Crime & Punishment (5)

Crime & Punishment
The fight between good and evil is as old as the humankind itself. Even in society there are always black sheep and these people are called ’criminals’. Although we are part of the EU and tend to be as humane as possible, we have to deal with the problem of growing numbers of people admitted to penitentiaries. One in all we have to dwelve into the mind of a criminal and find out what makes a felon tick. What forces an individual to commit crimes against others ? Are we too humane and lenient?
When looking for the reasons why people commit crimes I can only say what I believe to be sure of, and it is that individuals go against laws because they choose so, as criminal behaviour is a matter of choice . Today, there are many excuses cloaked as reasons for criminal behaviour. The misguided nature of these assertions has a serious impact upon crime control strategies. The classical approach holds people to choose freely among alternatives in behaviour. In this view, the perpetrator plans his or her actions before carrying them out. The social environment in which the person is amidst of, is a key factor in causes of criminal behaviour, with weak or broken bonds to family, school, and religion being the catalyst of criminal behaviour. They may not see the benefits of adhering to conventional social values and believe crime is a way to improve their social conditions.
Personal choice weighs over and dominates the reasons of individual actions. Through rational conscious thoughts one may select the temptations of preference. One may think of the consequences of one’s actions or think that one is too smart to get caught. Regardless of what is coming into us from external sources, we choose what we want and what seems most appealing. People balance the risks and costs involved in doing a certain act. Upon seeing which benefit outweighs the most, we decide to act. Well, on the other hand we might decide not to act. It depends on the person. Once again it all boils down to evil vs. good in the world. The evil will always be around tempting us all to do the wrong thing , but if we seek after the good and noble things, we can overcome the evil forces that seek to rob us of our freedom and dignity .
But when thinking of proper punishment, I, for one, think that we are too lenient. At least in our country . There have been excerpts in the media of how the government wants to reform prisoners and help them getting on their feet after leaving prison. I do not think it would be possible. When taking into consideration that just two years ago a man was sentenced to serve eight years at a local penitentiary for the killings of 6 people, I just cannot agree with it. I sternly believe that punishments should be a lot more harsh so that a common man would fear the barred windows and the people serving their sentence there. The killing of another human being is an unforgivable and horrible crime and it should be taken as a principal offense. I see capital punishment being the best way to deal with it, as it warns other civilians to fear and avoid the criminal path.
In conclusion , there are multiple reasons why people misbehave and commit crimes. It may be an outcome of social differences , an act of passion or even peer pressure. We are mesmerized by the darkness in the balance between good and evil. Good and evil is simply picture thinking about the scope of human nature and for some, crime pays, until caught.