Crime Myths
A criminal event or sequence of illegal happenings cannot be made to be a myth unless a considerable number of individuals participate in its conversion. Tales created but never told to the public do not become a problem or an offense fable. Crime myths are unique because they are a combination of the environment, societal norms, the political scene, and the economic conditions at a certain point in time. A lawbreaking occurrence that has the capability of turning out to a crime myth at a point in time may not be a credible myth at another moment in time. Myths are created within given circumstances, and those circumstances involve the current tales of crime and justice.
Mythmakers are diversified, and their roles are ever-changing. Crime myths are also dissimilar in their motives and their outcomes. Some tales end up criminalizing certain behaviors, while others are suppressed quietly without any social or political reaction. Some myths serve to fulfill the needs of influential people in society or help a required social event, while others offer no useful social purpose. There is no generalized sociological theory that attempts to break down the creation and the need for all crime myths.
Whether creating the media, societal leaders, private entities, criminal justice system bureaucrats, or a mixture of all the four, the most common portrayal of crime is a myth. Crime waves do not exist. Crime is always fluctuating up and down drastically. The expected image of the typical criminal does not exist. Crime is committed, most times, in the social environment by unarmed persons who are close family, friends, and companions of the victims. The typical crime is also considered a myth.
How an issue is explained is connected to social control systems at the disposal to deal with that issue. The point of missing children in the United States is not an anomaly. This problem has been defined as an epidemic in proportion and criminal. Considering this explanation and perception of the problem, the chosen set of intended actions, the criminalization of any characters associated with missing children, and sexual abuse is the most rational consequence. They are combining runaways with the missing children statistics results in the perception of an epidemic. Putting together sexual abuse and exploitation of infants evokes an undue display of emotions. As a society, we have normalized the issue as an unusual behavior because specific individuals we have decided to refer to as criminals. In a bid to stop this behavior, they have consequently come up with a new categorization of crime and criminals without differentiating the motives and reasoning behind various actions. They have defined missing children in the United States as a legal problem with legal solutions. The crime control theater is an outcome of the undesirable characters; it does not deal with the leading causes of missing children. However, suppose they explained the range of the issue more accurately and came up with a clear understanding of the different types of occurrences that collectively build up the case. In that case, an alternative answer might be found.
To start dealing with missing children, they have to accept the issue and understand that it is a social problem context rather than a legal context. Only then can they start to measures to stop the problem rather than reacting to a situation every other time. The nature of family relationships must be investigated to get an idea and understand why around two million children run from their homes every calendar year. They must also realize that the justice and legal systems, both criminal and civil, are not the remedy for all societal ills.
Flawed logic is more likely to be validated if the audience is afraid and if the reason goes hand in hand with customary beliefs, for example, that no one should be afraid in one’s own house. A recognized disaster, especially one with the power to affect an individual’s safety, brings about public attention. Flawed logic, such as “existing laws are not enough for enforcement” or “the police can control random violence,” give rise to inappropriate responses.
The media and law implementation groups have had a long romantic affair with organized crime myths, especially the Mafia. They have created myths in tv shows and movies and official reports and press briefings of the Mafia as a tightly organized group of Italian-born foreigners heartlessly managed and so closely knit structured that law authorities had little or no hope infiltrating it. Organized crime was so mighty that it compromised innocents by tempting them into doing inappropriate activities. The realities of drug trafficking and international crime are facilitated by broadening the myth to involve other participants; the waning fear of “the Mafia” made it necessary to portray organized crime as a threat to national security. The issue was that the new myths of organized crime hide the reality on the ground.
On the lenient criminal justice system myth, the united states have criminalized behaviors previously considered to be handled outside the criminal justice system. Misdemeanors have resulted in jail time for people who cannot afford bail or fines and have burdened millions with criminal records.
Capital punishment should not be checked on a case-by-case basis to determine if it is a just punishment; it must be examined as a system in totality. Research of wrongful convictions has steadily proved that lawlessness by system functionaries, lying under oath by witnesses, ineffective support of counsel, and inadequate defense facilities are endemic in capital cases. The scholarly proof on the death penalty is clear and indisputable.
Conclusion
The fear of crime, combined with the belief that criminal justice was not corrective enough, brought about a severe sentencing structure that filled prisons far beyond their capacity. Organized crime comprises unofficial, loosely layered, malleable institutions that are more comfortable adjusting to state affairs and economics changes. The status quo stays on the collective’s request for goods and services provided by organized crime. The mythical crime waves distract us from the real, more severe forms of societal dangers that affect more citizens than the most concentrated crimes. Each crime myth has different anatomy, development, discernment, and consequences, all of which need specialized action towards and analysis. This work is founded on diversified views to support its many disputes.
References
Choi, J. (2019). Elaborating differential impact of media exposure on perceptions of police between criminal justice majors and non-criminal justice majors. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 30(4), 567-584.
Hayes, R. M., & Luther, K. (2018). # CrimingWhileWhite: Media’s Construction of the Criminal. In # Crime (pp. 79-121). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Kappeler, V. E., & Potter, G. W. (2017). The mythology of crime and criminal justice. Waveland Press.