CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN UNITED STATES

Authors Avatar

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN UNITED STATES

The superhero sits at the base of the waterfall, ready to rescue people as they fall or in some cases, are pushed down the cliff.  He swims out and rescues them, bandages their wounds, and hauls them to the hospital.  He responds to each victim with all of the energy and determination he can muster.  Some of the people he rescues are people he has helped before.  He fails to consider that if he could get to the top of the fall, he might keep some people from falling or being pushed into the dangerous waters in the first place.  This superhero’s approach parallels the average American’s reaction to the problem of crime.  Typical responses usually involve the rescue attempts and bandages of stricter laws and tougher punishments.  These seem on the surface to be logical solutions, but they rarely get to the root of what causes crime.  The government needs to invest heavily in family and preschool education, and social prevention programs. It also needs to find ways to involve local and global communities in crime watch and deterrence, allow citizens to protect themselves, and encourage more use of restorative justice programs in the legal system.

The crime exists in the system from the time it is built; after all there are two sides to a coin. The various types of crimes whether it is social or political exist in the society and cannot be denied of their presence. Even though due to strict laws and punishments the crimes cannot be eliminated completely. Today in US the crime rate has fallen but the crime still prevails. Despite the falling crime rate, America continues to be burdened by an appalling amount of crime and by the fear that it spawns. A 1994 Associated Press poll found that 52 percent of men and 68 percent of women are personally afraid of becoming victims. A 1997 Gallup Poll shows the public ranks crime as the most important problem facing the country. A 1997 NBC/Wall Street Journal opinion poll found that 57 percent of the public rank crime and education as the top policy concerns.

Join now!

The crime rate in US compared to that of 1970 has decreased drastically. The overall rate of serious crime in the United States is at a 20-year low. The murder rate is lower than in the 1970s. In New York City, it is as low as in the 1960s. Not by coincidence, the likelihood that a criminal will be punished for a serious crime is higher today than it has been since the 1970s. Most offenders are not mentally deranged. And most crimes are not irrational acts. Instead, people who often compare the expected benefits to the expected costs ...

This is a preview of the whole essay