There are lots of ways in which people can become criminals. There are plenty of reasons why people would want to commit a crime, and many different motivations to resort to criminal acts. It really doesn’t take a bad person to resort to a life of crime, as humans will resort to doing whatever we have to do in order to survive. While some become criminals because they think it is fun to life that lifestyle, most turn to crime because they might have no other choice.
The typical criminal you hear about in the news, or on TV is usually someone who is just desperate. They probably don’t want to go to jail, or have to mess up someone else’s life in order to get ahead, but they might feel like they have no other option. Maybe they have to have money to make a house payment, or feel like they have to have things for their kids. Maybe it isn’t something they ever thought would be the way out, but it provides for others.
Some people become criminals because they have to feed some sort of addiction. You don’t just get money for drugs from your mother, and you don’t just forget to pay those who provide you drugs. You have to take what you want in order to get it, and if you can’t just get it, you might have to take it. If someone is threatening to kill you because you owe them money, you might resort to burglary, or other crimes in order to save your own skin. Sometimes you turn to crime to get away from other criminals.
There are always going to be varying degrees of crime, and there are going to be different types of criminals. Not all criminals are poor, or looking for an easy payday. Some criminals are just greedy, as evidenced by people like Bernie Madoff. His ponzi scheme netted him millions, while others suffered. CEO’s from companies like Enron, and Adelphia prove that some people just will take for the fun of it. What does a CEO need more money for? They just want two granite statues of themselves instead of one.
Criminals might be defending what is important to them. If someone hurt your family, wouldn’t you want to get even if the police couldn’t help? The rush of emotion to get revenge might be more powerful than your sense of calm, and allowing justice to take its course. You might do something illegal because it is logical in a human sense to take justice into your own hands. That is how people did it before there was any type of legal code.
Criminals turn to crime for many reasons. There are a lot of ways that people become criminals. Whether it be greed, revenge, or just trying to stay high, there are many reasons for people turning to crime. You never know who might just wind up in jail someday.
