ADDICTION AND CRIME

Criminology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Criminology (from Latin crīmen, "accusation"; and Greek -λογία, -logia) is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in the behavioral sciences, drawing especially upon the research of sociologists (particularly in the sociology of deviance), psychologists and psychiatrists, social anthropologists as well as on writings in law.

Areas of research in criminology include the incidence, forms, causes and consequences of crime, as well as social and governmental regulations and reaction to crime. For studying the distribution and causes of crime, criminology mainly relies upon quantitative methods. The term criminology was coined in 1885 by Italian law professor Raffaele Garofalo as criminologia. Around the same time, but later, French anthropologist Paul Topinard used the analogous French term criminologie.[1]


In Trinidad and Tobago criminal behavior has been increasing exponentially within the last twenty years so it would seem that there is need for a parallel increase in Criminologists. Universities have offered majors in Criminology and Social work in order to help determine why individuals commit crimes and determine intervention strategies with individuals and within at risk communities.

The Biblical version of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was that it was ordered by God to get rid of those two crime infested cities and that Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt when she paused to look back at the destruction. Figuratively or not, it is clear that crime is not a recent phenomenon and that short of a whole scale Armageddon society needs to step back and review its options.

We can however in whatever way make a difference if we accept our role in the commission of crime and see whether by helping one individual understand why he or she does the wrong things continuously would help to reduce crime in our own corner of the Globe.

I’m sure that among the case studies which Students are mandated to sit in on, they would have come across persons who commit crimes because it was better for them to return to the comfort of prison life rather than face the rigors of making it on the outside. Let us not look at these extremes however and instead consider the plight of the individual who has succumbed to a dependence on alcohol or other drugs.

Several studies have suggested that more than fifty percent (50%) of serious crimes being committed in Western societies are directly linked to the drug trade while petty crimes such as muggings, housebreaking, and white collar crimes of lesser magnitude are committed mainly by persons with an addiction problem and those who make this their preferred way of earning a living.

Once society for economic reasons accepts the manufacture, marketing and consumption of tobacco, alcohol or other mood and mind altering substances, the Government of the day can expect to spend considerable sums on security as well as health care and social issues.

With societal norm being what it is, there is always going to be a willing and naïve following whose attraction to the drug trade is linked to the promise of easy money and a gangster image, fueled by movies glamorizing such lifestyles.

This is not a phenomenon to Trinidad and Tobago and an unbiased look at what is taking place worldwide would be very enlightening to those who have been unaware of the widespread influence of drug trafficking, as international Drug Cartels try to cash in on these lucrative markets .

In attempting to dissect the reasons why crime is on the increase and murders are occurring at one or more a day, one must first recognize the lure of what for some is easy money and for others the satisfying of a craving because of what is now an obsessive/compulsive disorder.

Drug trafficking has become an attractive income earning proposition for many persons today whose use of young children who hold them up as role models is well known. These children are encouraged to act as lookouts or couriers as they can transport drugs or hide guns and ammunition on their persons without being suspected by the law, and whose self image is being boosted by their membership in a gang, their ownership of the latest technology in cellular phones, iPods, ipads , tablets, and an income none of their peers can match.

It means little or nothing to them that their idols are falling by the wayside to gang warfare or the police as life beyond twenty-five is a bonus that is hard for many young men and women living in certain environments to visualize. On the other hand a demand is created by unscrupulous traffickers among younger users whose innocence and gullibility are played upon and who they cleverly initiate into the use of drugs.

These young users’ drug use is often overlooked by single and/or overworked absentee parents who are perceived sometimes rightly so, by the young man or woman as uncaring and without parental love. Dissatisfied, craving the attention and protection of a positive father-figure and with no proper direction, they eventually become rebellious, critical of a supposedly uncaring God and easily misdirected by others.

By their responses to their supposedly unloved state they are now perceived by parents and society as being unmanageable and it’s only a matter of time before they seek the acceptance, recognition or protection afforded them by gang membership where they are eventually led to commit any crime, including murder as an initiation right, to satisfy their inward hunger and sometimes their craving for drugs.

But is there more to it than that? What about the individual who has grown up without material deprivation and whose life so far has been one with a normal family structure, maybe even with the support of an extended family, and who has come through teenage years successfully? Why does the prison population include so many of these so-called privileged persons among them, and whose claim to inhabiting these facilities is that it was because of alcohol or drugs? The answers lie within the effects that drugs have on an individual as mentioned before.

One of the first signs of drug dependence is an attempt at deception as the affected person begins to feel guilty about his excessive use of alcohol or other drugs. In an attempt to hide his discomfort he stays away from school or work and either calls in sick or gets someone to do it for him.

After payday he begins making excuses for not meeting his financial commitments such as his salary being too small to meet those commitments, or of having his pocket picked or of losing his entire salary.

In the beginning he goes to his Credit Union to assist in making good on those commitments. From here on the downward spiral continues as the lies and excuses increase among family and friends until it ends with misappropriation of funds, to bounced cheques and court appearances.

For some their entrance to the prison walls would have been because of drug induced violence towards family members and the public, with several persons on death row because they killed their spouses or children while under the influence.

Bar room brawls often end in death as well when very often close friends and even family members being victims of this fearsome and often unacknowledged disease.

It would be remiss of me to end without adding one more frightening scenario of crimes committed while under the influence if I did not make mention of perhaps the most prevalent and horrendous crimes committed by persons with addiction problems and that is sexual crimes against children.

With their self esteem at the lowest ebb and their capacity for meaningful dialogue with normal people severely diminished, the addicted individual is also no longer able to distinguish right from wrong, and can in fact psychologically be compared to a mad person.

The hard hitting question is whether the Government is responsible for crime, or whether men have abdicated their responsibilities of fatherhood. More on this will be discussed when I am dealing with relationships in another post. Feel free to critique any of my posts and if possible offer a solution to the problems stated within.