Intro to Sociology

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Crime
The topic about crime is a complex one and it is difficult to get a succinct, non-technical or broad explanation as to what causes crime. Some criminologists believe that there is no cause for crime as so far as the literal meaning of the word cause is concerned. Indeed, the topic about crime is an interesting one and helps understand why crime occurs and who are more inclined to commit crime. With this in mind, the paper seeks to establish the trend in regard to crime and what really leads people to commit crime. The first question was aimed at determining the level of crime in the society while the second question was aimed at determining the trend of criminal activity. The third question was aimed at determining the age of the most common culprits of crime while the fourth question aimed at determining the major drive behind crime. The fifth question is aimed at getting the societal perception of what really constitutes crime while the sixth question aimed at determining the time at which most crimes occur. The final question is aimed at getting feedback as to what needs to be done to better get rid of crime in the society.
There is no succinct or direct explanation as to what causes crime in the society. However, most people see crime as a major problem in the society, a major inhibitor to development. Important to note here is the fact that it is much hard to monitor or measure the factors behind crime-prone areas than it is to measure to the factors behind crime-prone individuals. From the interview however, it is possible to assume that societies which are crime-prone harbors the majority of crime prone individuals. On the other hand, it can be observed that some areas are crime prone due o the attractive residential and commercial targets which attract residents and non-residents criminals. The level of crimes varies from one neighborhood to the other and from one society to the other. This is as a result of various factors including but not limited to the level of income, literacy and the level of security provided by state agencies.
Most crimes are committed by juveniles according to the findings of this survey. Young people who commonly associate with delinquent peers are more likely to engage in criminal activity as compared with adults. This however does not rule out the fact that there are adults who have lived a criminal life since their youthful years and have persisted with their behavior even in their adulthood. Nevertheless, most people agree that delinquent peer influence plays a major role in fostering criminal behavior. While there is no one agreed cause of criminal activity, several factors have been identified including unemployment, poverty, biological factors, family factors, literacy levels, substance abuse and truancy. Most of these factors are prevalent among juveniles as compared with adults hence the tendency of the former to engage in criminal activity.
As can be expected, most people consider murder as the number one crime. It can be observed that many criminal activities involve lesser crimes such as violent robberies, theft and burglary. Uncommon crimes such as kidnapping and mugging have also been recorded in some areas. It is also worth noting that most of the crimes take place during the late hours perhaps because it is at this time that the young people are congregated in large numbers. There is however a general agreement that some crimes such as mugging may occur in broad day light as such crimes only takes seconds to be committed. The level of policing in an area plays an important role in determining the level of security in such an area. According to the interviewees, it is the role of the government to ensure that the society has enough security and that offenders or criminals are severely dealt with. Further, the government should create employment opportunities for young people besides ensuring that the level of literacy in the society is at per. This according to the respondents would go a long way in minimizing the level of crime in the society.
It is interesting to learn that crime-prone areas are not necessarily those with a higher number of crime-prone individuals. In essence, the assumption that some neighborhoods are considered to be crime-prone because crime-prone individuals live there is only partly true. Some areas as learned from the study are crime-prone because they have attractive residential and commercial properties which in turn attract criminals. Further, whilst economic and social factors play a role in regard to the level of crime in the society, they are not the only factors that escalate crime in the society. Other factors such as biological and family factors play an equal role in determining the level of crime in the community. Interesting a...