PROF MAURICE Module 4 Assignment 2 Draft of Final Project

Running head: CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IN YOUR COMMUNITY 0

Criminal Behavior in Your Community

Sherry L. Crowe

Dr. Robert Meyer

Psychology of Criminal Behavior

FP6015

June 7, 2017

Homicide falls under the broader category of violent crimes according to the FBI. According to the bureau, there was a surge in this type of offenses by 5.3% in the year 2016 that were reported. Data from the UCR program provides finer details that provides demographic information about the perpetrators making it possible to narrow down the type of personality who engage in this form of crime. Statistics from the UCR program shows the number of male perpetrators as 2015 was about 9,553 representing 89% of homicide offenders. Women implicated in homicide offenses were about 1,180. These figures indicate the most likely homicide perpetrators are men (UCR, 2015).

The newly released report by the FBI revealed African Americans were the mostly likely offenders. During the year about 5,620 African Americans were charged with homicide related cases whereas the number of whites was 4, 636. Black Americans who were involved in homicide were about 53% whereas whites were estimated to be 44% with the rest of the offenders emerging from other races. Evidently, the chances of a murder perpetrator being an African American is high compared to a White offender. Shockingly, most of the offenders were youths aged between 20-24 years. It turns out that 2,448 of them were involved in murder cases in the year depicting a scenario where young people are willing to murder for different reasons. Offenders aged between 1 to 12 years were only 11, representing the largest age group that least committed murder offenses. Although data from the FBI does not provide socio-economic status on the offenders, numerous pieces of empirical evidence point out homicide rate is prevalent among individuals with low income (UCR, 2015).

The civil and criminal legal systems share some similarities in terms of burden of persuasion, penalties, and key players. In criminal justice penalties are imposed once a suspect is found guilty. A criminal could face probation, imprisonment and restitution among other punishments. On the hand, an offender in a civil system is entitled to pay monetary damages in case found guilty. The “beyond a reasonable of doubt” standard is applied when prosecuting a criminal. This differs with civil cases which rely on “preponderance of evidence” which is the standard applicable in civil cases. The civil system bases its ruling on the weight of evidence provided (Slapper & Kelly, 2004).

Various theories have been developed to try to explain factors that influence offenders to commit homicide. Most of the psychological theories of homicide fall under the environmental theories of homicide. Some of the theories that fall under this category include: socialization, control and social structural theories. According to the socialization theory, men’s aggressive and go-getter tendencies drives them to attain set objectives (Stirrat et al., 2012). They are seen more aggressive than their female counterparts. The gender differences between the two groups have been used to justify the reason why most homicide offenders are women (Stirrat et al., 2012). The socialization theory has been widely embraced in academic and professional circles but relying solely on the concept to justify homicide patterns could lead to erratic conclusions.

According to a journal published by the Oxford University, drug abuse is one of the leading causes of homicide. The publication strongly linked loss of physiologic tolerance to substance abuse. Data collected during the study suggests ex-convicts were 8 times likely to commit homicide two weeks after their release. Additionally, elevated cases were reported in ex-convicts who used drugs. Prisoners tend to be lured to drugs as a way of surviving jails conditions. Most of them end up being drug addicts which influences their reasoning negatively. The findings of the study are like what other researchers have found (Lim et al., 2012). There is a high possibility of homicide among former prisoners because of the violet environment they are exposed to while serving their sentence. Such environments psychologically affect them and shape their character which they end up embracing once out of prison. Most of them end up suffering life-long trauma and are unable to recover despite the rehabilitation measures that have been put in place. This theory is grounded on the social ecological concept (Lim et al., 2012).

Perhaps the social structure theory best describes why a man would murder another. Its perspective is based on the premise that social problems such as education and poverty are the root causes of homicide. Although studies have not systematically evaluated the concept of social structure and homicide, bits of empirical evidences have managed to fit the jigsaw. Eck & Weisburd (2015) suggests that they are unsure whether social structures influence an individual to commit murder. Lack of education could be a significant factor that could lure teenagers into criminal activities. Numerous research work has indicated teenagers who drop out of school end up joining criminal gangs where they engage in various forms of crime (Liem, 2013). These teenagers are influenced to live the kind of lifestyle adopted by iconic figures in the society at the expense of killing other people. They would want to achieve the self-actualization hierarchy of needs. This is where they live an extravagant lifestyle. They would to feel contended and having accomplished in life what needs to be achieved; success and financial freedom. This traps them to criminal activities. In addition, poverty is a push factor to crime (Norström, 2011). Individuals who cannot meet the basic desires are lured to crime to find a means of satisfying their basic needs. They end up engaging in criminal activities to survive and in the process, join assassin’s squads. Deprivation of basic needs is one of the reasons why people commit murder.

The criminal legal system is component of law. The system is concerned with intentional injury to other parties. Once a crime is committed, law enforcement units must search for evidence which is used in a court of law. This evidence is used in court to determine whether the accused offender will be acquitted or convicted. It must be done “beyond reasonable doubt”. Penalties are imposed once a suspect is found guilty. Also, they could face probation, imprisonment and restitution among other punishments. On the other hand, civil systems are concerned with different entities. A party that is found guilty of wronging another is entitled to pay monetary damages in case found guilty. However, this system differs from the criminal system in that it applies “preponderance of evidence” to make a ruling. The criminal’s system seeks to rectify the character of an offender whereas the civil system seeks to ensure an aggrieved party is compensated. On the hand, both examine the evidence provided in court against what the law stipulates. Besides, the two must be determined by a team of competent practitioners. Lastly, if the law has been violated judgment must be made in court irrespective of whether it was criminal or civil (Slapper & Kelly, 2004).

References

Eck, J. E., & Weisburd, D. L. (2015). Crime places in crime theory.

Liem, M. (2013). Homicide offender recidivism: A review of the literature. Aggression and

Violent Behavior, 18(1), 19-25.

Lim, S., Seligson, A. L., Parvez, F. M., Luther, C. W., Mavinkurve, M. P., Binswanger, I. A., & Kerker, B. D. (2012). Risks of drug-related death, suicide, and homicide during the immediate post-release period among people released from New York City jails, 2001– 2005. American journal of epidemiology, 175(6), 519-526.

Norström, T. (2011). Alcohol and homicide in the United States: is the link dependent on

wetness? Drug and alcohol review, 30(5), 458-465.

Slapper, G. & Kelly, D. (2004). The English legal system. London Portland, Or: Cavendish.

Stirrat, M., Stulp, G., & Pollet, T. V. (2012). Male facial width is associated with death by contact violence: narrow-faced males are more likely to die from contact violence. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33(5), 551-556.

UCR. Crime in the United States. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.- 2015/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/violent-crime/violentcrimemain_final