Free Deviance Related to Crime Essay Sample
The 20th and the 21st centuries have seen a lot of changes that have totally transformed the society. Among the major changes that have occurred in the society so far include the introduction of technology in dealing with emergent challenges in the society. In addition to this, the introduction of formalized education that target everybody in the society and the discovery of new forms of medicine and other inventions have also contributed to the transformation of the society. However, irrespective of these new discoveries and innovations, there are a lot of challenges that the society has continued to face over time. One of these challenges is deviance that is related to crime or in other words crime-related deviance (Clinard & Meier, 2007).
To begin with, deviance can be described as the inability of a person or a societal group to adhere to the behaviors and social norms that are generally accepted or rather ascribed to by the general society (Clinard & Meier, 2007). Stated in other words, deviance in the sociological context refers to behaviors that are exhibited by a person that violates or deviates from the stipulated cultural norms such as formally enacted rules. Crime on the other hand can be described as the breach or rather breaking of the laid down societal rules and regulations that are meant to maintain law and order among people in a particular society, country or geographical region.
Having made the above definitions of deviance and crime, it is important to note that there are many aspects of deviance that have been noted in the society so far. One of these aspects is crime. Remarkably, whereas there are many cases of deviance as a result crime that have been distinguished in different societies across the globe, these cases are noted evenly distributed. In other words, whenever statistics of deviance as a result of crime are collected in different regions in a particular country or across the globe, it has been found out that deviance as a result of crime varies from one place to the other (Clinard & Meier, 2007).
With this in mind, there are different forms of deviance that are related to crime in the society. In this regard, these deviant behaviors have been contributed directly by crime in the society. For instance, there is an increasing rate of rape in the society. As a result of this, many criminals not only violently take away the property of a particular person, but also rape both young and old women that are found at the scene of crime. According to Deflem (2010), most of the people that are involved in crime have been influenced by the societal background from which they come from and what they are exposed to on a daily.
Therefore, one can also argue that deviance that is related to crime in most cases is influenced. In consistent with this, whereas some societies have elicited high rates of deviance as a result of crime, this has nothing do with the biological setup of this society. Instead, these deviance behaviors are as a result of the societal setup of that particular place. According to Clinard & Meier (2007), while an individual can inherit a particular way of looking, or sometimes, acting, the identity of that appearance or behavior as deviant depends on social, not biological, events (p.58).
The use of drugs is another form of deviance that is related to crime. Notably, there are a lot of criminals across the globe who use hard drugs as a way of dealing with the psychological and emotional consequences of crime. In this connection, the involvement of such people in criminal activities is the major cause of using hard drugs. On the other hand however, there are other groups of people in different regions across the world who commits crime in order to support their drug addition. In line with this, it is worthy to note that there are certain things that a person cannot be able to accomplish unless under the influence of drugs or other body stimulants. These drugs and stimulants have been found to create a virtual world among their users thus giving courage to the person in question the ability to accomplish that which he or she could not have accomplished without them.
The type of deviance in the society as a result of crime also depends on the social class that the person involved belongs. Notably, both the affluent and the society are involved in crime and both elicit different deviance behaviors. In this regard, there are certain behaviors that are associated with the affluent people involved in crime while others are associated with the poor. For instance, the use of threats and cold murder has been associated mostly with the affluent people in the society who have been found to eliminate anybody perceived as a stumbling block to their criminal activities. For instance, there are a lot of people who have been killed in unknown circumstances by people whom they believed were their friends.
There are various reasons why certain deviance behaviors that are related to crime have increased in the society. To begin with, the focus of the media on these deviant behaviors has been found to increase their probability of occurring rather than deterring them. For instance, the focus on rap music and deviance related to crime has been found to increase the susceptibility of people in the society, especially to the young people to these behaviors (Straus, 1991, p.138-143). It is worthy to note that, young people are more vulnerable to deviance as a result of the willingness and curiosity to explore even further what the see on the media, whether its is prohibited or not. In this regard, focusing on deviance such as rape after a criminal activity would only stir up more such cases rather than deter it from happening again.
Another reason that has contributed to deviance that is related to crime is the use of drugs. Notably, whereas using drugs is deviance in itself, when it is mixed with crime, there is a high probability that this would contribute to other deviance behaviors such an imaginable violence, mass killings and murders, rape, etc. In addition, psychological development of a person may contribute to deviance in the lifestyle of this person. In this regard, social development is an important factor that needs to be taken into account as a person grows up. For instance, the use of violence in crime may have resulted from the fact that a person was abused during his or her child (Straus, 1991, p.134-139). Therefore, to such a person, having mercy is an unknown option and the only way to deal with any victim is using violence whether the person resists a crime or not.
There are different ways that can be utilized to reduce deviance related to crime. In reference to the Symbolic Interactionists theorists, there are tendencies in the society for people to assume the label they are given by the society whether this label is bad or good (Hammond, 2005). As a result, whereas deviance related to crime should in any way be condoned by the society, there is need to desist from labeling people that are involved with these behaviors' titles such as rapists, etc. Instead, it is important to adopt new ways of deterring these behaviors. In addition to this, the media should focus on discouraging people from engaging in these behaviors rather than focusing on the actual details on how these crimes are carried out and the deviant behaviors that are depicted in each crime.
The government too has a responsibility of putting in place appropriate measure that would prevent accessibility to drugs and other stimulants that are used by criminals either to give them courage to commit crimes and carry out their deviant behaviors towards their victims or have been forced by drugs to be involved in crime in order to support their behavior. In this way, it would be possible to prevent the use of drugs and stimulants both by the criminals who have been forced to engage in drug activities as a result of the drug behavior and those that use drugs and other stimulants in order to commit crime. Similarly, there is need to setup rehabilitation centers to help people who have been involved in crime and who elicited certain deviant behaviors to help them correct their ways rather than just punishing them by putting them in jail and then releasing them back into the society after completing their jail term.
In summation, there are different kinds of deviance related to crime in the society. To begin with, one of these deviance behaviors is rape. In addition to rape, the use of violence and drugs has also been found to encompass deviance related to crime. With this in mind, there are different factors that have been found to contribute extensively to the increase in crime related deviance. Notably, focusing on deviance that is related to crime by the media and labeling criminal culprits by certain names that relate these crimes has been found to increase rather than reduce the rate of these behaviors in the society rather than deterring them. In connection to this, the society has a mandate of creating rehabilitation systems and focusing on helping the victims rather than accusing them.