Need input: Prevention of crime

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I think the root of the issues you mentioned above stems from parenting. The proper parenting from birth till you leave the house is the main building block to base your future judgments and actions upon. Someone having been brought up in a broken home treated badly with excess negativity will continue to be a negative person. These people think for themself not giving back to society but rather find ways to better them self while in some cases affecting/hurting the lives of others. I would say parenting/home life/ proper education all factor into building a positive individual who is less likely to perform the acts listed above. Of course there are always those cases that don't fit the mold but as a whole I believe what I said stands strong.

i think a lot of crime stems from a lack of respect for other people's property.

if a criminal breaks into a car to steal a radio, they firstly damage the car to get inside (force door open, break window etc..) then they steal the radio. they're not respecting the fact that it's someone else's property and that someone had to pay for what was damaged and stolen.

the problem is, even if we teach these people about respecting others' property, it won't stop them stealing. if they want something, they'll take it. it doesn't matter to them that they're stealing and someone else has to pay for fix the problem, it's easy money for the criminals.

my solution: chop their hands off. how you going to steal a car radio with no hands?

I agree with parenting as the building block for instilling non-violent values into an individual regardless of their culture or religious belief system. Crime takes place usually because somebody wants something badly enough that they view the person in which the crime is being committed as another object and not a person as themselves. I think this is significant. For example, when you've had a fight against an enemy as a child or as an adult when set off you just started wailing on the "enemy" and you no longer considered their feelings about the matter at that particular time. Granted, you probably ran out of breath or both got tired of fighting and if it was a friend may have even settled matters. Now we know that people can all go off the deep end at times and that is to be anticipated. However, crimes against others can be prevented by people remembering that they're human and the person they are acting upon is just as human as they are with emotions and feelings and thoughts of right and wrong. I've known good people and bad people and you really can't do anything to help the bad people because it seems that the damage is done. The good people sometimes get the shit end of the stick too. Accidental killings or self-defense is one example. But good people can also become bad simply by throwing drugs into the mix. I've known racy individuals that have teetered on the fence of good and bad and when on certain drugs they've just lost all reasoning for good. So even with the foundation of good parenting as I believe to be one of the fundamental building blocks of good behavior (or rather non-violent/criminal behavior) it really doesn't matter because people will end up doing something bad because of some foreign agent or influence. I wish I had the Modern Rhetoric text in front of me right now with the Kenneth Burke's essay about the pentad of human behavior with the fundamental terms: act, agent, agency, scene, purpose. These 5 terms can be used to analyze virtually all human behavior, whether it's right or wrong it can be analyzed to figure out why it happened.

EDIT:
Act: What happened? What is the action? What is going on? What action; what thoughts?
Scene: Where is the act happening? What is the background situation?
Agent: Who is involved in the action? What are their roles?
Agency: How do the agents act? By what means do they act?
Purpose: Why do the agents act? What do they want?
Of dramatism, Burke said: "If action, then drama; if drama, then conflict; if conflict, then victimage.


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1: Burke, Kenneth. 1945. A Grammar of Motives. Berkeley: U of California P, 1969

Great point about adding drugs to the mix. I as well have seen good people go off the deep end due to excessive drug use. To them everything seems normal but you looking at them form the outside see them falling apart loosing focus and care. This all to often can lead to stealing/crimes/assault. But the drug use usually stems from other deep rooted problems they are trying to escape from.

crime is a by-product of drug use.

addicts steal to get money to feed their habit.

do something to reduce the drug problem, educate people about the effects of drug and try for a decrease in drug use and therefore a decrease in drug-related crimes.

Cant do drugs with no hands - Chop them off! :p

excellent idea. no drug user can light their lighter to fire up the crack pipe if they don't got no hands!

we should introduce more shankings for criminals too.

I can't do anything with specualations on reasons people. I need to know what you'd do to prevent it. Better parenting, sure, how?

Wow, we were just talking about this in psychology a little while ago. Its all in the mind, your morals are what keeps you from doing bad things. If your parents taught you right (morals), you shouldn't kill or steal. But some people do snap and kill etc. It's what you think is right. Every one's morals are slightly different so people do slightly different things. And its also with your need to survive, some people (usually poor) steal to live, to let their family live etc. These are a few reasons I believe.

Edit: I don't think there really is any way to prevent it.

I can't do anything with specualations on reasons people. I need to know what you'd do to prevent it. Better parenting, sure, how?

Stop watching tv and get your kid away from the video games and sit down and help them learn some US History or English Literature so they can speak proper English. EDIT: This may not deter crime but would be helpful :)

Or, if your kid is hanging out on the street, which street is it? Oh they're just skateboarding with some friends. Who are these friends? Which streets are they skateboarding on? I think that parents pay much less attention to their kids these days.

people could be better educated on the bad effect of drugs, shown examples and such. instead of teachers saying "drugs are bad" which has no effect on stopping its use.

if you better prepare people, and educate them on what drugs can do (focusing on the bad sides) then you can help prevent those students from using drugs.

i think educating and parenting is key.

I agree that it starts with parenting, but at the same time, some things just can't be prevented. There are certain types of criminals, like sociopaths, where the reasons for their acts of crime may be biological. You can't say that crime can be prevented by not having children.

Are you referring to any specific acts of crime, or just crime in general?

I agree that it starts with parenting, but at the same time, some things just can't be prevented. There are certain types of criminals, like sociopaths, where the reasons for their acts of crime may be biological. You can't say that crime can be prevented by not having children.

Are you referring to any specific acts of crime, or just crime in general?

All crimes, not gernerally. Every crime specifically. Give me ideas on how to prevent it. Good parenting yes, but how? Educate people in parenting? What would you guys like to see your government do to prevent it?

Government? So how can government prevent crimes? Thats too vague. They already do there best to prevent crimes by enforcing laws and employing countless amounts of police and officials, not to mention our gigantic army. Wanna stop crime go to the root go to the less then fortunate areas of the country where poverty and crime is at a high. Prevent these areas from reproducing. Like I said above alot is due to parenting. You cant be allowing children to have children. You should have to pass a test to prove that your set fit to raise a child the correct way. Child birth is so importand and special yet taken extremely for granted. I'll stop there.

You should have to pass a test to prove that your set fit to raise a child the correct way. Child birth is so importand and special yet taken extremely for granted. I'll stop there.
I very much agree with you here, although if that were true in the late 70's I wouldn't be here right now. It also happens that I grew up knowing and acting out a life of crime, but have done a 180. I'm now a college grad and I have a family that I take care of. However, assuming this law were in effect, I suppose the tax payers would have saved some cash by my non-exsistance.

Anyways, I'm happy to be here, and to further on the the original question about crime prevention, I can say this; crime is not preventable without an alteration to the very part of our brain that has paved our continued existance, the ego.

I say that because merely suspect that most crimes are commited selfishly, and to suit the needs of the individual(s). Some factors that go into a criminal are economic status, self-image.
It's interesting though because even a person of great wealth can be unsatisfied with themselves somehow, resulting in an obsessive desire for afirmation... whether in the form of sex, material, or power. On the other side,those with high-self esteem can be very poor, and seek wealth in dishonest ways.
Now of course you also get those that Nichole mentioned, who by reason purely of mental defect are just completely fucked.
Criminal justice is interesting. For a moment lets imagine a world with no crime... tommorow. Either everyone would have a job, or people would sit in there homes and do nothing but whatever is deemed acceptable. Is there room in our economy for millions of jobs? Are there resources available to teach the skills needed?

Now, how about the jobs lost? No crime means displacing more millions of already working people. Judges, police, corrections, lawyers, clerks, administration at all levels. Even the Gaurdian Angels would be out of work... and they don't even get paid.

I believe that every action has an equal and oposite reaction, so the questions I pose are very fun to concider, because there are so many variables. Crime is both good and bad for the economy. Which way the scales tip is up to a super-computer... wheres the fat guy from head of the class when you need him?

As a former criminal, I spent many years wasting away. The single most important thing I learned was that anything that happened in my upbringing is completely valid when it comes to how my attitude determined my actions. Unfortunately, I learned that upon learning the whys, I could no longer use my upbringing as an excuse to further victomize people.
I'll tell you... it takes iron balls* to step up and admit that you are the scum of the earth... and when your in that situation, you have to see crime for what it is... the easy way.
I'm really not going anywhere with this now... so i'll just say that for me, stopping crime meant forgetting the idea that the world owed me something... it is I who owe. I owe it to you, and can only hope you feel the same of me. You get it.


*see, self-affirmation never stops. with this staement, it's as if I'm defending my good thinking, as if it makes me weak somehow... what can be made of that? why is that? is it the way I see criminals versus non-criminals? it just shows how deep rooted criminal thinking is. I do however, consciously choose to believe it takes more to walk the line.

A complete ban of crime is impossible. I hate to say it folks but you can't do it. You can cut back on it and eliminate most of it but you can't get rid of all of it.

A complete ban of crime is impossible. I hate to say it folks but you can't do it. You can cut back on it and eliminate most of it but you can't get rid of all of it.

Agreed. There will always be some element of society that pursues criminal acts.

But, you could attack the problems of drugs, upbringing, and the courts.

For drugs, take the stand that China has: on your first drug related arrest/conviction, you get 5 years, rehab, etc courtesy of the government. On your second drug related arrest/conviction you are summarily executed. In the US, the government has said they're taking a tough stand on drugs, but while the arrests seem to have gone up, there's still the problem with the leniency of the courts and the revolving doors of the prisons.

While I'm on prisons, make the prisons a punishment. Yes, there are human rights activists, and there are those that are in prison for mild crimes. But a real punishment would be if the cell you're in is a 2m by 2m concrete slab, with a stainless toilet/sink combination and a single overhead lightbulb that comes on at 6 am and goes off at 6pm, and you get one meal a day for basic subsistence. Not what it currently is, mattress with blankets, 3 hot meals a day, magazines, TV, weight lifting, etc. Maybe on first offenses go to the "easy" prison, and repeat offenders get the concrete block.

Upbringing - if you tell someone that they can't reproduce, you are taking away their basic rights as an organism, IMO. However, in many cases I strongly agree that many people should NOT be allowed to reproduce: repeat drug offenders (crack mothers are an example), people that are on welfare and seem to only have more children to get more welfare dollars, and people that have shown they are unwilling or unable to care for the children they already have. This will be a very sensitive topic.

But there will be good parents and bad parents, you can't get around it. Mankind has survived for millions of years with both kinds.

The Courts. I've already mentioned the revolving door. If you want crime to stop (or at least be slowed) that policy needs to stop. Harsher punishments, and the concrete cell mentioned above would go a long way. Right now in the US (I don't know the exact number) but someone convicted of a crime has numerous appeals available to them; while there should be some appeals in case a mistake was made or there was a bias, the process for a death row inmate shouldn't take 13 years. IMO if there's a video tape of Mr. Robber walking into the convenience store, shooting the clerk and leaving with the money, Mr. Robber should be executed without appeal. It's apparent that he did it from the tape, why should he be entitled to a 6 month jury trial, then several appeals? He did it, his face is clear on the tape. Public, perhaps televised executions come to mind, but would be rather severe. "See, THIS is what happens to you if you do this crime."

:popcorn:

I tip my hat to you Mr. Ian Szgatti. Everyone seems to have great ideas.
What would be smart move is look at statistics of other countries and see the crime rates. See what they do, there ways and why there is less crime there. Is it the law enforcement? Schooling? Those people in general?

perhaps televised executions come to mind, but would be rather severe. "See, THIS is what happens to you if you do this crime."


Now I have a step-son who is 11. When he talks back, or doesn't flush the toilet, or ignores his obligation to be respectful, I automatically would love to smash him one in the lips. While it might make him think twice about talking back to me or his mom, it wouldn't bring him closer to respecting me truley.
If a person can't identify with or respect the person trying to teach them, then the lesson will go in one ear and out the other. It takes something else. I tell him... "I love getting along with you, and you know that i am never mean when your good, but when you do these things, I have to do something."
I have a good time with my son. I show him affection, love and room to express himself. It's fro this reason he will eventually try hard to please me... he knows that to please me you have to be a certain kind of person. If I show him enough love... he just won't want to let me down. In that, he'll follow the rules kind of naturally.

I would never show him a video of an execution if he didnt flush the toilet. No matter the crime, fear is just not an effective way of solving criminal thinking... only keeping the actions at bay.
I just can't imagine how the justice system will ever be able to influence people in such a way.
I can say that I had influences within prision that really opened up my eyes. This one guy came in and sang songs with his guitar. He was like over 50... a big man, with a deep loud voice, but friendly, and smiling. He had spent 20 years of his life in prision, and you could tell that he could probably be a real nasty fucker... but he was up there singing. You could tell how sincere he was, and how much emotion went into his telling us that life was just so much better now that he just loved his wife and went to his job.... it wasnt glamorous or anything, but it was personally gratifying.
It's guys like that in jails right now, talking, day after day, that might help if we continue providing funding for such programs. People need hope, an emotional connection... and somebody to look up too. Fear is old news.

There is only one way to prevent all crime: repeal all laws.

An action can only be a crime after some authority declares it to be illegal.

There is only one way to prevent all crime: repeal all laws.

An action can only be a crime after some authority declares it to be illegal.

Now there's something that half of us could live with. The other half (lawyers and politicians) would be removed.

We need to find some way to get rid of most of the drugs in the country. I think it was like 70% of all crimes in the U.S. are directly related to drugs.

An action can only be a crime after some authority declares it to be illegal.

And it's only illegal if you get caught.

We need to find some way to get rid of most of the drugs in the country. I think it was like 70% of all crimes in the U.S. are directly related to drugs.

cause they are illegal....

cause they are illegal....

Not just that, but other crimes that have occured because people were on drugs. Murder, rape, etc.

ahhh..... to be 15 again and not fully understand how crime works/behaves.