There are two basic facts in Smith’s life: one, that he’s in a war with the “In-laws,” and two, that he’s going to fight it until the day he dies, or die fighting. From Smith’s perspective, there is an impassable line between him and the In-laws, who are out to get him, and his best method of success is beating them down. In taking revenge on the governor of Borstal, Smith thinks he has succeeded. What Smith doesn’t realize is that he, not the governor, truly loses when he loses the race. Smith needs to revise his world view to realize that there is a better way of getting what he wants, and the revenge he seeks is only a sign of his weakness and unhappiness with his own life. By focusing his energy on getting revenge, Smith compromises his opportunities and ability to succeed. Ultimately, his actions are a loss for Smith more than for the people he is fighting. Smith sees the authority figures around him as a threat to his happiness. To Smith, the cops and the governor of Borstal block his success. This is such a strong reality for him that the idea of them being on his side is impossible: “If only ‘them’ and ‘us’ had the same ideas we’d get [along]…but they don’t see eye to eye with us and we don’t see eye to eye with them, so that’s how it stands and how it will always stand” (7-8). The “them” he refers to are people like the governor of Borstal and the cops, the “In-law blokes” who, according to him, are “all on the watch for Out-law blokes like [Smith]…waiting to ‘phone for the coppers as soon as [he makes] a false move” (10). Furthermore, his strongest truth is that he is alone: “I knew what the loneliness of the long-distance runner running across country felt like, realizing that as far as I was concerned this feeling was... ... middle of paper ... ...ke Smith, they become ever more revengeful towards those who end up punishing them for not being something they have no real incentive to be. Ultimately, criminals such as Smith end up wasting society’s resources (cops’ time and citizens’ money), wasting their own energy which could be better used to make them economically productive and contributing members of society, and making society less safe by reducing the mutual trust of society’s members due to thefts. The society does not seem to have a good way of dealing with criminals—Smith is not rectified in any manner by Borstal, and merely punished. Perhaps society needs to focus on increasing financial opportunities for the poor rather than trying to change values that are really an outcome of the society in which they grow up. The core problem is the society; once that is fixed, values will change automatically.
revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end...” (210). Because he had seen first
Smith one of the main characters in the novel, is going through such experiences of strict
On the whole, by adopting Fried’s attitude, in my view, society would receive a more negative effect than positive effect. Instead we can try to change the criminals by improving their moral perspective towards society which makes the society a better place to live.
Robert Merton explains that because there is such a large emphasis on financial success and achieving the “American Dream”, these societies that suffer from strain are put under enormous pressures to obtain these goals. The only issue is that the lower class does not always have the means of obtaining that success. This problem instills frustration and anger into people and so one response is to turn to crime as an alternate pathway to achieving success. For example, an individual who has been unemployed for a long period of time might commit robbery or theft in need of fast money to pay bills or put food on the table. Therefor we can conclude that certain stressors can increase the likely hood into social behavior and therefor decrease the fear of the punishments of those actions.
In history, crimes have been dealt with by the justice system according to its severity as well as the offender: if the crime committed was not very serious and the offender was deemed “non-delinquent”, or “free of any real criminal disposition”, they would be cautioned or fined. However, were the crime a more serious one and the offender appeared to have a “criminal character”, they would receive more severe and more deterrent punishment (Garland, 2001: 42).
By the time Smith and Hickock are hanged, Smith is portrayed in the role of misunderstood good guy in the good-guy/bad-guy literary device. Capote was not apposed to the death penalty, he used the double handing as the dramatic ending to In Cold Blood. Thought out the third section of In Cold Blood. Whenever Hickock is contemplating or gagging in a sexual act, Smith reacts in an angry or jealous way. Capote repeatedly interprets Smith’s actions towards Hickock as showing his morality, where Hickock is voiced as having none.
... up information about crime and it is truly sad to think about. Undeniably, crime is all around us, everywhere we go. There is always someone out there committing crime. “Deviance” is not inherent in people, it is a process in which you learn. Yet through many series of socialization, such as parents, friends, class, gender, an individual or group can become “deviant”. The interactionist theories the best sociological explanation due to the fact that it can alter people values and perception in many ways. For instance, supervision of the so called “street” parents, have a huge effect on their children’s development. However, being labeled as a criminal by the society has made people living in the so called “streets” to accept this label as a criminal and obey and commit crime. This semester has enabled me to better understand on how crime is formed and how it works.
In today's society, we are facing many changes. Our own family, neighbors, and countrymen are afraid of many dangers which influence their lives. Although many people have fear which resonates in their consciousness and unconsciousness, the United States has a comparatively low crime rate. Despite this low crime rate, America incarcerates it's citizens five times the rate of Canada and seven times that of most European democracies.(Slambrouck, Paul. 24) Our society needs to be changed. We cannot blame the individuals involved in wrongdoing but we can blame our society who raised these criminals. Of course someone who kills another human being needs to be put away in some form; but we need to make changes. We need to help as many maladjusted people as we can. There are some steps which really seem to work. There are many prison inmates who come from broken homes and have low self-esteem. What needs to be done to help these insecure people, who are at war with themselves and society, is to rehabilitate them. The problem is the prison officials do not try to teach the prisoners how to learn from their mistakes.(McGovern, Celeste. 42) What actually happens is that criminals tend to be better thefts, and have the ability to out smart the police. Our politicians need to stress how important vocational, educational, drug-treatment, and religious programs are, in order to improve the attitude and demeanor of these convicted felons. This is the only way to keep ex-con's from jail.(DeLuca, H.R. 38) Another problem with America's prison system is overcrowding. There is a huge amount of young conscienceless offenders who are entering today's prisons. Imagine trying to compact eight gallons of water in a five gallon con...
... lack of need for it as his negative qualities seal his fate and the old sage shows the benefit of having faith and forgiving those who have betrayed them. Rather than focusing on getting revenge, one should strive to move forward with their life. All that revenge does is slow down the personal growth of an individual; the consequences far outweigh the benefits.
Punishment occurs to individuals who break the law. It is also used to maintain the level of crime and to protect community members in Australia. To determine that society is content with maintaining the crime rate, this essay will discuss punishment types given to offenders and how society justifies the use punishment. Additionally, providing a brief overview of the community correction and prions rates to show that communities prefer to incarcerate lawbreakers. Highlighting that crime rates are being maintained by looking at the personal crime rate for assault before concluding that Australian society feel safe enough to allow the criminal justice system to sustain the crime rate.
Secondly, the way society sees criminals is wrong. They become “social pariahs” and are treated as sub-humans. This behavior isolates criminals and makes them not care about changing their behavior. Society as a whole must change in order for criminals to be helped. If society cannot change, then neither can the inmates.
Conscious efforts to critique existing approaches to questions of crime and justice, demystify concepts and issues that are laden with political and ideological baggage, situate debates about crime control within a socio-historical context, and facilitate the imagination and exploration of alternative ways of thinking and acting in relation to crime and justice. (p. 3).
...of cooperation with official and the blatant disrespect for the law perpetuates a life of violence, drugs and other criminal activities when incarcerated. Only through tough changes that will take dedicated professionals in the correction system can make a difference. The economic factor plays a vital role in these changes because without money there will be no additional assistance to change this culture and mindset. There will be no analyzing of why this young person is in prison so they can be a part of something that only cares about that next dollar. With the proper specialist to exam and reconstruct the lives of those that want a change, change can be had. Weeding out the corrupt officials is urgent for any of these changes to occur. They are the connection point with the gang members and set the tone for those that might need a hand to turn their life around.
Next, we will discuss these principles. Logically, crime does harm to everyone that is involved. First, the victim involved is harmed either physically, emotionally, or monetarily. Second, perpetrator or offender is harmed when they are removed from society and their family. Hence, their societal and familial bonds are severed. Lastly, society is harmed because the offender enters the criminal justice system. Then, they likely will end up in prison/jail which will result in them having to be supported by tax payer’s
Criminals come from all walks of life. Some are wealthy business owners while others are poverty-stricken and homeless. Some are 60 years old while others are 16. What makes people decide to become a criminal? Why does one person who gets arrested and faces punishment learn from the mistake and does nothing illegal again while others become prison regulars? Criminological theory seeks to answer these questions in an effort to mold societal influence and implement programs to deter people from committing crimes. One such theory is the classical theory. Even though some believe that crime is based mainly on social influencers like in the differential association theory, the classical theory is more accurate because it suggests that each person makes the choice to commit a crime based on risk versus reward and because most intentional criminal acts pay some sort of benefit, rarely are they seen as not profitable.