University of Maryland Mental Disorders Among Criminal Offenders Discussion

Our discussion boards requires I review and comment on two classmates discussion board.

Discussion 1:

All of the factors that we discussed during this week are extremely important when it comes to analyzing the causes of crime. I personally believe that mental stability has a bigger role in a person’s propensity to commit crime compared to other factors, this is because mental health controls our daily lives and every action we take. Unlike religion or social class, a person’s mental health is with them all the time even when they are alone, not taking mental stability during a criminal investigation would be a horrible thing to do.

Mental stability dictates how we react to specific situations, relations with other people, even sounds, and images. Not being mentally stable can make this behavior more erratic and uncontrollable, the worst part about this is that the person with the mental instability might not realize why they are committing those actions, they just assume that this behavior feels natural at that specific time. New research suggests that patients with mental illness may be more prone to violence if they do not receive adequate treatment. (Ghiasi, 2020)

Taking care of our mental health is extremely important, but also important is to ensure that those people that don’t have the same opportunities that we do also have access to help. Counseling, therapy, or any way for the person in need to identify their illness and how to have better control over their actions will be extremely helpful in deterring crime.

References

Ghiasi, N. (2020, June 23). Psychiatric Illness And Criminality – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. . https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537064/

Peay, Jill (2012) Mentally disordered offenders, mental health and crime. In: Maguire, Mike, Morgan, Rod and Reiner, Robert, (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 496-528. ISBN 9780199590278

Discussion 2:

After reading and analyzing the different factors that affect the crime rate, I think social class is a factor that really influences to commit a crime. I think this is a very complicated and sensitive topic, but I also think that social class does affect the crime rate. As we discussed in previous weeks, Social Control and social disorganization are some of the theories that criminologists use to study crime, and social class is tied to it. I honestly think that social class plays a big role in the crime rates; an example could be a father or mother with basic education and with low income recur to crime such as theft to support their family. According to Wright and his colleagues: “people in lower social classes experienced lower educational and occupational goals and more financial strain, aggression, and alienation, which in turn increase delinquency.”

Furthermore, individuals raised in a high criminal community and lower-income class can learn the behavior they experience during their childhood and eventually commit a crime. Social class not only shapes the type of crime one can commit but also influences the likelihood of apprehension and severity of punishment. This means that in most cases, there is not equal treatment when dealing with different social classes. Social class can impact our people in many ways; for example, education level, income, job opportunities, and other important elements. I think we need to do a better job supporting our communities to minimize the crime rate and because our kids are the future of our country, and they desire a better life and options.

Costelloe, M. & Michalowski, R. (2009). Social class and crime. In J. M. Miller 21st Century criminology: A reference handbook (pp. 153-161). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412971997.n19

Schreck, C. & Hirschi, T. (2009). Social control theory. In J. M. Miller 21st Century criminology: A reference handbook (pp. 305-311). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412971997.n35