The Importance of Criminology in Our Society: Knife Crime Research

Introduction

Criminology is a subdivision of sociology that has been taught in one form or another for many years. Regardless of its extensive history, until recently, criminology itself is considered a scientific discipline. Some specific areas of criminal interest involve the frequency of crimes, social, individual, and governmental response to the crime. What is the importance of criminology in our society? It becomes evident as it provides insights into the causes, patterns, and consequences of criminal behavior. The impression of the media every week seems to demonstrate that the United Kingdom is under the control of a knife crime epidemic, and every week it seems to bring a new story about the murder and homicide of urban youth.

The theory of labels is rarely used to explain why some people are involved in prejudice. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of society as a determinant of the abnormal process and the role of negative social reactions in influencing individual participation in subsequent behaviour. Label theorists change their focus from individuals and their behaviour to the dynamics of social definitions, and specific behaviours or subjects are not considered normal. The paper also describes the locations with most occurrences of such crime, as well as social, individual, and governmental responses over the situation.

Aims and Objectives of Criminology Research

The paper aims to discourse over the criminology topic of knife crimes and its causes. The main objectives of the following research are to:

1. Investigate concepts and theories regarding knife crime in United Kingdom
2. Analyse locations, frequency, and consequences of knife crime in the vicinity
3. Evaluate reasons behind the purposeful crime along with its increasing rate
4. Recommend useful strategies to overcome increasing rate of crime

Research Questions

The primary research questions for the study are as follows:

1. To what extent criminology have been impacted by the increased rate of knife crime in UK?
2. Why UK is under a great threat of knife crime despite effective security measures in the vicinity?

Methods Research Design

For the following research, the qualitative method is incorporated in order to attain information that is being illustrated in other researches and studies. Basically, qualitative research is an appropriate way to acknowledge the facts and figures through which effective conclusion can be drawn. For this study, the method is used in order to critically analyse the trends of knife crime that has affected the natives to the greatest extent. Moreover, the approach is also suitable because it has helped the researchers to acquire in-depth knowledge that is not feasible through quantitative approach. However, in this method, theories and past researches have been greatly focused so that appropriate results could be generated. In the overall research, there are no signs of primary data due to the limitation of the study. Instead, secondary sources have been used to gather information which is relevant and authentic in the light of the following subject. All of these sources have been given great importance because of the significant information that is deliberately used to account simpler and easier facts for judgement. Major secondary sources used in the following study are news, documentaries, research articles, scholarly journals, and blog posts. There are some of the statistical data as well which are taken from the trends mainly reported by authentic criminology sectors.

Data Collection

Appropriate strategies are required to collect data so that it can be used in the study for reaching adequate conclusion. For the following research, different theories and literatures have been emphasized so that critical aspects could be analysed. All the past researches have been studied thoroughly to gather the information which is significant for developing following study. Moreover, expert knowledge is also used as a primary data collection method which has aided the research at large. Most recent articles, videos, news, and blog posts are reviewed in order to get updated information.

Ethical Considerations

Research ethics is one of the important considerations that affect overall research to the greatest extent. Different measures have been taken into account in order to limit unethical approaches that would result in inappropriate conclusions. For the following study, attention is paid to giving credits to all the authors whose work is used in developing the study. Moreover, it is also made sure that no private information is leaked in the research process as per the rules and guidelines of research standards.

Findings of the Criminology Research

The first theorist on the label was given by Vulliamy et al. (2018), who suggested that the person labelled would become the person as described by the society later. This label refers to evaluations of others, which sometimes even lead to self-labelling. Thus, it is associated with self-fulfilling prophecy which means having an impact on the person of certain things society inform to him about him and the person start believing it about him. This label is usually given by those who punish or by those who will reform, in either case; the focus is on rejected behaviour. The difficulties that are attached to reform evil in the criminal justice, causes there to be more evil, which makes it difficult to stop criminal behaviour. Middleton and Shepherd (2018) stated that the way out of such environment is possible through a rejection to exaggerate or dramatize the criminal behaviour. As the smaller the amplitude of statement is, the better it is to limit further indulgence of people. On the other hand, the more society talks about other things, the better it is for a positive influence. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), knife crime has increased by 22% in Wales and England in 2017.

Despite the fact some of the escalations in noted crimes are enlightened by deviations in the way police testimonies them, the ONS notified that few of the statistics revealed an unpretentious intensification in the knife offence, such as the 33% increase in robbery and the 9% escalation in burglaries. Key statistics obtained by the police department reported crimes found an equal to 39,598 violations involving a knife or some similar sharp apparatus, up from 32,448 in 2016. The NHS data exhibit that there was a mean of 12 knife incursions connected to hospital admissions each day in 2016-2017(Tribe, Harris and Kneebone, 2018). In 2017/18, the highest crime rate was recorded in London: 168 offenses, including knives per 100,000 and 26 violations per 100,000 in 2016/17. Surrey has the lowest crime rate: 5 per 100,000 people (1 increase in 2016/17). Most violent incidents are caused by beatings, shoving or sometimes in combat and often drunk, and the figures of police violence also include harassment. Investigations of crimes in England and Wales include crimes not reported to the police, indicating a general decrease in violence of 25% since 2013.However, the statistics recorded by the police, which often include other high-risk crimes, indicate that the most serious violent crime in Wales is increasing. Crimes related to the use of tools are more common in large cities, especially in London (Middleton and Shepherd, 2018). For every 100,000 individuals in the city, in 2017-2018 there are 137 perpetrators, including some data from the mayor's office, indicating that young victims and criminals among black men and men and minors suffer especially.

The secondary largest area recorded for the knife crime is the West Midlands with 65 knife cases for 100,000 people and 54 cases in Yorkshire and Humber (Stone, 2015). According to Silverman’s research (2015), it has been observed that the maximum age to carry a weapon is 17 years: the risk for men triples. Recently, there have been cases of violence or abuse of drugs. People who have little or no confidence in the police or who have many problems with the police carry more than double the number of weapons. Compared to these factors, being a victim of violence or sensing danger due to their neighbours or is not strictly related to the transport of a weapon, even if the real confusion of the neighbours is a good predictor. Tiratelli, Quinton and Bradford, (2018) concluded that although the risk factors of the social context are key determinants of the problem, they are often accompanied by a personal influence, which seems to be caused by the root causes of the problem, such as poverty, insufficiency of education, marginalization, and exclusion. As social research has shown that teenagers are more likely to become gang members in the face of social and environmental risk factors, i.e. neighbourhoods, schools, families, and colleagues.

Discussion

Even if the knife is not used and it is just kept as a possession in a public place, an individual can be convicted and sentenced for five years. The police often stop to look for people who, in their opinion, carry weapons. Any other object similar to a knife can simply imprison a person as well. It may also include a sharp comb, or a knife disguised as something else, such as a lighter or a pen. Killing someone with a knife is much easier than an individual might think. If the heart is stabbed or when the artery is cut, it may bleed for one minute and the person dies instantly. Thus, there have been cases in which a young adult died from a leg injury, hence a cut from the knife in the arm or leg can still kill a person (Hayes, 2017). When an individual carries a knife, it risks almost everything. The individual can be imprisoned, become victims of a crime, and even end up in the hospital, which is a real danger. In addition, crimes with knives have devastating personal consequences for individuals, friends and family. Although some teenagers take a knife to feel more secure, they do not realise that using them makes them more vulnerable to serious risks. A knife can make things uncontrollable and exacerbate the situation. But lowering the knife is usually safer and can help people reach their full potential.

Therefore, people should not allow prisons or serious injuries to prevent them from achieving their goals. If an individual is convicted of a crime related to a knife, they will have a criminal record. They can be sentenced to 30 months of permanence, but they are written off as criminals for life. Individuals with illegal records, specifically the violent ones, find it hard to look for employment later. According to authentic sites like The Nation and The Information Hub, it is forbidden to perform certain jobs, such as working with children, young or old, and even as bodyguards in bars or clubs. Forced convictions make it even more difficult to enter a university. People with criminal records cannot enter known organizations or excellent universities. These people are not even welcome by some countries of the world. Crimes that are counted as knife crimes can be defined as; a knife crime is a crime that is carried out with a knife, used as a weapon. This includes trying to purchase a knife under the age of 18 or travelling with a knife in public places, frightening someone with a knife, carrying a forbidden knife, stabbing a knife or stealing or robbing a thief. Knife as a weapon, etc.

Neither parents nor grandparents think that their children or grandchildren should go to prison. For many people, the only worst nightmare is the idea that their friends or family members are killed or injured. The brothers and sisters who belong to anyone who has been guilty of a crime will be devastated by the prospect of people who have not appeared for months or even years. They can also face big problems at school and on the street. In addition, individuals with criminal record are more likely to become public in general. Many countries do not allow people with a criminal record, such as the United States, Canada and Australia, not even for simple vacations (Tiratelli, Quinton and Bradford, 2018). The work on criminal justice, which controls the situation, focuses on tools, basic police actions and similar responses. There are many different rules and laws that apply to tools. The main things that individuals should pay attention to are that if they are under 18, purchasing most types of knives is illegal; if they are caught with an illegal knife, over the age of 10, they can be sued. Even if the police stopped them for the first time and they are carrying knife, they can still be sentenced or fined. If the police think they can use a knife, police can look for it at any time. In a condition such that an individual carries legally approved knives (for example, knives with leaves shorter than 3 inches), they can become illegal if they are used as weapons to harm or even threaten someone (Middleton and Shepherd, 2018).

The maximum period for an individual convicted of bringing an illegal knife is five years. If a person injures anyone or uses a knife to execute a criminal act, the punishment can be even worse. In addition, studies have shown that youth and children who commit collective crimes suffer neglect and abuse. For example, if violence is common in the home, teenagers who live in this situation, it will become the norm for them and may behave in the same way. The children that experience or observe domestic violence around them have significant psychological and emotional impacts since they suffer from the aftermath of violence.

Thus, they are influenced by the abuser. According to a report generated in 1988 by Queensland Domestic Violence Taskforce, the children that observed violence on their mothers made up the 90% population of crime committers (Osofsky, 2018). Therefore, although the influence of social context and personality factors is obvious, they can be signs of intense structural problems, like poverty, marginalization and isolation. Another most damaging side effects of scarcity is misunderstanding, which leads to social exclusion among teenagers and the participation of delinquency (Vulliamy et al., 2018). Sequentially, social exclusion create vulnerability to risk factors in young generation, like living in communities with an extraordinary crime rate and in poor communities at school.

Conclusion

The matter indicates that teenagers are participating in savagery because of the interrelation between personal risk factors and social problems. Such influences tend to be triggered by the shortcomings, isolation and poverty, that these teenagers usually encounter in life. The problematic situation begins with living in a poor and troubled community that causes difficulties in family relationships, exclusion from schools and interface with criminals, so teenagers decide to join illegal groups or engage in criminal activities. One of the important solutions to mitigate such risks in the region is stressing on legal and educational policies. It is highly recommended to emphasize on the rightful and unrightful acts under criminology, as well as its consequences, so that young generation could gain awareness in this regard. Moreover, strict laws must be developed to overcome the growing trends of the crime rate.