the people were poor. They didn’t have money, so how did they survive?
Kelling, George L. Thinking About Crime: Is There a Right to Beg? 1993. Web. 10 December 2013.
White collar crimes do not garner as much media attention as that of violent crimes (Trahan, Marquart, & Mullings 2005). This is an odd fact because white collar crimes cost society much more than violent crimes do (Messner & Rosenfeld 2007). While there are many different definitions for white collar crime, Schoepfer and Piquero describe it as a nonphysical crime that is used to either obtain goods or to prevent goods from being taken (2006). People who commit these crimes are looking for personal or some sort of organizational gain and are being pressured to be economically successful from the idea of the American dream. The authors suggest that there are two types of people who commit crimes, those who have an immense desire for control and those who fear losing all they have worked hard for (Schopfer & Piquero 2006). Both groups have different reasons for turning to crime, but both groups commit the crime to benefit themselves. It was found that higher levels of high school drop outs were directly correlated to levels of embezzlement in white collar crime (2006). Because they are drop outs, they are less likely to be successful legitimately and turn to crime more often than their graduate
Following the decade of economic prosperity and peace of the Roaring 20’s was the 1930’s which is commonly known as the Great Depression, an era of distress and instability that played an effect on altering the social, political, and economical infrastructure of the United States. Before the Great Depression, the United States was a representation of a consumer-driven society, with people loaning money from banks, in order to pay for luxurious items, they could not afford. However, in 1929, the stock market crashed, resulting in the nationwide closures of multiple banks and marked as the begin of turmoil for Americans. With the burden of the nation on the backs of all Americans, the meaning of life was changed and people waited day by day for the government to act and steer the nation back on the track for economic and political stability and progress, to be a
All across the nation during the Great Depression people were jobless, homeless, and starving; nowhere was this truer than in the American Midwest. Not only did the farms and cities of the Midwest have to deal with the poor economic conditions but the Midwest's main source of income, agriculture, was being ravaged by the natural phenomenon now called the Dust Bowl. On top of low crop prices and a lack of employment farmland was ruined, went unplanted, and was often foreclosed on. These extra difficulties left the inhabitants of the Midwest with added resentments and frustration with businesses and government that seemed unable or unwilling to help. Out of this extreme hardship came a group of people who for many different reasons chose to make their own rules and live outside the law. These gangsters' exploits seemed to have been focused in Middle America from as far as Minnesota and Wisconsin to Texas and Louisiana. The Midwestern crime wave, which captivated a disenchanted public, involved brazen but personable gangsters who shot and robbed their way across country.
Economists have explained the rational decisions that the actors of crime take and the causes and effects of crime. Over the past few decades economists have sought out models that explain the behavior and incentives for illegal behavior in society and why someone would opt to commit a crime over legitimate work. Economics has been useful in demonstrating strong correlations between the cost and benefit conditions in society and factors relating to the reported criminal rates through the use of rational choice theory and other models. The trends, individual motiv...
Wilson, James and Herrnstein, Richard. "Crime & Human Nature: The Definitive Study of the Causes of Crime" New York: Free Press, 1998.
Crime is a highly complex and important problem that changes across cultures and across time. This briefing provides a summary of some of the key explanations that try to explain the causes of crime. It is by no means a thorough list. Each of the explanations covered has its own strengths and weaknesses, has gaps and may only be related to certain types of crime, and not others. There is no “right” or “wrong” explanation to justify it.
Crime exists everywhere. It is exists in our country, in the big cities, the small towns, schools, and even in homes. Crime is defined as “any action that is a violation of law”. These violations may be pending, but in order to at least lower the crime rate, an understanding of why the crimes are committed must first be sought. There are many theories that are able to explain crimes, but three very important ones are rational choice theory, social disorganization theory and strain theory.