Financial Cost of Crime to Society
Introduction
The rising rate of crime is a very serious issue, which cannot be overlooked by any country. The rising rate of crime goes to show that the values instilled in children by their parents have been long forgotten. Each and every day there are numerous instances of crime taking place across the globe, No country is free from crime, it does matter where a person is, he/she is ought to witness a criminal activity be it on a small scale or for that matter on a large scale basis. Small scale crimes include petty crimes like robbery etc on the other hand large scale crimes include murders etc. This paper will throw light upon the financial cost of crime to society and it will also focus upon the implications that the criminal faces after committing the crime. The point of argument in this essay is that crime adversely affects the society in more ways than one and hence the need of the hour is to restrict crime from taking place all across the globe. Crime must be stopped at any cost.
“According to a United Nations report posted by MSNBC, the United States is the leading country in financial loss due to violent crimes; the cost estimated around 45 billion dollars. During a time of recession, this information sheds more light on the impact crime has on our society. Combined with the very real struggle law enforcement agencies face to retain employees and maintain budgets, the report signals a very serious factor degrading our communities.” (US Crime Affects Economy, 11 February 2009).
US lead in terms of the financial loss incurred by a country because of criminal activities. There are so many gangs in the US which operate depending on the area which they are in; many a time gang wars take place to satisfy the egos of the members of various gangs. When a gang war or for that matter a crime takes place, it directly affects the economy of the country, this can be understood by an example, if a gang member attempts to kill a person in US, it will surely damage some property of either public or the private sector resulting in property damage, in addition to this the medical attention given towards the affected person will also be viewed as a financial loss to the economy because it was due to a senseless action, had it been because of a natural disaster then the case would have been different altogether but since it is because of a crime, it will also contribute towards the financial loss incurred by the economy of a country.
Affect of Crime on the Salaries of Professionals
From the above information it is very clear that US suffers the most from the criminal activities within the country. This also affects the salaries of professionals involved in dealing with the criminals. When the crime rate is high in a country, the government will be forced to train and recruit more policemen to deal with the situation and in this case again the country would suffer financial losses because of training and recruiting more policemen than actually required. The whole process of training and recruitment will cost millions of $ and hence the economy of the country will suffer. On the other hand if the crime rate is low in a country, the government need not spend so much on the salaries of policemen and the same money can be utilized to make sure that the economy of the country develops, in other words it can be spent on the welfare of the people. Same is the case with the salaries drawn by judges and other top officials who deal with criminals, higher the rate of crime in a country, the more financial losses the country will face.
Affects of Crime on the person Harmed
A criminal activity changes the life of a person who has been affected by it forever. He/she gets into serious trouble, for instance if the crime committed is an attempt to murder, it may require immediate medical attention which would surely cost a hefty amount of money to the harmed person. So the first aspect is the financial aspect, the harmed person loses a lot of money for no mistake of his/her. The medical attention alone will cost so much that it becomes too much to afford for some people and in addition to it the cost of the medicines required for recovery will also cost the harmed person very dearly. The next important point is the mental balance of the harmed person, after being a victim of a crime like an attempt to murder; the mental balance of the harmed person will change forever. He/she will never be the same person again. Drastic changes in thinking and actions will take place, for instance the harmed person will never be able to eat as peacefully as he/she used to prior to the crime. Another thing is that the person will never be able to get peaceful sleep at night, something or the other will surely disturb the sleep of the harmed person. Because of improper eating habits and lack of sleep the person may fall terribly ill, so the health of the harmed person gets seriously affected after the crime.
The recreational activities of the person will stop for a long time. This can be understood with the help of an example, prior to the crime the harmed person used to go to the theatre to catch up with the new movies, but all changes after the crime, the harmed person will never go to the theatre again fearing the consequences of the same. So another thing which can be clearly made out is that it restricts the free movement of the harmed person. Another big change which usually takes place after a crime is that the harmed person will have to take time off his schedule to meet doctors, counselors, lawyers etc. So this also affects the mind set of that particular individual. The family members of the harmed person also get adversely affected by the same, the mother or the father of the harmed person usually suffer from insomnia which is lack of sleep at night, the same will also have an inevitable effect on their health and they may fall seriously ill. So it can be clearly made out that the life of the harmed person changes ones and for all after the crime and in addition to this, it also adversely affects the family members of the harmed person.
Criminals Perspective
No one is a born criminal and the situation forces an individual to commit a crime, the society is largely responsible for various crimes. People are being forced to commit crimes; it is not happening out of choice but it a compulsion that an individual must carry out. If we look at this from the perspective of a criminal, we will understand the difficulties that a criminal faces day in and day out. Once a crime is committed, that particular individual is not accepted in the society and he/she is isolated, this completely breaks down that person and forces the person to carry on committing more such crimes in the future. Hence the situation must be analyzed in a very neutral manner and the society must be reformed in order to decrease the crime rate all across the globe.
Solution of the problem
There can be many solutions of this particular problem; the best solution is to aim at the transformation of the criminals. Some get transformed when they are punished and this is exactly when they realize that whatever they did was wrong. The effect of punishment differs from person to person. Some individuals may become even more violent when they realize the fact that they are going to be punished. So there is need to study the criminals, psychology is a very important subject and it can be made use of to stop the rising crime rate in the society. Criminals must be studied extensively to find out why exactly they committed the crime and appropriate steps must be taken. The government of all the countries has to take an initiative to try and stop the growing crime rate in the society. The innocent people must never be punished because that makes them even more dangerous than the professional criminals. If an innocent is punished that person looses all the hope in the world and the attention of that person shifts towards the world of crime. Revenge becomes the only motive in his/her life. Hence the government should have a good system of law in order to ensure that no innocent person is punished. When young children commit a crime, the authorities must immediately provide counseling for young children. This will ensure that the young children are transformed for better in the future. These were some solutions that may change the society and the criminals when adopted by the government.
Conclusion
After reading the financial cost of crime to the society and the mental trauma which crime gives to the harmed person and to his/her family, it is highly recommended to stay miles apart from committing a criminal activity. The life of the criminal and the life of the harmed person changes forever and the changes are for worse. The criminal suffers the consequences and bears the brunt of the law. Severe punishments are handed out to those who indulge in serious offences like murders, rapes etc. As far as the life of the harmed person is concerned, the crime changes the whole mind set of the harmed person and restricts him/her from so many things which would not have been restricted had the crime not taken place. So it is highly unadvisable to involve oneself in any criminal activity, staying away from a criminal activity will ensure prosperity and happiness. Now it is for the people to decide what they want, regret or prosperity. Crime must be stopped on all costs.
References
US Crime Affects Economy. In Crime. Suite 101. Web.