I was browsing the web today and I came upon a really cool new web site called CrimeUSA. It is the first web site totally dedicated to the study of crime as an individual and social phenomenon.
Crime is what drives the security and surveillance industry. Without crime, there would be no need for burglar alarms or access control systems and the need for video surveillance systems would be greatly reduced. Without crime, hundreds of thousands if not millions of people all across the world would need to find new employment.
That is why I found CrimeUSA to be so intriguing. By studying and documenting crime statistics in American society including the frequency and types of violations of the law, CrimeUSA is hoping to offer an insight into the criminal mind and the society that fosters it.
There are many theoretical perspectives used in the study of criminology to explain how an individual with the inherent ability to choose between right and wrong will sometimes choose an illegitimate and illegal path over a more righteous and legal course.
Approximately 13 million people are victims of crime every year in the United States, and of that 2 million are victims of violent crimes.
In 2005 the total spent by law enforcement in the USA for Police, Judicial and Corrections Departments exceeded 200 hundred million dollars and their were over 7 million people under correctional jurisdiction. When you factor in the socioeconomic cost of 7 million people being incarcerated; 7 million families without fathers, wives, sons, daughters or brothers and 7 million victims of crime, the costs of crime to American society is truly monumental.
Why are some people able to flourish under the rules and laws of society while others are doomed to a life of committing crimes and then living with the consequences? As humans, will we ever understand society and its influence on human behavior? Can we ever know why people act the way they do? What values do criminals hold in common?
Are all criminals insane, or has the moral fabric of American society degraded to the point that it is now ethically and socially acceptable to be a criminal? Some would argue that our current culture even rewards criminal behavior because the benefits far outweigh the consequences.
Even though we don’t have all the answers, it all makes for very interesting conversation.