Posted: February 14th, 2023

Social Regularities and Criminal Behavior

Social Regularities and Criminal Behavior
Controls in Place
The controls in society that guarantee adherence to the patterns include laws and regulations. Laws are essential in creating order in society by controlling behavior. In the absence of laws, society will sink into anarchy (Maxfield & Babbie, 2014). For instance, laws and regulations are critical in ensuring people do not behave in unexpected ways. Laws governing the behavior of people prohibit stealing, trespassing, and violence. It calls upon people to behave in a specific manner according to the standards laid out by the law. Social regularities, norms, and beliefs provide controls to limit people’s behavior to acceptable standards (Maxfield & Babbie, 2014). Society can live in peace when people adhere to the controls. Individuals can enjoy peaceful co-existence in society when everyone abides by social rules and regulations. The norms prescribe the standard and acceptable behavior of people in society. The controls are critical in promoting adherence to acceptable behavior patterns (Askew & Salinas, 2019). It is the security agencies’ role to ensure the society is aware of the existing controls and how to abide by them. The dynamics are critical in controlling the behavior of society.
Criminal Behavior
Criminal behavior does not exhibit similar patterns in society. The patterns depend on the society and the type of crime. For instance, felonies and delinquencies present diverse criminal behavior. Another major difference is between the people involved in major criminal activities such as organized crime and minor crime (Maxfield & Babbie, 2014). Robbery and theft with violence are critical since they present some unique dynamics in society. Another determinant of criminal behavior is the location. For example, people committing a crime in urban areas have different criminal behavior, unlike those in the slums. Another important factor is the social status of the people living in a specific area (Maxfield & Babbie, 2014). Developed regions with people earning high incomes can experience a safe environment. Crime patterns vary across societies due to the various crime dynamics and the risks that lead to crime. It is the government and security agencies’ responsibility to develop qualities measure to control the negative behaviors (Besemer et al., 2017). The criminal behavior of the people requires intervention by government agencies to eliminate negative tendencies. It is the role of the government to embrace proactive measures to reduce criminal behaviors. The proactive approaches are critical in limiting criminal behavior to control the behavior of people.
Criminal Offenders and Law-abiding Persons
Criminal offenders possess few controls, unlike law-abiding citizens. Offenders lack the control measures that would prevent criminal activities from occurring. For example, theft cases and robbery indicate a lack of controls that can undermine society’s security (Maxfield & Babbie, 2014). On the other hand, law-abiding citizens have a resolve to ensure they always control their behavior. The law-abiding citizens are not involved in criminal activities, and thus they have better control of the situations. The determining factors are that law-abiding citizens strive to adhere to the regulations in place (Mestre-Bach et al., 2020). The citizens determine to abide by the law irrespective of the challenge they experience in their life. On the other hand, criminal offenders decide to interfere with other people’s life and property. A study of criminal offenders and law-abiding citizens is essential in developing quality controls to prevent negative behavior such as robbery, violence, and theft.

References
Askew, R., & Salinas, M. (2019). Status, stigma and stereotype: How drug takers and drug suppliers avoid negative labelling by virtue of their ‘conventional’and ‘law-abiding’lives. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 19(3), 311-327.
Besemer, S., Ahmad, S. I., Hinshaw, S. P., & Farrington, D. P. (2017). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the intergenerational transmission of criminal behavior. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 37, 161-178.
Maxfield, M. G., & Babbie, E. R. (2014). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology (5th Ed.). Cengage Learning.
Mestre-Bach, G., Granero, R., Vintró-Alcaraz, C., Juvé-Segura, G., Marimon-Escudero, M., Rivas-Pérez, S., … & Moragas, L. (2020). Youth and gambling disorder: What about criminal behavior?. Addictive Behaviors, 106684.