COMIC RELIEF

Sentencing and Reduction in Crime

Crime rate has always been an issue that people liked to argue about. Major concerns are always about the actions that can lower the crime rate. In some countries it is just the problem of education, some experience difficulties with overall stability of economics, and in some crime is a part of a country’s culture. However, in the U.S. the situation is different as the country does not fall into any category listed above. The crime rate can be reduced by two methods: first, find reasons for criminal behavior and then take actions to lower the crime rate according to these reasons or second, strict the punishment so individuals that considered committing crime would think twice before taking some prohibited by the law actions. The effectiveness of tougher sentencing may cause a problem by the distortion created by incarceration and unclear results both at the individual and aggregate level.

According to the public, the present sentences are not substantial enough. They are out of proportion to the seriousness of crime committed. Referring to the statistics, there is only a 2% chance that a person who committed a robbery will be sentence to prison. These numbers make people really think if we need stricter sentencing. Some may argue that it is only a robbery, however, if a person can let himself or herself commit a robbery what can stop him/her of committing the murder. Stricter sentencing, together with minimum sentences for particular felonies and automatic incarceration for persistent lawbreakers, instead of bigger police expenditure, has become the latest reaction to the apparent increase in crime.

It is a well-known hypothesis that criminal actions are directly related with possible outcome of the unwanted situation (being caught). To be simple, if the criminal certainly knows that he/she will be responsible for offence and this responsibility will be of high strictness the chances of committing the offence will be much lower. Some countries, especially Asian, have a death penalty for a number of crimes. For example, if someone caught with drugs, no matter if using them, selling, or just having in the pocket he/she will be sentenced to death. Most likely that this way the authorities just scare the potential lawbreakers and not change the psychology, however, this method works positively on reducing the crime rate.

As I mentioned before there are basically two sets of strategies to stimulate the potential lawbreaker: encouraging that consists of alternatives to crime that a government can offer to a potential offender or discouraging such as strong punishment. If we view criminals as the ones that want to maximize the efficacy at the lowest risk, we would expect them to compare actual utility from the illegal activity to the utility of the perfectly legal action. In case of applying some knowledge from economics we can easily draw the graph of supply and demand; at the point where two lines intersect would be the market equilibrium for criminal activity. To make it completely understandable, the higher the risk to be jailed the lower criminal activity would be. Consequently, incarceration would reduce crime by applying the preventive effect and declining the number of offenders and this effect basically will create the utility of alternative. The result of this idea is vitally dependent on the suppositions that a person makes and thus the effect will depend on person’s attitude towards risk, length of imprisonment, and other results that will the unfavorable situation for a criminal will lead to.

Crime is actually viewed from the economic prospective more often than people think. Economic scholars instead of analyzing the economy write books analyzing the interrelation of economics and crime. One of them was Becker who made the model in long 1968 which supposed that people act rationally in response to the possible effect of their action . Simply speaking, people are most likely to commit the crime if the wanted benefit is greater than its cost. It is just like business: if the possible income is greater than the costs then it makes sense to start this business. We should also take into account the possibility of failure which would be the nominal risk for the offender this case. As in economics we would consider the effects of possible failure on the entrepreneur in this case the strictness of punishment should be taken to account. If we take all these things and put them together in one equation like Becker did, we would attain that expected utility of the crime is directly dependent on probability of capture, the monetary value taken out from crime, and the results if punished. Becker came to a conclusion that negative results of punishment reflect the severity of punishment will prevent crime. Although, Becker did not completely explain the possible outcome of the situation when the fear of punishment stops to be the issue for the criminal. In other words, is there a critical point of dread of the punishment for a potential offender?

Becker concluded that if a person prefers to take risk then one percent in the probability of punishment will have greater deterrent effect than a one percent increase in the severity of punishment and completely the opposite would be true if a person is not willing to take great risk. A great influence would also have the percentage of time that a person would spend on illegal activities compared to the percentage of legal activities. A person that spends most of his/her time on something that is illegal may not be that affected by stricter punishment than a person that spends most of his/her time on legal things.

The term “practical certainty” that was introduced almost twenty years ago states that people avoid difficulties of the decision making by taking things for granted. Instead of difficult economic calculations that Backer used, people will simply evaluate net income from the crime and alternative utilization of this time. This would have a need of the greatest enlargement of the possibility and strictness of sentence to result the decreasing trend in the crime rate.

Another great scholar of this whole issue is Ehrlich. His work is based on the market model of crime. Ehrlich disputes that it is not possible to evaluate the influence of imprisonment taking to account only individual cases. Incarceration could prevent the following crimes of the same offender. For instance, if one committed a crime and was jailed for it he/she will not be able to commit another crime in the reason of being in prison at the moment. Although, the preventive effect of jails does not mean anything to recidivists, people that do illegal things all their lives. They do not need the alternatives from crime, crime is the best alternative for them, and they do not really care about how high the risk is and how strict the punishment is.

Most states have initiated tougher sentencing for recidivists and for crimes that have a link to the charge of additional criminal acts. Since 1990, the number of people in custody has risen more than 577,100, or 1,708 inmates per week. By the 1998, more than 1.7 million people were confined in state, federal, and local correctional facilities. As the repeat criminals were taken off the streets, the U.S. actually achieved a decline in the crime rate.

In response to crime, possible sufferers from the crime choose much higher levels to protect themselves, by doing this they increase the preventive effect and consequently increase the costs for the crime that criminals have to deal with. Boost in the costs for crime lowers the possible net gains that can be derived from the crime. In any case, it is not in favor of the public if the stricter sentencing is used because citizens pay for prisons from their taxes. If we consider the other option – to increase the means of self protection – it will negatively balance on people’s budget, since this one is not a very desirable expense for a regular citizen. If we refer to the statistics it is pretty easy to find out that during the last two decades of the twentieth century, expenditures for state and local prisons in the United States increased over 600%. For example, in Wisconsin during the past 13 years, the budget for the correction facilities have grown from $556 million in the 1992-93 to nearly $2 billion in the budget adopted for 2004-05-an increase of 257%. Since 1990, Wisconsin’s inmate population has more than tripled.

Luckily, we have a number of alternatives to tougher sentencing. The probable ones would be the rehabilitation programs or increase in the employment rate. As I mentioned in the beginning of my paper the low level of economics negatively influences the crime rate. Consequently, a high unemployment rate has a bad impact on overall crime. Thus, to achieve a lower crime rate not only we have to frighten the potential offenders by strict punishments but also create new working places and get people to work. However, there is not a hundred percent guarantee that the greatest improvement in unemployment will result the disappearance in crime. For example, in the former Soviet Union was practiced planned economy where the working spot was created for everyone, however, the actual crime rate was not the lowest one.

To summarize everything said above, the efficiency of tougher sentencing depends on individuals’ contribution and attitudes, especially the attitudes towards risk. It also depends on the willingness of people to take risk and be responsible for outcomes. It is obvious that imprisonment of offenders decrease the possibility of crimes that could have been happened if these offenders were free. The studies show that increasing the apprehension rate of possible offenders may have significant preventative effects that will sufficiently reduce the crime.

About the Author

Jeff Stats is an expert at Mindrelief.net. Our custom essay writing service is a great chance for you to present an essay of the highest standard to your professor. The assistance of our writers is a priceless input in your professional development. Order college essay or research paper from our writing service.

Gun Control Does Not Reduce Crime

Blackjacked Pistol-Whipped The Best of Crime Does Not P $21.64

Crime Does Not Pay #119 G-G+ 2.25 Lev Gleason 1953!! $14.99

CRIME Does Not PAY #76 Golden Age Comic Book – G $15.00

Crime Does Not Pay 44 1946 $14.99

Crime Does Not Pay 74vg+fn $30.00

Crime Does Not Pay 82 fn- $35.00

Crime Does Not Pay75 fn $40.00

Comic Crime Does Not Pay #100 Golden Age $14.99

Crime does not pay #137 $6.00

CRIME DOES NOT PAY #56 1947 LEV GLEASON PUB. GOLDEN AGE $29.95

CRIME DOES NOT PAY #71 1948 LEV GLEASON PUB. GOLDEN AGE $29.95

CRIME DOES NOT PAY #68 1948 LEV GLEASON PUB. GOLDEN AGE $29.95

CRIME DOES NOT PAY VOL #1 HARDCOVER Dark Horse Archives Pre Code Comics 1-4 HC $43.68

CRIME DOES NOT PAY #49 ~ 1947 Classic Crime Comic – GLOSSY + TIGHT FINE $5.50

Crime Does Not Pay #107 G+ Hands Up $14.99

Crime Does Not Pay #119 G- The Mad Gunman $9.99

Crime Does Not Pay #77 FN $22.99

Crime Does Not Pay Magazine November 1968 Machine Gun Kelly Ma Barker Luck Lucia $24.99

Golden Age CRIME & JUSTICE DETECTIVE COMICS in DVD Crime Does Not Pay Prison #1 $9.99

CRIME DOES NOT PAY COMIC BOOK # 65 $0.99

Crime Does Not Pay – Set 1-Old Time Radio-12 show-6 CDs $9.95

Crime Does Not Pay – Set 2-Old Time Radio-12 show-6 CDs $9.95

Crime Does Not Pay – Set 3-Old Time Radio-12 show-6 CDs $9.95

Crime Does Not Pay – Set 4-Old Time Radio-12 show-6 CDs $9.95

CRIME DOES NOT PAY #110 1952 Guardineer GoldenAge Comic $16.95

CRIME DOES NOT PAY #88 $24.99

CRIME DOES NOT PAY #119 $22.00

Crime Does Not Pay for the Commodore Amiga Complete! $14.99

BLACKJACKED AND PISTOL-WHIPPED CRIME DOES NOT PAY DARK HORSE 2011 SC GN TPB NEW $19.43

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 120 4.5 VG+ 1953 LEV GLEASON BIRO $19.20

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 124 4.5 VG+ 1953 LEV GLEASON BIRO $19.20

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 145 4.5 VG+ 1955 LEV GLEASON BIRO $28.00

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 146 4.5 VG+ 1955 LEV GLEASON BIRO $28.00

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 141 5.0 VGF 1955 GLEASON BIRO KUBERT $32.00

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 147 5.0 VGF 1955 GLEASON BIRO KUBERT $44.00

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 110 4.5 VG+ 1952 LEV GLEASON BIRO $33.00

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 111 3.5 VG– 1952 LEV GLEASON BIRO $20.80

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 123 5.5 FINE- 1953 LEV GLEASON BIRO $24.00

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 128 4.0 VG 1953 LEV GLEASON BIRO $16.00

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 135 4.5 VG+ 1954 LEV GLEASON BIRO $19.20

CRIME DOES NOT PAY 84 3.5 VG- 1950 LEV GLEASON BIRO $22.40

Elvis 75th Anniversary DVD Collection (17 Films including Elvis on Tour / Jailhouse Rock / Viva Las Vegas / It Happened at the World’s Fair and This Is Elvis) $54.15 Celebrate the enduring legacy of Elvis Presley with this 17-disc set that includes “Jailhouse Rock,” “It Happened at the World’s Fair,” “Kissin’ Cousins,” “Viva Las Vegas,” “Girl Happy,” “Tickle Me,” “Harum Scarum,” “Spinout” (1966), “Double Trouble,” “Stay Away, Joe,” “Speedway” (1968), “Live a Little, Love a Little,” “Charro!,” “The Trouble with Girls (And How to Get Into It),” “Elvis: That’s th…

Crystal Castles (Dig) $9.83 Electronic music is constantly ready to evolve, a point Crystal Castles seem determined to prove on their self-titled debut. They come from a heavily retro/electro place in the spectrum, wallowing in bits of debris from the ‘80s: video game bleeps and pixilated sounds found deep in the Casio archive. But it’s all twisted up, prodded past redundancy or homage to a state that feels genuin…

Desperado: The Soundtrack $7.99 All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed….

Kryptonite Evolution Series 4 Standard Bicycle U-Lock with Bracket (4-Inch x 9-Inch) $73.99 Kryptonite Series 4 Evolution U-Locks feature a 14mm, hardened MAX-Performance steel shackle with a double deadbolt design.14mm, hardened MAX-Performance steel shackle with double deadbolt designHigh security disc-style cylinder with more than a million key variations, 2 standard and 1 lighted keyReinforced anti-drill/pull cylinder with center key location and overhead cam locking mechanism$2,250 …

Does the Internet Increase Crime? $32.2 No Synopsis Available

Crime Does Not Pay Archives Volume 1 $36.57 No Synopsis Available

Property Crime $71.7 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles Property crime is a category of crime that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime only involves the taking of money or property, and does not involve force or threat of force against a victim. Although robbery involves taking property, it is classified as a violent crime, as force or threat of force on an individual that is present is involved in contrast to burglary which is typically of an unoccupied dwelling or other unoccupied building. Property crimes are highvolume crimes, with cash, electronics (e.g. televisions), power tools, cameras, and jewelry often targeted. Hot products tend to be items that are concealable, removable, available, valuable, and enjoyable, with an ease of disposal being the most important characteristic. Author: Surhone, Lambert M./ Tennoe, Mariam T./ Henssonow, Susan F. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 76 Publication Date: 2010/12/16 Language: English Dimensions: 9.02 x 5.98 x 0.18 inches

EvidenceBased Crime Prevention $331.37 Crime prevention policy and practice is, on the whole, far from objective. Instead of being based on scientific evidence, the crime policy agenda is seemingly driven by political ideology, anecdotal evidence and programme trends. EvidenceBased Crime Prevention seeks to change this by comprehensively and rigorously assessing the existing scientific knowledge on the effectiveness of crime prevention programmes internationally. Reviewing more than 600 scientific evaluations of programmes intended to prevent crime in settings such as families, schools, labour markets and communities, this book grades programmes on their scientific validity using the scientific methods scale. This collection, which brings together contributions from leading researchers in the field of crime prevention, will provide policymakers, researchers and community leaders with an understandable source of information about what works, what does not work and what is promising in preventing crime. Author: Sherman, L./ Sherman, Lawrence W./ Farrington, David P. Binding Type: Hardcover Number of Pages: 456 Publication Date: 2002/05/10 Language: English Dimensions: 9.50 x 6.36 x 1.29 inches

Crime in Alice Walkers Works $106.74 The book explores the portrayal of crime in Alice Walkers works. It argues that in considering black crime in America especially vis vis crime in general, there are considerations deriving their force from American history, in particular the slave history in America. The definition of morality and crime in the United States of America is a product of the Puritan values of its founding fathers and is therefore, skewed against black people whose enslavement they had to justify with plethora of negative stereotypes for centuries. So insidious are these stereotypes that even the best African American intellectual culture is entangled in the paradoxes and ambiguities of this legacy.Against this background, Alice Walker captures a wide range of crimes in the black community that can easily be construed as stereotypical. Readers interpret with the assumption that because Alice Walker writes these damning stereotypes, she does not believe in them. However, some readers believe them.The book argues that Walker tends to participate in churning out bourgeoisie middle class morality in the projection of African American lifestyle. Author: Mhandu, Edwin Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 108 Publication Date: 2011/02/22 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.02 x 0.26 inches

Crime $138.61 Crime. Criminalization, Occupational crime, Federal crime, Organized crime, Signal crime, Verbal offence, Whitecollar crime, Crime statistics, List of countries by intentional homicide rate, Murder, Rape, United States cities by crime rate, Crime importation, Crime against peace, Crime of apartheid, Genocide, Piracy, History of slavery, War of aggression, War crime Author: Miller, Frederic P./ Vandome, Agnes F./ McBrewster, John Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 210 Publication Date: 2009/10/11 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.01 x 0.48 inches

Mama Does Time By Sharp, Deborah $18.5 Mace Bauer and her sisters, Maddie and Marty, once again come to the aid of their mother when their impeccable, fourtimesmarried Mama, who possesses a true talent for finding trouble, discovers a body in the trunk of her convertible and suddenly becomes the prime suspect in the crime. Original. Author: Sharp, Deborah Series Title: Mace Bauer Mystery Subtitle: A Mace Bauer Mystery Publication Date: 2008/10/01 Number of Pages: 326 Binding Type: Paperback Language: English Depth: 1.00 Width: 5.25 Height: 8.00

N010126680 0.45 Nobody does Revenge like a Woman $43.67 Actors: Aisha Tyler Angus Macfadyen Milla Jovovich Sarah Strange Stephen Dorff Vincent Laresca. Director: Gary Lennon. Format: DVD. Format Size: Widescreen. Runtime: 100 Minutes. Language: English. Region code: Region 1 (United States Canada Bermuda U.S. territories). Discs: 1. Rating: Unrated. Genre: Crime. Subgenre: Drama. Release Year: 2007.

Experiment in Crime by Wylie, Philip [Paperback] $19.46 International smuggling, vicious gangsters, beautiful girls … sparkling, intriguing, outstanding. Phoenix Republic Adventure, suspense, and just good fun. Dallas News Excitement, plot … once started the ball of adventure becomes a rolling stone … the young professor does enough firsthand research in the underworld to satisfy anybody. Chicago Tribune Mr. Wylie meant to entertain, and he succeeds beautifully. Houston Post Author: Wylie, Philip Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 194 Publication Date: 2010/04/22 Language: English Dimensions: 4.99 x 7.99 x 0.44 inches