Free Crime and Everyday Life Essay Sample

The essay is a book review. The book was written by Marcus Felson titled Crime and Everyday Life a publication of Sage in 2009. In the forth edition, the authors use simple and clear language in making the book readable and easily understood. The issue of everyday crime is clearly brought out. The opportunities generated for crime to occur while at the same time how to prevent such crime are central to the authors. The reasons that explain why there is a fluctuation in crime rates in America are also brought out succinctly. The association between poverty as well as the disorders relating to crimes is tackled. Through their efforts to explain causes of crime and the realistic manner with which to curb the problem, the authors incorporate recent research findings in their discussion. The mechanism to tackle the problems discussed is practical, applicable, positive and cheap.

For the authors to develop their argument, the fundamental central statement or the thesis is that when all thing are held ceteris Paribas, the higher the chances of to engage in criminal activities which translates to higher rates of crime and victimization. In the first chapter the author talks of t5he various fallacies being held by the majority regarding the issue of crime in the country. For instance a fallacy he dubbed dramatic fallacy can be attributable to be one major causes of crime in America. The media has turned to work hard in finding crime related news and air them in television. Although the aim is to inform the general public about an incident lets say men in the uniform shooting at each other, the long term consequences of such an activity is that it instill to other individuals in the society to experiment the same and to be brought to news. Additionally, the availability of ready market for stolen goods seems to provide an opportunity for crime to be continuously committed.

Additionally, as suggested by Felson, 2009 the population densities in major cities seem to play a major role in causing crime. From the discussion by the author cities with higher densities had a higher number of especially violent crimes as compared to suburban regions. It is also shown that crime committed in most cases is as a result of human decisions. It is part of life for human being to make angry decision. This in most cases might lead to committing a crime. In American, most of the crime has been encouraged by what has been termed as careless stigmas. With this, having in mind that the country rarely discloses information about criminals unless aired in media, local people use carless stigmas to build a wall against individuals deemed to be criminal. However, it is forgotten that some of the local individuals are talking advantage of the situation and commit serious offenses.

The author also talks of white color offender. These are individuals who commit crime and are in professionals in various fields. They are deemed to have succeeded in committing crime since they are trusted criminals. Felson strived in making sure that we clearly understand that both crime images; that of blacks being poor hence committing crime and the white being in middle class hence commit white color crime are not consistent wit realities. Crimes of specialized access are usually carried out by individuals who have certain social status. For that reason individuals in power are more likely to commit crimes. It is worth noting that crime in workplaces do have consequences to various parties including employers, other workers, the public, customers and even the entire organization.  

As previously stated Felson has proposed very realistic, applicable and cheap ways of curbing crime in America. There are three broad categories of handling crimes and they include; control natural access, providing natural surveillance and fostering territorial behaviors. It is worth noting that controlling natural access entails having in place hedges, gates, doors as well as plans for ensuring that the walk ways are leading individual away from harm. Fostering territorial behaviors is attained mainly by having in place fences, porches or other marks that help distinguish the boundaries between buildings. All the three broad categories can be accomplished by following and implementing mechanical, natural as well as organized mechanisms or plans. Strictly speaking this include installing alarms, as well as other equipment such as camera aimed at controlling access and surveillance,  adequately designing and properly laying out where human live and finally employing security guards or policemen in that order.

The major advantage of employing natural mechanisms or strategies is that they are cheaper and help in preventing crime from happening in the first place. The author acknowledges that widespread ignorance is risible for the views held by the public that natural strategies are not the best. It is also noted that human being cannot fully ensure that they are safe from crime but there is need to make efforts aimed at minimizing risks as well as dangers by not giving offenders a chance to engage in criminal activities.

Felson also proposed a cheap way of preventing crime dubbed physical aspect of crime prevention. The major attributes of this strategy include using noise, target hardening, using numbers to out do offenders and construction. For instance, schools or even workplaces can harden the various targets by bolting down such equipment as computers. Additionally, construction of walls and putting up of fences as well as making noise to attract the attention of others work well in helping prevent crimes in the society. Lastly and more importantly, there is need to design residential houses in such a manner that it is aimed at preventing crime. Collecting and analysis of crime data is of significance in helping relevant authorities and individual curb the menace.