There are copious factors that come into play when speaking about why people commit crime and what exactly is the crime problem in the United States. U.S. crime problems could be defined as overcrowded jails, repeat offenders, and overloaded court systems that cost the United States billions of dollars annually. Let’s investigate three major reasons why U.S. crime problems are not a result of our failure to get tough on crime. They are the “dark figure” of crimes, drug addiction, and recidivism.
Let’s being with the “dark figure” of crime. Police officers deal directly with very few of the actual crimes occurring in their jurisdiction. White (2007) states, “The NCVS (National Crime Victimization Survey) indicates that only 39 percent of all …show more content…
Victims might fear the police, fear retaliation, suffer from embarrassment, or they just don’t believe the police can accomplish anything. This problem of not reporting crimes to the police even has a name which is the “dark figure” of crime. Therefore, U.S. crime problems are not due to a lack of getting tough on crime. Conversely, it may just be a lack of crimes being reported. Crimes that are never investigated and criminals that are never punished are a real issue. The problem of not reporting such a high percentage of crimes just ends up empowering the criminal and stifling the abilities of criminal justice system.
Secondly, drug use (alcohol, prescription medication, illicit drugs) and crimes caused as a result of drug use or addiction, causes several people to serve lengthy prison sentences. This is a major issue since simply punishing someone for a drug offense is not dealing with issues of addiction. Webster Dictionary defines addiction as “broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful”. Courts can increase fines and the length of prison time all they want, but without specifically addressing the issue of addiction, the root of the …show more content…
faces in regards to recidivism rates. According to Mears (2016), “Recently, for instance, a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) national assessment of recidivism rates among prisoners released from thirty states in 2005 found that, within five years of release, 77% of prisoners were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor, 55% were reconvicted of a new crime, and 28% were sent to prison for a new crime. The three-year levels of recidivism were nearly identical to those reported from a previous BJS assessment undertaken in 2002” (p. 89). As a nation, we have had the war on drugs, removed much of the judge’s discretionary power in sentencing, and mandated specific sentence lengths for specific crimes. None of these changes have put a dent in our extreme recidivism rates. Getting tougher on crime is not going to lower are recidivism rates and certainly is not going to address our nation’s crime problems. According to Mears (2016), “For example, recent studies that employ methodologically rigorous analyses have found little effect of time served on re-offending among juveniles or adults” (p.91). Revisiting drug addiction, one can notice that without dealing with the problem of addiction, recidivism rates are going to continue to remain at an unreasonable level. Providing counseling, job workshops, classes on substance abuse, increasing the use of probation, and legalizing marijuana usage could undoubtedly help the
Let’s being with the “dark figure” of crime. Police officers deal directly with very few of the actual crimes occurring in their jurisdiction. White (2007) states, “The NCVS (National Crime Victimization Survey) indicates that only 39 percent of all …show more content…
Victims might fear the police, fear retaliation, suffer from embarrassment, or they just don’t believe the police can accomplish anything. This problem of not reporting crimes to the police even has a name which is the “dark figure” of crime. Therefore, U.S. crime problems are not due to a lack of getting tough on crime. Conversely, it may just be a lack of crimes being reported. Crimes that are never investigated and criminals that are never punished are a real issue. The problem of not reporting such a high percentage of crimes just ends up empowering the criminal and stifling the abilities of criminal justice system.
Secondly, drug use (alcohol, prescription medication, illicit drugs) and crimes caused as a result of drug use or addiction, causes several people to serve lengthy prison sentences. This is a major issue since simply punishing someone for a drug offense is not dealing with issues of addiction. Webster Dictionary defines addiction as “broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful”. Courts can increase fines and the length of prison time all they want, but without specifically addressing the issue of addiction, the root of the …show more content…
faces in regards to recidivism rates. According to Mears (2016), “Recently, for instance, a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) national assessment of recidivism rates among prisoners released from thirty states in 2005 found that, within five years of release, 77% of prisoners were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor, 55% were reconvicted of a new crime, and 28% were sent to prison for a new crime. The three-year levels of recidivism were nearly identical to those reported from a previous BJS assessment undertaken in 2002” (p. 89). As a nation, we have had the war on drugs, removed much of the judge’s discretionary power in sentencing, and mandated specific sentence lengths for specific crimes. None of these changes have put a dent in our extreme recidivism rates. Getting tougher on crime is not going to lower are recidivism rates and certainly is not going to address our nation’s crime problems. According to Mears (2016), “For example, recent studies that employ methodologically rigorous analyses have found little effect of time served on re-offending among juveniles or adults” (p.91). Revisiting drug addiction, one can notice that without dealing with the problem of addiction, recidivism rates are going to continue to remain at an unreasonable level. Providing counseling, job workshops, classes on substance abuse, increasing the use of probation, and legalizing marijuana usage could undoubtedly help the