this is an off-shoot from the discussion we have on the history of guns.
This is my highly personal and non scientific opinion on the criminal mind. Feel free to call me a deluded moron and throw popcorn at me.
We all know that there’s no culture that is criminal, or any more criminally inclined than any other. Demanding honesty and decency from others and striving for it one self is a focal point in every culture in every corner of the world. Still we have criminals everywhere; people who willingly break the rules. And I’m not talking about the law here. The basic rules all humans carry with us from birth.
Is it really just greed? Is it really just wanting to get ahead without doing the work? Does really the opportunity make the thief? Or is it deeper? Is being a criminal really a rational decision based on personal gain? I don’t think so at all.
We all have needs and hopes. Some of us might have or perceive that they are outside our reach. At least if we follow the rules. I can only speak from personal experience, but I’ve met quite a few criminals to base this on. Off-course people with broken spirits might not turn to crime. Desperation might surface in a number of different ways. As we all know, the human mind is a wonky place.
What I meant with poverty breeding criminals is that in poor communities, people have fewer possibilities in meeting needs and have less of a chance in realizing their hopes. It’s also relative to the culture we’re part of. In the West our images of success and what it means to be a successful human is on a completely different scale than let’s say some poor village in Africa. We all want to feel successful. We all want to feel that we have achieved something with our lives.
Criminals always justify breaking the rules somehow. It’s always bollocks, but they lie to themselves to get by. I did. It was a bit like, I need it and therefore I have a right to it. Playing down the damage I did to others in my head. At the time I was never troubled by the fact that I was doing damage to others. That came a lot later.
Now here are my thoughts on fighting crime, which are based on above assumptions being true. People with broken spirits and damaged souls do not learn from punishment. There’s nothing more you can take away from a person who has nothing left. Once we’ve left the realm of the decent and honest we can’t really lose any more. Except our lives off-course.
All we can do is give these people hope, a hope to build something productive out of their lives. I know it sounds all hippie, and is far from fair. Since why should people who make their problems other people’s problems get help and support when the other pained people in our world who haven’t chosen the criminal path aren’t getting any help? I have no simple answer there. The shorter the punishments the less likely it is of the offender repeating their offence. This incidentally, also science can back up. Who ever thought of the “three strikes and your out” I’m guessing does not care about making the world a better place.
I’ve always liked the pragmatic approach. What ever benefits society the most is what we should aim for, which usually comes down to money. Putting people in jail is expensive and is only a loss for society. Harsh sentencing isn’t a deterrent, has never been and probably never will be. The part of our brains that cause us to or keep from committing crime hinges on something completely different than fear. Crime can only be combated effectively through preemptive action. Once the crime is done any punishment will just cost society even more. Fairness doesn’t really enter into it because life isn’t fair no matter what we do. So there really is no point in even aiming for it.
Guns will probably never be a deterrent either. If crime victims are all most likely strapped, all that will happen is that criminals will have not only guns but twitchy trigger fingers which will be more death all around. An innocent victim shot vs a pathetic excuse for a human is not a 1 – 1. The victim has more to lose. The innocent victim has a life. Is it really worth ripping your gun out and risk dying for some stuff?
No matter how much we may wish it isn’t. Punishing crime is a pointless waste of both money and life. If revenge is important for you then that is another matter. It’s just not very constructive.
My salvation was the fact that I was never convicted. That doesn’t make me less of a criminal. But I do think that society as a whole benefited from me not getting my due punishment. I have got a highly qualified and well paid job today which would have been impossible if I’d had a criminal record. Since my criminal “career”, just the taxes I’ve paid has covered any damage I ever did as a criminal probably a hundred times over. Probably more. Much, much more.
The fact that I’m part of the IT work force doing work which evidently few can or are willing to do I’d say is proof alone of that my value to society is greater having me where I am now than doing time in jail. As we all know, the more people who work and make money, the more money, (or rather value for money) for everybody all around. …which arguably is better for society as whole rather than settling various revenges. Justified or not.
For me my lacking needs where very immediate. I needed somewhere to call home where I felt safe. Once the authorities stepped in and provided it I underwent the mental shift needed for me to start obeying the rules of society. I stopped believing that what ever happened, people always had it coming. I understood what people meant with wanting to be a valuable and contributing member of society. I had other joys in my life other than just stimulating my genitals or getting drunk. It could simply be that for the first time in my life, obeying the rules where in my best interest, since I now had stuff that I valued and which could be stolen. Who knows?
I’m also very well aware of the fact that I might be projecting. I might just be assuming that every criminal mind works just like mine did. I can’t really understand the motivations of those well off people with cushy jobs who start embezzling. What’s going on there? Is that really only greed? I suppose wealthy people can feel unfairly treated to. Just because people feel that they have to break the rules to succeed doesn’t mean it’s in any way a rational feeling.
….and I certainly don’t understand criminals who act on compulsion. But I doubt those serial killers all acted because they thought it was just fun or even a good idea. I’m more leaning toward them being insane. And if we agree that it is a form of insanity, then they’re sick people and shouldn’t sick people be treated rather than punished? We don’t send people with infectious diseases to jail if they spread it unknowingly do we?
To sum up: We could judge people solely based on their actions and punish them because we want revenge. But all we’re doing is spreading the misery around and making it a lot harder for the criminals to ever repay their debt to society in any meaningful way. Forgetting that all we’re doing is adding to the damage that the crime caused to begin with. The hard-line attitude is not very practical or helpful to society and certainly doesn’t make the world a better place. Any consolation it offers to the victim is very superficial, if we remember that all it’ll lead to increasing the criminals inclination to repeat the offence in question. Even if we might find it counter intuitive and therefore hard to accept that fear isn’t a useful deterrent for crime, research in the field is undeniable.
I still haven't touched on how crime can be combated. As the attentive reader can tell, I personally don't think it can be alleviated by simply selecting appropriate policiary measure and punishment. It's an issue that stretches through every part of our society. If we aren't willing or able to take away the causes of crime, how do we deal with the crime that does surface? It's far from simple and far beyond any ideological theories. No matter our belief we all know that we can't simply throw money at it, and it'll go away.
Thoughts on this? Did I miss anything? Are any of my assumptions baseless? Conclusions wrong? Are the people who aren’t criminally inclined in the minority? What keeps you from breaking the law?
