Individual behavior forms one of the most contributive factors towards a person’s propensity to commit or not to commit a crime. Various factors contribute towards behavioral development and change in an individual; the current economy, the competence portrayed by the police, the parentage and nurturing an individual receives from family, accessibility, and use of illegal drugs and finally the quality and level of discipline exercised by school institutions on the students.
These factors affect the behavior of an individual and might lead them to criminal activities depending on the effect of the overall combination of the elements mentioned above(Tischler 145). There are environments which support crime, and the overall effect is that crimes would be committed in environments which provide a pleasant atmosphere for a crime.
Every crime committed has consequences that can either be positive or negative depending on the reasons for committing the offense. This essay intends to analyze the implications of committing a crime. The penalty for committing crimes can lead to rewards or can also be a source of punishment.
Individuals will choose to do an act or not depending on the overall consequences as a result of the crime. When an idea of committing a particular crime occurs to an individual, they are faced with the choice of either committing or not committing it. Once an individual evaluates the decisions, they will only commit a crime if the benefits of committing it to supersede the losses since both options have consequences that are either negative or positive.
Both positive and negative consequences crop up from committing a crime. This can be categorized into rewards and/or punishments. The rewards of crime are only beneficial to the perpetrators.
Victims of acts of crime suffer significant losses either physically or psychologically as well as from a material perspective. One of the positive rewards of committing a crime is the material gain that one acquires from the offense. Crimes range in form from smuggling, corruption, arson, theft, robbery among others.
Most of these are associated with looting, and an individual can acquire a lot of “free” money or access to valuable products such as money or jewelry from such crimes(Tischler 146). The economic state of a country or an individual’s standard of living might force them to commit an illegal act so that they can gain possession of material benefits that they may lack or may desire to have.
Apart from the material benefits, there are also intangible benefits that could be accrued from a misdemeanor. This may range from the feelings of emotional gratification that some people get; others feel elated after committing a crime (Gaines and Miller 316). Another intangible reward is that an individual may gain the approval of fellow peers in a situation where an individual has been facing pressure from their peer to commit a crime.
Some of the common offenses that youths involved in out of peer pressure are writing graffiti’s on walls and the use of illegal drugs such as bhang and cocaine. Sometimes, some teens do not wish to engage themselves in illicit activities such as drugs, robbery or arson. Their peer groups might be doing it, and for the youth to fit in, he/she has to take part in the crimes.
Others commit these offenses to settle an old score that existed between the offender and the victim.
Many incidences of crime arise from grudges that people hold against each other; consequently, individuals lay in wait for an opportunity to “settle” the score which sometimes leads to serious crimes such as murder(Robert et al. 342).
On the other hand, some negatives or punishments result from committing a crime since crimes are usually occurrence that is not accepted by most communities. After committing an offense especially for a beginner, there are pangs of guilt and conscience that seem to overwhelm the offenders of the crime.
Since society does not support crimes, the disapproval and condemnation that a crime offender receives once the onlookers are aware of the crime may affect him/her. I was once a victim of such speculation when at one point, I shoplifted while twelve years old.
Everyone’s parent thought I was terrible influence although their children also shoplifted several times but never got caught. However, it was unfortunate for me that I was found red handed and I can always remember the depression I went through because it seemed like everywhere I went people were pointing fingers at me. There are feelings of shame which are likely to develop because of the criminal act.
Once an individual is a suspect of a criminal act, they are arrested and tested in the court of law which would determine whether the accused is guilty or not(Robert et al. 342). This has psychological torment or mental stress for the accused since society tends to keep off from criminals. Such people tend to develop negative attitudes toward life.
As a result, their whole perspective about life can change causing them to develop feelings of resentment towards other human beings which tends to make their criminal inclination worse as is the case with most criminals. In other cases, the victim may retaliate since not all perpetrators of crimes harm the victims they had intended to harm. For some reason, the victim may be more powerful than the criminal.
Crime is an act that exists in every society, and people’s different behavioral characteristics determine the degree of crime. There are various factors which are known to impact peoples behavior and as a result tend to incline them towards criminal activities; the economy, nurturing and police system to mention a few.
To reduce the crime rates in most cities and developing areas, people must be aware of these factors and embrace solutions to causes of adverse behavioral change in growing teenagers and young children.
Works Cited
Gaines, Larry and Miller Roger. Criminal Justice in Action: The Core. Australia: Wardsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010. Web.
Robert, Lilly, Ball A. Richard and Cullen T. Francis. Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences. California: Sage Publications, 2011. Web.
Tischler, Henry. Introduction to Sociology. Australia: Wards worth, Cengage Learning, 2010. Web.