The Role of Society in Controlling and Preventing Crime

Crime infiltrates a society and it poses great challenges. According to recent research done by the Inter- American Development Bank, the crime rate has been soaring over the years, they stated that one in every three persons are affected by crime. Persons of various walks of life have tend to believe they know what the cause of crime is and they tend to play the blame game and put the fault on others but themselves. Individuals point fingers at parents and say that they are the root cause for such atrocities in society and solely blame poor parenting for the rising crime rates and they turn a blind eye on all the other factors that in fact contribute to crime. Each member of society plays a critical role in the controlling of crime, there is no one member or element to be held fully responsible.

Crime affects all sectors in society, it hinders a country economically and socially, it slows down a country from developing as resources would have to be put in place to curb this cancer. The Functionalist states that all institutions in society works cohesively for society to work in solidarity, therefore no one institution can be blamed entirely for the short fall of crime in society. In 2012 The UN Caribbean Human Development Report stated that almost eighty percent of prosecuted crimes were persons between the ages of 17 and 29. Those misdemeanors, could have been avoided if society assisted in the way they should instead of being egoistic and blaming parents.

Crime and unemployment seems to be interlinked as an increase in unemployment leads to an upsurge in crime. Individuals who are unemployed and are unable to attain jobs, they would find it difficult to obtain the required finances along with other various necessities for their survival in society. This would lead to frustration, they may be desperate and may take up desperate measures to ensure their survival. These individuals might commit crimes such as robbery, break-ins or even sell drugs. Going down this avenue may be the light at the end of their tunnel. An empirical time series research done on serious crimes by the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, showed that there was a link between unemployment and education and that these two factors had a negative impact on crime, they also found where there were female employment, there seem to be a reduction in crime, it was suggested that it was due to the families income. This research can contradict the popular opinion where persons who grew up in single matrifocal household, tends to be deviant and commit crimes. Additionally, in an article in Caribbean Business written by the founder Manuel A. Casiano, he stated that unemployment, was the biggest cause of crime. This statement was said due to the trends of the upsurge in crimes he noticed within the years 2009- 2011, he stated that because of a “recession, unemployment especially of the youth’s is driving them to traffic drugs for a living. ”

With the unequal distribution of wealth, some individuals are left at a major disadvantage. They are left with little to no resources to achieve success. These individuals’ desperation and eagerness to get the basic needs in order to survive will lead them to go against society’s conformed norms and values to achieve success, if it means breaking the law. Individuals under such circumstances commit crimes because it’s the option they think they, have, crimes however done under these circumstance are to simply put food on the table or even help their children succeed in life. According to functionalist Robert Merton, he stated that “when individuals are denied the opportunity to achieve success in life in the traditional way, they turn to crime as an alternative. ” He explains that societies with an “unequal division with both the rich and poor, the poorest groups with the fewer opportunities would most likely to commit crime” in order to achieve success. Likewise Nelson Mandela once said, “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw. ”Peer groups play a major role in a child’s life and in their crafting of them becoming adults, especially as they meet their friends at school and they spend the most crucial part of their life there. Peer groups has a strong impact on an individual, each peer group establishes what they deem to be acceptable. Fellow peers simply wanting to be accepted and not wanting to be left out or bullied may do impudent and temerarious acts. These deviant acts soon leads to criminal activities, sometimes due to peer pressure. The Institution of Gender and Development studies in the University of the West Indies Trinidad and Tobago, conducted a research which contained two parts, the first one being the examining of data reported by other Caribbean researchers and the other being a qualitative research which was fifty four detailed interviews from the years 2005-2008 with men from diverse backgrounds between the ages of 18-38 from a wide cross section of Trinidad and Tobago’s society. They concluded that while “peer groups can be a powerful force for good, they can also be an extremely bad influence. ” The researchers found that peer groups rejected “caring masculinities and labelled them as gay or feminine” and that they “pressured to prove one’s manhood by acting out hard to promote hyper-masculinities. ” They endorsed dangerous and risky masculinities.

Similarly, the school itself plays a role in the controlling of crime, teachers should notice students who are not performing academically well and portraying deviant acts and should address this matter not by constantly suspending them but also by simply giving them the required attention or counselling. Schools should be careful if they label students negatively as the students’ may soon see themselves as that stereotype and fulfil the label as mentioned by Howard Becker. In a scholarly peer-review article done by Tulane University and the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data concluded if a person was labelled as deviant the more likely they are to participate in such acts The Functionalist stated that in society, there are various socializing agents, family, education, media and religion. The family is the first socializing agent meaning that they are responsible to teach the child values, norms, morals and tradition. If the child portrays deviant acts, it’s simply because it’s what they learn, if the parents has no time for their children then they will not know what is right from wrong. Therefore the family, mainly the parents are to be blamed for the crime situation, if they were efficient and effective in their duties as parents, there would be little to no crime. They should carry out the duty of rewards and punishment giving rewards to the child when a good act is done and the required punishment when a wrong act is committed.

Poor parenting such as negligence, abuse both verbal and physical, contributes negatively towards a child’s future. Children tend to learn and portray what they experience and live. Children in single parent homes are more likely to get in trouble and deviate from conformed norms because they are not being supervised or being thought valuable life lessons. If parents take care of their children, we can cut the head off the snake. If the family structure is not stable, then the child’s life would not. According to Researcher Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation, children without fathers are twice as likely to commit deviant acts and crimes, additionally researcher Randy Withers, who is a Clinical Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counselor, worked in a juvenile detention center, found that out of 230 students only 15-20 had a prominent father figure in their life.

Members of society should stand up and take on their respected responsibilities and carry out their duties, to help stop crime, to help stop individuals from making wrong decisions and guide them accordingly. Making of policies and provisions and other various steps in assisting those who are on the poverty line and below it, would go a long way in stopping crime. Also teachers giving students the proper counselling and care needed, may deter them from committing delinquent and deviant acts. These little steps will go a long way in reducing crime and making it safe. Crime is everyone’s business.