Theories of Crime
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The idea that the tendency to commit crime can be related to a ratio of net rewards of crime to the net rewards of noncrime, as expressed in the discussion of Wilson and Herrnstein's theory, offers a type of cost-benefit analysis of crime that has long been intuitive in the population. That is, we tend to accept the idea that criminals will commit crimes as long as it pays to do so but that they will not commit crimes when the costs become too high. After all, this is the basis of our penal system, or at last that element of it dedicated to the concept of deterrent. We devise punishments which are intended to convince the criminal--both the one being punished and any future, budding criminals who may be watching--that "crime does not pay" because part of the cost of doing business is to spend large amounts of time in jail. We discuss the deterrent effect of the death penalty as if putting one man to death convinces other would-be murderers not to commit their crime because the same thing will happen to them. Yet, we need to expand our conception of why the criminal commits a crime, and thus of what value these so-called deterrents actually have. The theory offered by Katz should be seen as just such an expansion.The theory of Wilson and Herrnstein sees crime as a "rational choice" made by the criminal, who weighs the pros and cons of his or her actions before undertaking them, considering the costs an benefits and deciding how to behave on the basis of which is greate
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rs associated with gang violence, and Katz shows the totality of the persona assumed by those in gang life, beginning with the essence of being and appearing tough to the socialization processes involved in violence. Katz describes the "devices of toughness" beginning with sunglasses and extending through silence, physical stance, and other elements designed to separate the individual gang member from those around him. All that Katz describes fits the idea of a subculture, a culture with its own language, attitudes, assumptions, rules, norms, and so on, all differing from the norms of the larger society in subtle but effective ways:
These subculturally varied devices for producing a veneer of toughness are all counterveiling commentaries on the image of personal moral openness that is persistently implied in social interaction.
Indeed, as Katz indicates, in this subculture one intent is to appear and be alien:
By developing ways of being alien, adolescents can move positively beyond the negativity of a tough posture without abandoning it and without embracing respectable conventions.
Everything that Katz describes about gang culture shows that the individual involved in gang activity acquires some sense of self and som
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Approximate Word count = 2219
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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