Why People Commit Crimes Essay, Research Paper

Farringtons claim (social psychological

researcher) as to why people commit crimes looks at problem families. 1st claim: criminal offenders have a syndrome, a

collection of anti social dispositions. 2nd claim: early signs of criminal offending

predicts a long and potentially serious criminal career. Eg. Badly behaved

infant ® bullying ® shoplifting ® assault ® robbery ® child abuse ® alcohol abuse, unemployment. \ early anti social behaviour = underlying

criminal behaviour Studies by Farrington found a strong correlation

(relationship) between criminals & certain family experiences ·

Criminals exhibit socially unacceptable behaviour from a young age

within their families. ·

Criminals may also possess a range of cognitive defects eg. Poor

reasoning abilities. ·

Criminals tend to have a troubled family life, eg. Alcohol/drug abuse,

violence within the family, experience poor parenting, failed education,

unemployment, social problems. \ criminal careers originate in specific types

of: personality families socialization process Problem children ® problem adults ® more problem children SUMMARY a)

Criminal

careers stem from anti-personality syndrome b)

The

syndrome is transmitted by problem families who exhibit poor parenting c)

Poor

parenting is passed from one generation to the next. Describe what is meant by the term ?moral panic?, using

your own words as far as possible. Cite at least one example of moral panic. Moral

panic can be simply defined as an episode in which a person or group of persons

emerges and becomes defined, by the media in a stereotypical way, as a threat

to societal values and interests. (Cohen, 1973) The

combination of the fear and fascination of crime is the key element in the

moulding of moral panic. The fascination being an interest in watching and

reading media interpretations of an event or situation. The fear being the

emotive response the media portrayal of the event or situation creates. The

fear also being a society frightened by a media portrayal of a society

suffering from demoralisation and fragmentation, ultimately a decline in the

solidity of the social structure and moral values. Moral

panic can be initiated by a small outburst of abnormal behaviour , which

generates enormous media reaction. The media decides how to portray this

abnormal behaviour via front-page

headlines, primetime news broadcasts etc. The media select specific emotive aspects

of the event to portray, which inevitably determines how the general public

interpret and ultimately react to the broadcast. As

a result of the publics reaction the police may intervene more strongly in

subsequent outbreaks or disturbances. This is in turn increases the number

arrested leading to a spiral of increased police activity and mass public

concern, which is defined as a deviancy amplification spiral. This can be

interpreted as a self fulfilling prophecy i.e. Media reporting mass moral panic

leads to even greater mass moral panic. The

consequences of selective knowledge of criminal/abnormal behaviour is fear

amongst the general public, less tolerance towards targeted situations/people,

calls for crackdowns and heavy preventative measures to be implemented. One

example of this is the reporting of released paedophiles into the

community. Taylors (1995) model

explains the moral panic process. This starts with the identification of a

problem e.g. Paedophiles this is then identified as a subversive minority i.e.

Paedophiles being released into the community. The cause is simplified e.g.

Poor parenting, lack of moral standards, following this those involved are

stigmatised by the media by using highly emotive and disparaging language for

example ?sick individuals? ?animals?. This in turn creates a stirring of public

indignation for example media campaigns to get the public to sign petitions to

remove paedophiles from the community. This leads to government responses to

public demand e.g. harder sentences, public listings of whereabouts of

paedophiles. This ultimately leads to more police intervention. Sometimes

moral panic can be created by certain individuals or groups. An example of this

is youth culture. Moral panic is provoked to gain media attention. This type of

panic is novel. Each generation of youth culture has generated media attention

condemning the state of British youth and demanding a revolution of discipline

and control. Ironically

negative press coverage acted as a crucial spur of youth culture as

disapproving tabloid stories legitimate and authenticate youth cultures.

Without tabloid intervention it is hard to imagine a widespread, uniform youth

culture. Moral

panic is socially constructed and has a real impact on the whole of society.