Crime

Lord knows I am not perfect. But as I go further into schooling I get exposed to more and more stories of downright horrible crime and I do not like what I see. I emailed one of my professors, inquiring about classes for prosecutors..

I hope you will forgive but I can actually see and understand some crime. Those who take when their family is hungry, those who are ignorant of minor statutes (such as jaywalking). I don't condone, but I can understand.

But I am talking of terrible, premeditated, vicious crime.

I have been in want. When my children were young and I was newly divorced we were poor for a while, and then I got a second job, working 7 days a week and things got better. I never considered welfare, I chose to work, or turned to theft, I did with less. I do not understand crimes like rape or murder either.

The cost of locking people up is staggering. The cost of trials is staggering. The cost to victims, not only in money but in changed lives, especially when children are involved, is staggering.
Think how much more we would all have if serious crime did not exist.
I suppose I am naive, but I wish people would just weigh their actions prior to committing some of the horrors I hear about.
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I deal with crime everyday.Im a security supervisior for 3 shopping centers and as a part job i work at a department store as a loss prevention officer.I see all kinds of things.Not major crimes but lots of thefts,frauds,assualts,etc,etc.The thing is i understand and dont understand at the sametime if someone is stealing because they are starved but why is it they are starving?Drugs,lazy?I do understand that their are people that do get forced into a situation such as a mother who has just escaped a horrible relationship.Most of the theft i see are from people who have lots of cash,good jobs,rich families,etc.Then theirs the theif for higher.These people take orders and go steal it for others and get paid half the price.
On a better note crime does create lots of jobs for alot of people.Although its a tough job at times.I came home today with a banged up knee and carpet burns all over my arm.Ive been bitten a few times,twisted ankle,bruised ribs,banged up shoulders and a hell of alot of soar muscles.But that comes with the territory.
Cant wait to see what happens tomorrow

Originally Posted by rockyballboa

Most of the theft i see are from people who have lots of cash,good jobs,rich families,etc.

Perhaps they do it for kicks like Wynonna Ryder did?!?!?

Lord knows she had enough money to pay for the cloths she tried to shoplift.

Lucille, I just finished reading Gottfredson and Hirschi's General Theory of Crime for my criminology class. I don't know if you're familiar with it or not, but basically they suggest that all crime is the result of low self-control. Although it has been critiqued pretty extensively, I still think their claim holds a lot of merit.

Basically, they point out that self-control is learned at an early age from parents through discipline and supervision. Without an adequate sense of self-control, people lack the ability to resist impulses and temptation. I think it applies well to both violent and non-violent crime. Temptations are all around us at all times, but something must have an influence over who reacts inappropriately to certain stimuli.

Although we may differentiate between violent and non-violent crime based on how much harm is caused to a victim, all crimes (with very few exceptions) seem to have this common trait behind them. The strain theory of crime (based on motive lying in an offender's desperation and need) doesn't really hold much water since a considerable amount of offenders who steal and commit violent crimes are not doing so out of desperation or need. Similarly, not all people who are "down on their luck" and facing tough times turn to criminal behavior to get their needs met (such as yourself). The difference lies in a person's self-control. Wouldn't you agree?

(if you want to borrow the book, I'll be done with it after mid-terms this week It's very intriguing)

I'd love to read the book (good luck on midterms!) and the untaught self control is an interesting theory.
It raises questions for me, though. Many of us lack self control in some areas that are not criminal in every case:

alcohol
sex
overeating
shopping (as in shopping sprees, not theft)

But although some of us may have these defects (I'll admit to the last 2 at times) we do not cross the line and go against the law.
Certainly though that is an interesting line of reasoning; and at the same time it invites thought as to how society can cope if this is the case.

Lucille that's a good point. They claim that individuals with low self-control are more prone to commit crime, and that low self-control is a factor in all crime, but not all individuals with low self-control are inherently criminal. They do make many connections between drug and alcohol abuse and criminal behavior, but they don't mention over-eating and shopaholics. I would like to know they'd respond to such compulsory acts, and that was my first main critique of their theory. Like you, I have certain non-criminal vices , but I don't necessarily run around mugging and assaulting people, nor would I steal or cheat. I didn't really agree with their belief that rehabilitation was unattainable either. Although there is a high rate of recidivism, a lot of offenders do not repeat their crimes after punishment and treatment.

Nonetheless, I thought it was a very thought-provoking read. I'll send it your way after midterms.

I knew a lady in the 80's who liked to steal. She had plenty of money. She used to call me out of the blue and ask me if I wanted ___________ item. It got really weird and I finally asked her where she got these things and she out and out told me, "five finger discount" like it was a joke.

I asked her why she did it and she said she had to. She said she couldn't leave a store without taking something. She took stupid things, things she didn't want or need. Heck she would throw some stuff away she stole. I tried to get her to seek help, therapy. But she refused. I told her I was going to write a letter to all the stores in town and give them a picture of her and that ended our relationship as I knew it would. I did write those letters and I went in and talked to some store managers about her.

I can't stand a thief! It makes every one of us pay more for the things we bought with money we earned.

There is no need in this country to steal because you're starving. There are food stamps for that purpose. There are plenty of food pantries and churches where one can get free food. No need to steal food. I'd really like to see how much loss is actaully in food anyway. Many people are stealing so they can support a habit and that habit isn't overeating.

Some crime goes hand in hand with what I'm about to describe below.

In 1990 I lived in a trailer court that I called Welfare Nation Trailer Court. No one had a job. I lived there for a year in 1990 (cheap rent) and did I get an education!

Here's what I saw and was told went on in Welfare Nation Trailer Court:

They get their assistance check and food stamps on the 1st of the month and promptly hit the 7-11 and buy soda & junk food and spend all the food stamps in the first week of the month. The assistance check was spent on beer, pot, meth & a nice party for the first week of the month. Once or twice a year they would report their food stamps stolen, even though they got them, and the gov't. would issue them more stamps so they get double stamps that month. They also sold the stamps for half of what they were worth for cash. (There are no more actual food stamps in MO. It's now on a credit card-type card)

The next 3 weeks were spent stealing things from cars to sell and/or pawn. Stealing things from stores and taking them back to get money back. Stealing purses from people in bathrooms at public places. Getting their electric and gas bills paid by East Missouri Action Agency. Going to churches and telling their tales of woe to get money. Many, many churches gave them up to $200 cash at a time. One church brought one family a whole truck load of food. When the church members left, the lady pitched much of the stuff into the dumpster saying it wasn't the brand she liked or she'd have to actually cook the chickens, etc. (I did get a lot of good food that day) I could go on and on. Some women did things for money and/or drugs that I can't write here but ya'll know what I'm talking about. And those are the things they TOLD me they did. I was there the day the church brought the truckload of food and I saw her tossing things in the dumpster.

Now mind you these were young people, unmarried couples in their early 20's and 30's. None had a disability that prevented them from working yet none of them had jobs and never did the entire year I lived there. They all had at least 1 kid and some had 2 or 3. None had a phone and would always want to use my phone at 3 a.m. They got up at around 1 p.m. and stayed up until around 3 or 4 a.m. partying.

I made so many calls to the cops & the Department of Family Services about the drug use and the kids running around playing in the highway, being locked outside, even in the snow and rain at all hours of the day & night. You would not believe how these kids were treated. These were little kids, 2,3,4 y/o. DFS would eventually come out but they never did anything.

That was 16 years ago and now I'm seeing some of those kids come in the shop I work at. I even caught two of them stealing! They learned it from the parents. It's become a neverending cycle. It's the only way of life they know. The parents didn't get up and go to work. Now they don't go to work and neither will their kids.

Karen, that's INSANE!! I'd say "unbelievable", but it actually doesn't surprise me. There's a neighborhood about 1/2-3/4 mile South-east of me that is widely known as the worst, and most dangerous neighborhood in the city. Fortunately, the Beltline Hwy separates my neighborhood (which is pretty mellow and quiet) from "The Allied Drive Area". Anyway, maybe a year or so ago I was talking to one of my neighbors and she told me the residents of this neighborhood would frequently go through the McDonald's drive-thru, get their food, pull ahead a car length or two, sort through their bag(s), take something(s) out and then go back in with the bag and claim that they were shorted something or other to get something free. I thought it sounded kind of odd, and didn't believe that it happened as frequently as she made it seem. So, I figured "what the heck" and went to that McDonald's. The people in the car in front of me did EXACTLY what my neighbor described. I was at the window when the driver got out to go in and claim her free McWhatever, and so I told the guy at the window that I saw them take something out of their bag and put it on the floorboard of their car. All he said was, "yeah, we know a lot of people do it. Our manager just tells us to give them whatever they claim to have been shorted because it's easier than arguing with them."

Lying and stealing is LYING and STEALING no matter what the item or its value. I just can't understand why people would commit a crime and "cheat" to get a free Big Mac. Unreal... And for the restaurant to turn a blind eye? What does that tell people about lying and stealing? There were kids in the car for Pete's sake!