Essay on Crime in America

Essay on Crime in America

1) Write an essay of 600 words that thoroughly explores the following questions:

a) Does the United States have a crime "problem" compared to other advanced and industrialized nations? Why or why not?

b) Why are the definitions of crime and criminal behavior critically important to political entities? Explain

The United States is regarded as one of the top industrialized and developed countries in the world. In terms of economics, technology and education, the U.S. also prides itself as one of the world leaders as it constantly sets the bar a notch higher. Despite of all the advancements that this country has attained, it is still alarming to think, the United States is constantly lagging behind when it comes to controlling crime. This is evident last 2012 when the U.S. crime rate went up to 22 percent. The Bureau of Justice Statistics rely that the figures increased primarily because of assault cases. 

According to reports, the rate of assault victims hiked from 19.3 for every 1,000 individuals to about 22.5 for every 1,000 persons. This figure likewise includes 3.9 million cases of simple assaults. In addition, incidents of second category or a seriously violent crime also rose last year. Second category crimes include sexual assault, aggravated assault as well as robbery. Last year, there was an estimated 1.8 million incidence of such cases (Frieden 1).  

The Reliable and Affordable Essay Writing Services

According to some experts, the increasing crime rate in the U.S. can be linked to poverty and low economic growth. It can be noted that most of the incidences of crime are in high-poverty area such as Detriot, Camden, and East St. Louis in Illinois. Similarly, the current recession experienced by the country also increases the unemployment rate. This then, paves the way for people to become motivated to commit crimes such as robbery or theft. Extreme poverty therefore, could lead to use crime as their best alternative to survive (Frieden 1).  

Another reason behind this is that the government itself have a very loose regulation regarding gun control. This is evident in the high number of gun owners and gun access across the United States. Experts then link this firearm possession in the increasing high rate of shootings across the country. As compared with other developed countries, the U.S. holds the record for the highest number of homicides by firearms with a total number of 9,960 deaths in 2010 alone. Switzerland on the other hand only has 40, Canada with 173 and Sweden with only 18. This means that the government as well as the laws relating to gun ownership and control are ineffective and are poorly implemented (Frieden 1).  

Another obvious reason behind the looming crime problem in the United States is the culture of people and the notion of “too much freedom and democracy”. Many Americans feel that their police and justice system are too tolerant and flexible. Thus, it creates a popular idea that people can easily get away with committing a crime (Frieden 1).  

Although the most common solution behind crime is to improve the economy and regulate gun ownership, it is first important to examine the main cause of crime as well as the behavior of the criminal. Properly defining crime for instance, properly defining a crime allows the law enforcers to understand the criminal justice system and therefore fully implement the law. On the part of the justice system, a properly defined crime avoids possible misinterpretation and even partial implementation. In addition, it allows policy makers to create effective policies that will control, deter, and ultimately eliminate the prevalence of a crime.   

Similarly, it is also important for professionals to understand the behaviors of criminals. Doing so gives the public an insight as to why a crime is committed thus allowing professionals, law enforcers and policy makers to fix the system. At the same time, understanding criminal behaviors allows experts to create a new system or policy to prevent such things from occurring again.

Cited Works

Coser, Lewis. Crime Theories in the field of criminology. 2012. Crime Theory. 4 January 2013.

<http://www.drtomoconnor.com/1010/1010lect02.htm>

Drehle, David. What’s Behind America’s Falling Crime Rate. 22 February 2012. Time. 4

January 2012. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1963761,00.html>

Frieden, Terry. US violent crime up for first time in years. 17 October  2012. CNN. 4 January

2013. <http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/17/us/violent-crime/index.html>

BUY ESSAY ON CRIME IN AMERICA NOW!

This is a sample Crime in America Essay from smartessaywriters.com – the leading provider of reliable and affordable essay writing services and research paper writing services in the United States and the United Kingdom

Related Topics:
1. Essay on Politics of Criminal Investigation
2. Essay on Broken Windows Policy
3. Essay on Firearms and Crimes
4. Essay on Ethics in Policing and Corrections
5. Essay on Politics in the Criminal Justice System
6. Essay  on Policing and the Society
7. Essay on Technology in Law Enforcement
8. Essay on Use of Police Informant in Criminal Investigation
9. Essay on Emerging Technology and Law Enforcement