300 words agree or disagree to each questions

Q1.

My working title proposal (pending this gets approved and I understood this correctly) is the following:

“An examination of who commits the crime of shoplifting and why.”

The reason I chose this topic to explore is during my research, I came across a peer reviewed article that really focused on how retailers such as Wal-Mart, Aber-Crombie and Fitch, and many other retail chains use their own form of punishment for shoplifters by hiring private companies to punish shoplifters instead of turning the shoplifter over to the police. Basically, what happens is a shoplifter gets caught by the store, they get turned over to the private company instead of the police, and the private company receives a monetary payment in exchange for them not pressing charges against the individual. In the article, it continues to talk about the moral ethics of this form of “blackmail” and if this should even be condoned. It also goes into detail that retailers have started utilizing these private companies to extract their own form of punishment because it feels that many perpetrators do not actually get punished. “Most shoplifters evade detection and many who fail are never formally punished. For decades, retailers battling theft have relied on a mixture of law enforcement and self-help, sending some suspected shoplifters to the station house and others to the street. Recently, a third option has emerged, raising basic questions about the interplay between public and private forces in American criminal justice”   (Rappaport, 2018, p. 2260).

With that said, I found myself thinking about the perpetrators of these crimes and what factors drove them to commit this crime. For example, what life situation or influence or whatever caused them to commit the crime of shoplifting. I essentially veered my thinking away from the main point of the article and just started focusing on the cause and effect of why the perpetrator committed the crime. Was it poor financial issues and tried to shoplift food just to eat? Or was it just that they really wanted new clothes and didn’t want to spend the money on them? Or if it was new clothes, was it because they desperately needed it? All of these questions just started filling my brain and I began asking myself the “Who, what, when, where, and why” of what causes an individual to shoplift. 

The article does mention this briefly in a paragraph but not much is done to explore this cause and effect relationship. It even specifically states that the cause is hard to determine.  “It is difficult to determine, at any point in history, who is shoplifting and how much” (Rappaport, 2018, p. 2260).

I believe that by using different methods to explore what causes people to shoplift would help shed new light on the specific causes that lead to somebody shoplifting and possibly what methods could be used to help prevent it in the future. 

I look forward to any recommendations or corrections pertaining to this topic.

References:

Rappaport, J. (2018). CRIMINAL JUSTICE, INC. Columbia Law Review, 118(8), 2251-2322.                                          Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/2165623896

Q2.

I would like my research proposal to be in “Social Class and its relation to Crime,” pending its approval. I was not able to find a decent report fewer than five years for this topic, so I may have to change it. I am not sure if it is just me but I am finding it difficult to understand the topic and literature selection and what is required. Any guidance is appreciated.

I have identified that there may be a different result in the effects of social class and crime in the adult population. Recent research concluded that the lower class tends to have the highest rate of crime (anyone that has come from these kinds of neighborhoods can attest to its truth, as can I). It is interesting to learn that there has been a failure in these kinds of study, in that the adult population was not studied (Dunaway, Cullen, Burton, & Evans, 2000). It was my understanding that social class as it relates to crimes was examined throughout all ages and crimes, and not limited primarily to one group. How can we understand if social classes have any effect on criminal activity if not all variables have been tested?

Additionally, there has been a continuing effort to disprove the myth in the relationship between class and crime that does not exist (Dunaway et al., 2000). Criminologist has shown that social class does affect crime under certain conditions (Dunaway et al., 2000). A rebuttal to this tries to explain that the self-report data comes from high school samples (Dunaway et al., 2000). An exact representation of the social class as it relates to crime is not accurately quantified when the majority of studies and research are conducted with juveniles and their surroundings. To better access how class impacts crime, all ages, neighborhoods, and all types of crime should be analyzed. 

Dunaway et al. (2000) pointed out that another data has been overlooked from social class and crime; the effects of class within racial groups. Data showed that class does influence criminal participation in non-whites (Dunaway et al., 2000). Similarly, other studies suggest a theory that exists in that class affects crime in males than it does in females (Dunaway et al., 2000). Personal income has a significant effect on crimes committed by males but not on females (Dunaway et al., 2000). Regardless, all variables should be taken into consideration for a better understanding. 

Dunaway et al. (2000) found that social class and the general adult population are weakly related in self-reported criminality. However, there is proof that suggests a connection is identified by race and the type of crime (Dunaway et al., 2000).

I believe there still needs to be ample research from various people to get a satisfactory interpretation of the class and crime data. Besides the government, law enforcement, criminologist, and educators, I think that the main people that can benefit from this type of data is all the citizens. The information can better prepare people when they are looking to move to a different neighborhood, as many like to research the area and its crime rates. It can also be beneficial to how State legislature will go forward in combating the problem and safeguarding its neighborhood and citizens. 

Studies show the product of research, but it is not to say that only men commit crimes because that would be a lie. As well as only non-white commit crimes, because that is also another lie. There are many factors to lead to someone to break the law and commit a crime, but having a better understanding of what those factors are, can potentially reduce criminal activity. 

Have a blessed week,

Nohemy

Reference

Dunaway, R., Cullen, F., Burton, V., & Evans, T. (2000). The myth of social class and crime revisited: An examination of class and adult criminality. Criminology, 38(2), 589–632. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2000.tb00900.x