Crime

Sources- Prevention- Unexpected outcomes

Sources

Individual

Ethics in plain words means studying and analysing right from wrong, which is identical with the

objective of education, telling the young generation what is the right thing to do.

Without being aware of the distinction between acceptable and accusable/detestable behaviours，young people become delinquents(/wrongdoers/lawbreakers|offenders) and criminals, rather than qualified workers and successful individuals.

It is particularly true as people are living in a society where violent juvenile crime, teen pregnancy and suicide are becoming worrying problems. There is thus a strong call for linking the modification of young people’s behaviour to the teaching of moral and social values in schools.

In spite of the fact that urban children are able to receive an excellent education, it does not

automatically mean that they will grow up without character flaws. In fact, it seems that they are more

susceptible to bad habits and social evils. Illegal substances are more common among urban juveniles

than among rural adolescents. Uniformity|Sameness and lifelessness|dullness of outdoor environments is another problem.

Garden settings, which are believed to have a healing|curative|remedial power for people living under great pressure, are rare in a metropolitan|urban|municipal area. By comparison, children living in the country are more likely to access outdoor play, a recreation activity that can improve moods and prevent feelings o f isolation.

Ethical principles and moral values have relevance to the order of a society and individual citizens' quality of life. The young people who are unaware of standards of morality will end up with breaching their duties as law-abiding citizens and ruining the moral values of the society.

Nor can they become happy, successful and productive. A good example to support this is that many recent business frauds, bribery, embezzlement and other illegitimate activities have been found related to some well-educated  but unethical people.

Despite their strong educational background and high intelligence, they cause damage to enterprises and communities.

Behaviours

There are a wide range of factors that account for adolescents' strong aggressive and criminal tendencies in a modem society, including poverty, repeated exposure to violence, unstable family life, delinquent peer groups, and so forth.

Family life

The most common factor responsible for juvenile crime|delinquency is the loss o f the family life and the increase in family violence. More and more parents nowadays show an inclination to abuse their

children and treat them as an outlet of stress. It leaves young children and teenagers a misleading

impression about violence and gives them composure when acting violently. Busy lifestyle is another culprit|cause|reason, reducing the chance of interaction between parents and children and preventing children from living and studying in a normal way. A feeling of being neglected can cause problems like learning disorders|confusions, a state in which a young person lacks motivation to organise and follow learning plans.

Despite the strong proof thal nature is responsible for|results in|leads to one's behaviour, it is not to deny the function of the environment people are raised in.

Studies show that many young criminals come from problem families|dysfunctional families, who have a history of violence and crime.

Without good job prospects, they end up with finding solace|comfort|consolation in gangs.

The circle of poverty and crime will continue, as these young criminals start new families|have children with the characteristics of their own.

Violence

Exposure to violence is another factor that plays a big role in the increase o f juvenile delinquency.

Many studies have made it clear that the upsurge in televised violence and the video games that have

violence as the main theme|subject|topic is closely linked to young adults' aggressive behaviour. This effect has been compounded by the spread o f the Internet，which tends to negatively impact young people of all ages, of both genders at all economic levels and all levels o f intelligence.

Prevention

There are some other determining factors, but it is believed that family life and media are the most

influential. In combating juvenile delinquency, one should focus on the following elements. First, an

underage person should be correctly oriented|directed in life and their negative experience should be minimised. Whenever a behaviour problem arises, children should be given correct and immediate instruction. Meanwhile, it is imperative that parents limit or even prevent children's exposure to violence, a trigger for their aggressive behaviours.

Education is of critical importance to rehabilitating|restoring|mending|reshaping|remoulding an offender|lawbreaker|delinquent attitudes toward society and family, a prerequisite to their reintegration into the community meanwhile allows them to keep in contact with the community, an opportunity that prisoners are normally deprived of. With the passing of time, they lose confidence and the ability to function prosocially. The risk of re-offending is thus higher. The third benefit is preventing offenders’ peer group effect, because by receiving education in a proper learning environment, offenders have lower chance of reinforcing each other’s antisocial and criminal behaviours in group situations.

>> skills in coping with everyday problems

Similar to education, work is one of the most important interventions in corrections, whether it takes the form of work release or vocational training. Money is the main inducement|incentive|enticement of many crimes, such as shoplifting, robbery, burglary, and so forth. Job training enables offenders to acquire earning capacity and improve job skills. By this they can become productive members of society and have the opportunity to behave normally towards family or occupation or society. Greater post-release employment success will, in general, lead to a lower rate of recidivism.

>> assist them in finding jobs

However, to those habitual criminals, who have committed crimes repeatedly and show little respect for the legal system, education and job training might not make any significant difference. This category of offenders gives little thought to their past or future. Their behaviours and thoughts are deeply ingrained|deep-rooted and unbending|fixed, in which circumstance imprisonment is the best way of keeping them from being perpetrators|criminals. Meanwhile, imprisonment has deterrent effects and can deter potential offenders from becoming actual offenders.

>> deterrent effects

The first point to support this is that the government can increase intervention, including launching anti-crime public campaigns, enforcing new laws, and providing education. A civilised society is characterised|typified by a high literacy rate and a low crime rate. The negative relationship between these two parameters implies that one will be away from a life of crime if given the access to education. Another method relies on the combination|mixture of imposing tougher|stricter|more rigid laws and training a more effective police force. Not only does it penalise those offenders but it also deters prospective criminals. Moreover, the government can capitalise on the mass media throughout the country to alert the public to the threat of crime and teach citizens self-defence techniques.

>>governmental intervention

Besides|Apart from education, other endeavours, such as improving road infrastructure and transportation systems, are equally important. Road conditions should be improved to allow different users, including drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, to use roads safely. Other facilities, such as stoplights and stop signs, can be used wherever appropriate to curb speed driving. Furthermore, authorities can sponsor the research for road safety measures and effective precautions, such as identifying risk factors of different driving patterns. By translating these findings into policies and practices, the government is in a stronger position to protect vehicle occupants and vulnerable road users.

>> provide efficient and affordable public transport services

Wider intervention of local authories is also recommended, such as increasing patrols in those areas where accident rate is high. Road regulations should be reassessed and revised regularly so as to combat road offences more effectively. When the existing policies fail to regulate road users’ behaviour, tightening|increasing the control is preferred. However, as suggested before, strict standards require full compliance. Without regulations closely observed, standards are in fact vain|ineffective|worthless

>> enforce compliance with rules and regulations such as wearing motorcycle helmets and drink-driving penalties

For individual citizens, many crimes can be nipped in the bud, if they keep vigilant|watchful|wary|cautious at crimes and are brave enough to fight back. It is particularly true in cases where burglars break into houses without an alarm system, and shoplifters target those shops that are not under the surveillance of security' camera. In simple terms, it is people’s negligence that causes them to fall prey to the criminals. On other occasions, criminals are pampered|spoiled by people's cowardice. If they possessed courage to chase criminals or at least report to the police on a crime, there would be fewer victims

>> individuals' directed patrol

In many cases, many automobile accidents occur not because drivers belittle or defy road regulations but because those regulations are unfamiliar to them. It is an everyday occurence that rule-breaking acts and traffic crashes are linked to poor driving skills. Many drivers have limited experience in coping with different situations and an inaccurate estimation of the complexity of road conditions, despite having passed licence tests. It alerts people to the loopholes|mistakes in policies, such as the loose control over car use, low requirements on driving training and low licence standards. In tackling those problems, it is imperative to require licence applicants to attend more safe-driving courses and pass

strict tests.

>> boost the sense of road safe

Crime reduction and crime prevention also rely on other approaches rather than on security measures. Criminals choose their targets based on time and whereabouts. Citizens will be less vulnerable to victimisation if they bypass those places where crimes frequently occur. There is no need for carrying chemical agents for self-defense. Many mansions are armed with expensive in-door survaillence systems, but issuing passes to occupants and tenants and preventing easy access to the building is more effective and economical, in the inner city, where crimes are epidemic, eliminating the dilapidated buildings used by criminals for hiding or selecting a target is more useful than requiring all shops and residents nearby to install expensive security system. The central part of crime prevention is altering the environment, by which the root causes or at least the facilitators of crime can be eliminated.

Arming police is therefore not advisable in most cases but only allowed in exceptional circumstances. For example, in those areas where armed crimes are rampant, armed police protect not only the public but also themselves from the potential attack. It gives the police the leverage in their combat against criminals, especially those hardened criminals. Firearms also serve as a deterrent|warning to would-be|possible |potential|prospective offenders. If street patrols in some neighbourhoods are routinely armed, it helps cut the rates of crime.

>> benefits of arming police

Unexpected outcomes

The police: Mistaken shootings of innocent civilians

The primary concern on armed police is that it would increase the potential for miscarriages of justice and mistaken|incorrect shootings of innocent civilians. The legislation in many countries is supportive of this concern. Laws protect citizens from torture or cruel treatment and also their rights on arrest or detainment. If armed, the police will be less likely to think twice before pulling the trigger. They can easily get away with private execution|the death sentence|capital punishment by inventing a legitimate excuse, such as self-defense. The chance of a shoot-out would naturally rise, causing many preventable|unavoidable|unnecessary injuries or losses of life.

>> protect a person who is becoming innocent targets

The gun culture

Arming the police might also add fuel to|encourage|fuel the gun culture. Nowadays, perhaps nothing is worse than the continued rise in the gun ownership rate. Arming the police can never redress|restore|remedy the imbalance but worse, give criminals a motivator|incentive|impetus to carry guns even for minor crimes. On the other hand, in those communities that are otherwise peaceful, armed police are intimidating|daunting and the fear of crime will spread wildly. It would lead to further demand on private gun ownership, and expose members of the public to higher risk.

>> police weapons add fuel to the gun culture

Fuels the fear of crime

To a larger or lesser extent, the increased|inflated presence of anti-crime devices fuels the fear of crime and has a devastating|destructive|harmful effect on people’s quality of life. Crimes are concentrated in particular areas, but the fear of crime spreads across the whole community and affects nearly every resident. The most annoying aspect of this trend is that people’s freedom is curtailed|limited|restricted|restrained|curbed (for example, using the stairway of a building less frequently due to the alarm installed there) and sometimes, people’s privacy is invaded (due to the concealed surveillance cameras in offices). There is little, if any, evidence that the threat people perceive has a real life counterpart.

>> fail to reduce crime, but displace it to other areas

On the other hand, although some measures are said to deter or stop crime, they too often produce opposite outcomes For example, lighting in a dark area may reduce fear but also enable criminals to sec their targets more easily, leading to a high probability of attacks. The benefits of self-protective|self-defensive measures such as gun ownership and martial arts training are doubtful because nobody can say with  certainty that the net effect is to decrease harm. Most personal defensive devices are either too difficult to use or less effective than expected.

>> achieve unexpected outcomes