Law Abiding Citizen

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That wondrous zeal in people's eyes when they learn about what I do, to me, it never gets old! They ask, and I reply, I'm a criminologist! I study criminology! And then their eyes explode right before saying something like ore baba! Sherlock holmes hoba tumi?

How can I say I am a criminologist even though I'm only a student? Until now, I haven't done anything that would allow me to identify myself as a criminologist? If you ask, It will be a fair question! And my answer would be, it is because this discipline is more of an experience than a genre of study! It's like a prophetic revelation that will make you comprehend everything in a different light! Well, this is valid with almost every discipline of social sciences! These are the study of society as a whole and thus bring a new viewpoint in one's life, to look at it a bit differently than usual! Like that wondrous zeal in people's eyes I was talking about! Most will see curiosity and excitement in it, but I see a harsh fact that people only see excitement in crime, as if it's a positive thing! Because they don't fully understand what crime actually is in the first place!

Crime, in itself, is not entirely definable! If you google The definition of crime, you'll get something that can be lamentably put into words as acts that are deemed criminal in the eyes of the law! But when you divulge a little deeper, it gets much more complicated! A dilettante definition talks only about how and when! But criminological study starts truly at why! So Why does crime occur? For 200 years, social scientists have tried to solve this one intricate piece of the puzzle, trying to explain crime as a sociological phenomenon and none of them quite fully succeeded!

I think only Durkheim's theory of anomie and social disintegration came very close to explaining crime as abstractly as possible! It says that normlessness in society creates anomie, disintegration and so the social clogs start to fail! When society goes through rapid dynamic changes, melting pots start popping up everywhere, it takes away the norms that usually maintain social contracts and keeps them stable. Bored yet? Let me abbreviate in exciting terms!

Let's say Mr. Smith, an entirely law abiding citizen, with no criminal bones in his body, is a perfect gentleman, was walking home towards his home after a hard day of work! His tired senses make him take a shortcut! that narrow street behind his house, which many don't use! The road only has one street lamp and usually is quite desolate! Almost as soon as he walked past that lamp, the light went out, and a veil of darkness engulfed the shole wide empty street! But he is a strong man who isn't scared of the dark, so he quickly gets home! A good night's sleep makes him forget all about that street, and he continues his life as usual! A few days later, when he wakes up in the morning, his wife lets him know that the neighbor's kid was mugged and stabbed by an addict last night, and now he is in the hospital!

In this imaginary scenario, who do you think triggered the crime? If you can understand this, then you know the answer to why. The municipality failed to adequately safeguard its citizens? The junkie who stabbed a kid for chum change? The father and mother who was unable to raise their kid, and so he became a junkie? Or Mr. Smith, who could have filed a report about a broken lamp in the city office? Or even the guy who sold drugs to the addict in the first place?

And now, who did get victimized? The kid who might have to live the rest of his life with one kidney? The parents who will be spending their hard-earned money for their kid's treatment along with his therapy if he needs it and the monetary costs of a lawyer if they decide to press charges? The cursed stigma of being the parent of a junkie son who went to jail? Even the addict himself, who might stay financially unstable, might not get a chance at social reintegration because he is a felon? Or Mr smith, the law abiding citizen, who too had to pay for the incident as the taxes he pays now will be used in the judicial process, which could have helped with his neighborhood development?

And I see no solution to these questions in that wondrous zeal before they label me as a fictional detective whose writer already knew the ending of the story he wrote for mass consumption! It's okay tho, they aren't supposed to know the answers. That way, living is much easier.



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@zayedsakib
Goodreads! You raised some thought-provoking questions!

What is the "mens rea" of the crime? The criminal is so desperate that he didn't think about the "actus reus"
(These are Latin terms, they gradually mean "a guilty mind" and a "guilty act".... If there is a crime there must be a mens rea and actus reus...Described for common people who didn't study criminology)

Jeremy Bentham a profound British scholar has a theory about utilitarianism... His theory afaik goes somewhat like this, that a wrongdoer will weigh his wrong with the pain and pleasure. If he thinks his wrong act(suppose theft) which will liable him for 2 years of prison. But on the other hand, if he succeeds to pull the act without getting caught he will get 50usd for instance.

This theory massively proved wrong and his theory was criticized in the case of the crime "rape"....It proved wrong only limited to this specific crime.

I think in some cases the "mens rea" doesn't think about the consequences ... When a junkie or drug addict is going through withdrawal he will do anything to get a puff/push of his drugs. I know many a drug addicts, seen their daily lives. In my university days I saw my genius talented friends to mug rickshawpullers, to steal from blind beggers and so on.... Though they are students of a reputed public university of Bangladesh.

by the by, where do you study?

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I think in some cases the "mens rea" doesn't think about the consequences ... When a junkie or drug addict is going through withdrawal he will do anything to get a puff/push of his drugs.

And that is exactly why crime is very hard to define!:)

Mens rea and actus rea is very basic and old terms of criminology! And Jeremy Benthams Utilitarianism too! These are all part of classical school of criminology! At that time, in the 18th century, these theories along with lombrosos atavistic stigmata and Caeser baccarias 12 principle were widely accepted. And then modern and postitvist social scientists shaded new lights on crime as a social phenomenon! That chnaged how policy makers view things massively!

Those are thories that paved the path of modern criminology bro.. And if you want to know more, i can suggest you some great books! For starters id suggest freuds 'general intro to psychoanalysis'. Might give you insight into understanding how a psyche im general works!

Im from DU:)

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Law abiding citizens - it's unconvincing slightly. We are the citizen who would be complaining if our road gets flooded with drain water and we're the same people who'd be throwing polythene in the drain to create the blockage... we'll be causing the problems and the ruckus for the problems. Looks like a chain of things happening

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A snake eating its tail, but the problem lies within the reason why it actually started eating its tail im the first place!! Sound over dramatic, i know, but thats how it is! That is why Durkheim got it right, more so than any one else!

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Ouroboros right? You're right we never wonder why the snake started feeding on itself

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