Why People Commit Crime: Overview

Tyler Hertz CRJ 308 10. 28. 2012 Why People Commit Crime How do people define crime? Some might define crime as an act of offence towards the morality of humans. Others might regard crime as an act that harms the universal human rights. In my perspectives, I think that crime is an offence made towards the law. Therefore, why do people still commit crimes? There are many reasons why people may commit crimes and it depends on the type of person they are. Many people will commit a crime everyday whether it be speeding, J-walking, or in some cases, theft and murder.
Some crimes are easy to commit and that’s why I think people commit them. I also, refer to the Routine Activities theory. This theory, I believe, does a great job on explaining why people commit most crimes. It says that in order for a crime to be committed three things must have to occur and those being; a motivated offender, lack of a capable guardian, and suitable target. Why I think this does a good job in explain why people commit a crime is because it goes into detail about all aspects that involve a crime taking place.
Take speeding for example, a person who is in a hurry will speed; this makes them the motivated offender. Next, for this crime to take place there must be a suitable target and this could be any road that is not congested by traffic. Last, we have the lack of a capable guardian and this is an obvious one, it would be not visible Law Enforcement officers on the highway. If all these are possible a person can and most likely will speed. Speeding is not really considered by most to be a really crime but, more of a criminal act.

I just wanted to show how that theory can explain most types of crimes and it will work even for other crimes. I believe there is a huge difference between a crime and a criminal act. I believe a crime to be something that causes harm to others. Speeding, although can, does not usually cause any harm to others, this is what I consider a criminal act. A crime would be something like assault or theft. Theft does not cause physical harm but, finaical and emotional harm to the victims. Why do people do it?
Another reason I believe people commit crimes is because of greed. Greed is the wanting to lead a luxurious life or even to own something that is beyond one’s financial budget. For example, a person of moderate income would like to own an expensive plasma television which the price is beyond his budget. However, his greed prompts him to own that item by either stealing money to purchase it or to steal the item itself. When the person gets caught by any law enforcer, the person will be charged in court for committing a crime.
To steal to fulfill one’s desire to own an item which one understands that it is beyond his financial budget is committing a crime by the cause of greed. This, in my view, shows that people commit crimes for selfish reason. In conclusion, I believe that most people will commit a crime either because they can and it is easy or because they have the selfish vision of living a life they cannot afford to live so they will do anything they can to achieve it, even if that means breaking the law and causing harm to others.