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Crime is an ever changing dilemma. One of the most effective ways society prepares and takes preemptive measures against crime is to study the patterns throughout the history of crime. Criminologists study many different aspects of crime and criminals alike. Some of the most important aspects to take into consideration are: Age, Economics and Gun-control. These are the most influential aspects of crime and should receive the most attention in order to better understand the reasons behind the crimes that are committed in today’s society.
According to Siegel, teens and adolescents are among the highest demographic in criminal arrests made in the United States. Why is that? There are many theories to explain this; lack of supervision seems to be the most logical and demonstrated reasoning for such. Qiana Houston stated that between the times of three and six in the afternoon, are when the highest arrests are made upon teenagers. This is understandable being that is when high school students are released and most working parents do not come home from their jobs until at least five or six in the evening, so the lack of supervision can clearly be seen there.
Also, teens are at a period in their life where they strive to prove their independence, how does one do that? One of the easiest ways is to become financially independent. However, most businesses will not hire anyone under the age of sixteen, so how does someone under sixteen years of age become financially independent without work? This results in teens becoming involved in drug trafficking. Being underage has a significant advantage in the world of crime.
If a minor is convicted, the penalty is substantially less than of an adult; this affects the risk versus reward balance and creates an incentive for minors. As stated before, Age is one of the biggest contributing factors of crime and most criminologists focus their efforts in providing results to detour the youth from the life of crime. The most effective deterrence is after-school activities like sports or teen-centers. Unfortunately, it seems that when school budget cuts are made, those facilities are the first to go.
The economy as well, has an ever-changing roll on criminal activity in society. A study done in the 1990’s by Arvanites and Defina, displayed a decrease in criminal activity, which at the time the economy was strengthening with more job availability and economic stability. This can be proven by the increase of crime rates during the Great Depression in the 1930’s; and then stabilizing and decreasing after the implementation of The New Deal. On the other hand, one may argue that a weaker economy can reduce crime rates; our text gives an example of this.
With fewer jobs available, parents are home more often to provide supervision of their children. This is one of the reasons it is difficult to get the same results when studying the economy. When researching socioeconomics in society itself, it is crucial that all aspects of whatever demographic that is surveyed or studied are taken into affect. The more you can break it down, the more accurate your results will be and better you can understand how to help the economy to lessen crime rates.
Weapons and primarily guns have antagonized criminal activity and escalated lesser crimes into severe felonies such as murder and man-slaughter. For example, robbery without a deadly weapon, if in the first degree, can result in two to three years in prison; but if a deadly weapon is present that can easily be doubled just for having the weapon. This is all part of the new Criminal Justice Act of 2003. So it is clear why gun laws that have been enacted or so strict, particularly in California to be specific. However, gun crimes still remain as high and still at times escalate in more urbanized areas of the country.
Many researchers have surveyed inmates that have been convicted of violent weapon crimes, and the majority of them admits to obtaining guns illegally and has said that it is not difficult to obtain illegal weapons. When purchasing a gun, it is required to be registered and all legal guns, at least handguns, are put on record and can easily be traced to the user when a bullet is found. Also, there is a mandatory waiting two-week waiting period before you can receive your firearm (in California). So if an illegal weapon is used, there is a far less chance of the weapon being traced back to the criminal.
A study by Matthew Miller in 2007 showed that in states with more household weapons, there was a higher number of household victimization. This is contrary to popular belief that a household with firearm protection is a safer home. The age, socioeconomic level and gun-control of society can easily be seen to have a significant effect on criminal activity. These aspects, however, are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to studying criminology. There are numerous other conditions that must be taken into consideration in order to accurately understand why crime rates exist and how to better prepare and anticipate future crime waves.