Introduction
Crime refers to any act punishable by law. On the other hand violence refers to either animal or human behaviour that poses a threat to cause injury to an intended person. Violent acts may include armed robbery, homicide, forcible rape, aggravated assault as well as gang violence. For an act to be regarded as violent there has to be sanctions against it (Guerra and Knox, 2011). A violent act can therefore be regarded as a form of crime if it is punishable by law.
Major factors of crime and violence
Various factors contribute to crime and they range from cultural values, educational as well as political factors. The interplay of these factors is what causes crime (Melkonyan, 2011). The root causes of crime include poor parenting where you find that a child abused at the family level is likely to become an abuser later in life and thus turning into a criminal. Involvement with peer groups practicing criminal activities may turn one into criminal as in most cases one is likely to be influenced into their bad characters due to associations formed with this criminals.
Social problems like drug abuse may also lead one into crime. An example of crime that can be caused by drug abuse is stealing where one steals to finance his or her bad habits.
Poor educational backgrounds as well as poverty may contribute to crime. This is due to the fact that poor people may be pushed to commit crime in order to raise their standard of living. On the other hand poor education translates to low wages that may push one to crime to raise their wages.
Mass media has also contributed to crime and violence. This is because some programmes have violent scenes which the youth find as cool and thus leading to the youth engaging in violent crimes.
Forms of crimes
The major forms of crime are mainly felonies as well as misdemeanours. Felonies are serious crimes which attract harsh sentences while felonies are less serious crimes that do not attract harsh sentences. Examples of misdemeanours include robbery with violence, homicide, fraud and so on. On the other hand felonies include acts like violating traffic rules, shop lifting and so on.
Measurement of crime
In most countries crime is measured according to the crimes recorded by the police. A case in point is America where they have a UCR (Unified Crime Reports). The FBI receives information about crime from thousands of universities as well as colleges, counties, tribal, state as well as federal law enforcement agencies which is voluntarily. Therefore crime is not measured accurately as not all data pertaining is crime is reported as this is dependent on the willingness of the people to report the cases of crime. Surveys are also carried out but they do not capture the entire population that may have been affected by crime (Reid, 2000).
How I would lower crime rates
In order to combat crime rates, I would focus on the causes of crime. In this case I would ensure the environment is not favourable for committing crime.
Prevention as opposed to treating Crime
There have been various methods suggested for combating crime and mainly imprisonment is the most widely acclaimed method of combating crime. Other methods include a sentence of fines, community service as well as other methods of punishment. These methods of combating crime have been used for a long time and the outcome of the yields is not as expected. Specialists in crime and violence have put these vices in the category of public health such that crime and violence can be controlled as well as reduced like it is done in public health (Tracey, 2011).
According to research most of the violent people are first victims and then they become perpetrator of violence. To ensure that violence is non- existence or minimal, a model should be created to prevent violence. For example campaigns against violence can be held, people should also be counselled on how to manage anger, and jobs could also be created to prevent crimes like stealing in order to sustain one’s livelihood.
Problems Caused by Crime
There are various effects associated with the presence of crime. People feel threatened by insecurity due to crimes like robber, homicide as well as rape. Majority of the victims are either too young or weak to defend themselves so societal demands compel them to be quite about their experiences (Tracey, 2011). The effects as well as personal effect are inclusive of anguish and hurting on communities which means that incidences of crime not only affect individuals but also on the quality of the public space of the community as whole. Crimes that are violence related have an effect on the economy as they drive away prospective investors away who fear for their lives and thus contributing to fewer resources that a country can develop its country (Tracey, 2011).
Conclusion
Violence is a form of crime when it has sanctions placed against as am act to be regarded as crime it has to have sanctions against it. There are various forms of crime that attract different forms of punishment. Crime has negative effects and therefore it has to be combated. The ways in which crime is measured differs but in most cases you find that it is not measured accurately as not all crimes are put on record.
References
Guerra, N.G., & Knox, L. (2011). Violence- Classification, The Causes of Violence, Prevention and Control of Violence.
Melkonyan. A. (2011). Causes of Crime. Web.
Reid, T. Crime and Criminology, 9th Edition. New York: McGraw Hill Company.
Tracey, L. (2011). Addressing Violence and Crime: Prevention is better than Cure. Web.