Crime rates have become so prevalent in our societies, especially in the recent past. Crimes affect not only the individuals but also the economy of a given society. It may lead to deaths as well as paralyze economic sectors such as tourism due to insecurity. Crimes range from petty offenses such as overlapping on the roads and drug abuse to rape, theft and robbery, and even murder. The rising phenomenon is the crime of cyber-bullying, which has taken the bullying offense a top-notch and has caused more mental health issues and deaths in society. Many people have connected such an observation of technology as time changes. However, there is more to crime than just the technical aspect though it seems to be the fuel to more occurrences. There are several root causes of crime, such as alcoholism and substance abuse, poverty, genetics, poor parenting, too much exposure to the wrong side of technology, poor leadership, and attaching low value to oneself. There are several root causes of crime, such as alcoholism and substance abuse, poverty, genetics, poor parenting, too much exposure to the wrong side of technology, lenient laws, and attaching low value to oneself, with their corresponding course of action, for instance, creating job opportunities, imposing penalties, among others. Primarily, poverty is one causative factor of crime and criminality (Pare & Felson, 2014). According to sociological theory, the social environment is a trigger to criminal behaviors (Pare & Felson, 2014). The struggling neighborhoods record high levels of illegal activity, which can be attributed to a scarcity of jobs, inequality in income distribution, and low wages (Pare & Felson, 2014). Such phenomena cause individuals, especially the youth in the society, to seek for fast ways to raise income to sustain their families. Individuals will engage in violent crimes such as robbery and theft and sometimes non-violent offenses such as conning either in person or online. In such cases, crime rates can be reduced by creating job opportunities that meet the minimum wage gap to ensure that a more significant percentage of individuals in the community have a reliable source of income and thus have better-living standards. The biological theory asserts that altered brain chemistry as a result of drug and substance abuse results in poor and irrational judgment making individuals resort to criminal acts (Downes, Rock, & McLaughlin, 2016). Substance abuse can increase the probability of individuals indulging in certain crimes such as homicide, violence, assault, and even murder by clouding the individual's judgment and increase the aggression tendencies (Håkansson & Jesionowska, 2018). Other crimes associated with drugs include drug trafficking, which further causes damage to society by increase the availability of drugs to masses. The government should be involved in control the circulation of drugs by imposing enormous penalties for possession of narcotics and commercializing it. For the crimes committed when individuals are under the influence of substances, sanctions should also be put in place for control purposes. Also, drug users should be rehabilitated as a way of treatment and reformation to a healthy life.
Furthermore, poor parenting is also another significant cause of crime, especially in youths. In line with sociological theory, bad parenting act as a catalyst to criminal and antisocial conduct (Håkansson & Jesionowska, 2018). However, generally, child abuse broken family bonds and other forms of neglect have recorded a likelihood of breeding antisocial and crime-prone individuals in their later ages. Some individuals grow antisocial and venture into alcoholism and drug abuse, which further heightens their probability of having criminal behaviors. Parents should play a critical role in parenting more precisely by getting involved in the growth of their children. They should be accommodating to ensure that their children breed good behaviors and thus reduce the expected levels of delinquency. Also, there is a correlation between genetics and criminality. Genes can influence criminal behavior in people. Individuals genes have the power to predict whether he or she will wander off to a criminal life (Wertz et al., 2018). According to the Biological Theory, the fundamental determinant of human behavior is in their genetic information (Downes, Rock, & McLaughlin, 2016). Research has indicated that children of people with past criminal records will have higher tendencies to engage in illegal activities as compared to children born to non-criminal parents. These individuals also have a higher probability of reoffending. Children are likely to pick the behaviors or learn them from their parents. Genes can also be associated with some actions such as aggression, antisocial behaviors, which in turn heightens the likelihood of criminal behavior. Individuals born under such circumstances can benefit from a rehabilitation program and introduced to medication such as tranquilizers, antipsychotic drugs, and other mood-altering drugs to contain their behavior. These individuals should receive close supervision to avoid subjecting them to conditions that trigger their will to stray into crimes. Another contributory factor to criminal activity is technology. In as much as technology has been merited in the contemporary world, it has also allowed for many crimes to be committed. Technological innovation has enabled criminality; for instance, identify theft, cyber-bullying, and hacking. The classical theory of crime maintains that individuals commit offenses out of free will (Downes, Rock, & McLaughlin, 2016). Despite knowing the consequences, they go ahead committing crimes anyway since they deem that its benefits outweigh the repercussions. So technology has facilitated criminal activities, as people willfully learn about crimes and how to indulge in them digitally. Violent video games and vulgar television programs can push people, especially the young generation, into plunging into criminal activity as it promotes aggressiveness, hostility, and crude behaviors. Children are likely to act and emulate the show they watch mostly, and that does not leave out the shows about violence and illegal activity such as assault and theft. Parents are advised to control the content their children are exposed to and instead replace them with more educational yet entertaining shows in the wake to avoid the proliferation of criminal behaviors. On the other end, stiffer technological and criminal laws plus strict regulation of technology will deter crimes and individuals' disposition to participate in illegal activities. Also, association with criminals, bad company, or peer pressure is another root of crime. According to the interactionist theory, people whom one relates to can instill criminal behavior in them attributed to the power of the group (Downes, Rock, & McLaughlin, 2016). Interaction with criminals exposes individuals to illicit products harmful content, which facilitates. Being associated with criminals may make one a criminal as they develop motivation and learn unlawful ways and, with time, become experts. Individuals who are likely to be absorbed into criminality are mostly with self-esteem issues and those looking for acceptance. There is a connection between self-esteem and criminal behaviors. People with high self-esteem are less likely to be driven into criminality as compared to those with low self-esteem. Declining self-esteem also leads to increased vulnerability to alcohol and substance abuse. Alcoholism and substance abuse are some of the major causes of crimes (Håkansson & Jesionowska, 2018). In avoiding offenses related to esteem issues, people should be guided on how to work on their esteem issues and mental health. This approach will reduce the tendencies to indulge in violence and other criminal activities to prove high self-esteem and their social standings. In conclusion, significant crimes such as theft, violence, assault, robbery, murder, and even small offenses such as tax evasion are related to several causes including alcoholism and substance abuse, poverty, genetics, poor parenting, too much exposure to the wrong side of technology, and attaching low value to oneself. These causes breed a place for crime to grow. Therefore, to curb and reduce crime, individuals need to work on the reasons and replace them with options that are more likely to breed a better behavior pattern rather than encourage them to stray into criminal behaviors. Also, the only other way to fight crime is by imposing laws and bringing the offenders to book to avoid outspread of delinquency in the community.
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References
Downes, D., Rock, P. E., & McLaughlin, E. (2016). Understanding deviance: a guide to the sociology of crime and rule-breaking. Oxford University Press.
Håkansson, A., & Jesionowska, V. (2018). Associations between substance use and type of crime in prisoners with substance use problems–a focus on violence and fatal violence. Substance abuse and rehabilitation, 9, 1.
Pare, P. P., & Felson, R. (2014). Income inequality, poverty, and crime across nations. The British Journal of Sociology, 65(3), 434-458.
Wertz, J., Caspi, A., Belsky, D. W., Beckley, A. L., Arseneault, L., Barnes, J. C., ... & Odgers, C. L. (2018). Genetics and Crime: Integrating new genomic discoveries into psychological research about antisocial behavior. Psychological science, 29(5), 791-803.
