Crime Myths
Crime has been in existence since the beginning of humanity. Fighting crime is one of the major functions of the government. In order to fight crime effectively it is vital for relevant agencies to understand what drives people to engage in criminal activities. This has led to the formulation of various myths about crime. The advent of mass media has helped in propagating some of these crimes. However, some of these myths has do not portray the true picture of crime.
Crime myths act as social glue of the society. Crime myths help in regulating the behaviors of people in a certain society. Various external forces help in spreading crime myths to the society. These external forces include politicians, government, and mass media. The myths help in creating an ‘us versus them’ mentality. This reinforces the notion that people have a common enemy. This helps the crime myths to act as a social glue.
Crime myths assume that it is possible to trace the criminal activities of individuals to their childhood. They assume that various environmental and social factors of people’s upbringing may contribute to their criminal activities during their adulthood. Therefore, tackling these environmental and social factors may help in tackling crime.
Various factors enhance the ability of crime myths to act as social glue. One of the major factors that enables crime myths to act as social glue is “overgeneralization of personal experience” (Braswell, McCarthy & McCarthy, 2012, p. 358). In addition, people usually rely on inaccurate information. Lack of consciousness also enhances the ability of crime myths to act as social glue. Therefore, it is vital for people to demystify the crime myths.
Terrorism
Terrorism is one of the major factors that affects the U.S. foreign policy. Domestic and international terrorism are the major type of terrorism. Domestic terrorism refers to the use of violence against civilians or infrastructure of a certain nations. The U.S. strives to reduce domestic terrorism. Domestic terrorism may intimidate or influence the national policy of a certain country (Braswell, McCarthy & McCarthy, 2012). Therefore, it is vital for governments to have strategies that would help in mitigating terrorism activities. In addition, governments should improve their disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
The major difference between domestic terrorism and other forms of terrorism is the origin of individuals or groups that carry out the terrorism activities. In domestic terrorism, the origin of the terrorists is usually within the country. The bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 is an example of domestic terrorism. On the other hand, the bombing of the bombing of the Twin Towers in September 2001 was due to international terrorism (Braswell, McCarthy & McCarthy, 2012).
Terrorism is significantly different from other acts of violence. It creates fear among citizens of a certain country. Terrorists use the acts of violence to convince citizens of a certain country that their government does not have the ability to stop terrorism. This enables the terrorist to create publicity for their causes. The ability of terrorists to acquire weapons of mass destruction may enable them to inflict massive bodily injuries to a large number of people. Therefore, relevant parties should strive to ensure that terrorists do not acquire weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. foreign policy ensures that rogue states do not have weapons of mass destruction. Rogue states may support various terrorist groups.
Reference
Braswell, M. C., McCarthy, B. R. & McCarthy, B. J. (2012). Justice, crime, and ethics. Burlington, MA: Anderson Publishing.