Frank Trippet's Flaws

In Frank Trippett’s article, he is explaining how people would casually break the law and they wouldn’t even know it. Most of the laws are created so it could protect and nourish society. Trippett uses an informative tone so that it gives the audience facts on what and what not to do with the certain laws that are in place.

In my opinion, people who commit crimes aren’t injurious people, but make wrong choices in themselves. People should rehabilitate the wrong doers instead of punishing them to become more violent. For example, teens make wrong decisions by deciding to hang out with troublemakers. Therefore, teens model what their friends do and eventually become this person they’re not. According to the Russell Simmons article titled, Never Once Have I Imagined My Daughters Ever Going to Prison, he explains that California is spending $62,300 per prison inmate per year, while only $9,200 to educate a child in a child in a K-12 school (1). He finds that crazy on how our priorities focus on creating more prisons than expanding the minds of children. If children don’t gain enough education needed, they would become this troubled kid who failed in life causing more prisons to expand. As stated by Jimmy Santiago Baca in his book titled, The Place to Stand, he says that his father and mother abandoned him and his brother Mieyo (18).

Of course we all know that those who break the law are not just adults, but children as well. However, prior to this discussion I never really thought about delinquency very in depth, which is probably due to the media’s portrayal of delinquency. Although there are some shows on television which highlights delinquency like Scared Straight, I do not think the issue is address as much as it needs to be. If the media did portray delinquency in the correct way, what things do you think would change as far as delinquency? I enjoyed reading your post. I also enjoyed your use of statistics. I think they were a vital part in helping you to prove your point. Great job.

Since the human community has scratched its marks of existence on the face of the world, there remained a need for laws and regulations to maintain peace and order in the society. As humans progressed, these laws obtained a sophisticated visage and began to get documented as an official set of rules that applies to all the people. These regulations primarily devised a code of conduct that elucidated the desirable and undesirable actions and practices within the society. As the rules are set and accepted, the individuals who transgress them are classified under the category of offenders, and they become liable to penalties and punishments (Cole, Smith & DeJong, 2015).

It’ll reduce the thrill of breaking the laws. Teens find it exciting to break the law. Once they start breaking the law, it’ll get them addicted to the thrill of breaking the law. They’re going to want to keep breaking the law just to be cool. (“Reasons”). When they break the law, they think that since other people won’t do it, that it’s going to be cool to break the law and look bad. Most parents should know that almost all kids drink. If they know that their kids drink, why not let them have legally drink at 18, with not having their kids get in jail for drinking under age. (“Age”). For example, why would you go through the trouble if your child drinks and gets caught because they’re not 21 yet, but are in college and over 18 and you have to bail them out? Therefore most college kids aren’t even 21 yet, but are still exposed to alcohol and drink.

As children become teenagers/adolescents, they begin to see the world more realistically. They also begin to see the flaws in the ideas of those of higher authority and therefore begin to question what is right. As a result, they rebel and challenge authority. They also form their own point of views while in the process of finding themselves. Although many youth rebel, not all youth do. Many conform and believe that they must respect the ideals of older generations. Some current examples of youth rebelling include driving fast, breaking curfew, arguing, and shoplifting.

This point discusses what motivates the criminal behavior. This is where one develops their idea on whether the law is “favorable” or “unfavorable” for them.

As trippett mentions, "You're a fool if you obey the rules," this really is the belief of most of the Americans nowaday. People do not feel bad for breaking laws besides criminal laws. There are few of people ever consider the importance, as Trippett conclues, of those "minor" laws. However, I, as one of the "foolish" people in others' eyes, totally agree with Trippett's claim. "Minor" laws are just as important as criminal laws to a society.

Not only this but, “offenders who commit new offenses after court contact are at risk for a variety of poor developmental and life course outcomes, including school failure, out of home placements, occupational marginality, and long-term involvement in criminal activity” (Schwalbe 2004). As seen here, this is a downward spiral. Active reform has never before been at such a demand. As recidivism and juvenile delinquency continues to increase, not only will national crime rates and juvenile prison populations inflate, but the diminishing of an educated, safe, and economically stable society will also be affected regrettably. If juveniles whom continue to commit repeat criminal offenses lack school initiative, family support, and job exposure, than relatively as recidivism and juvenile criminal activity increases, our nation’s standard of living will consequently lower.

The service that provide by the volunteers including me in the Prison Book Program did help address the root causes of the issue at hand. According to researches, people that attend to college and are well educated are less likely to be involve with crimes. Reading and learning can change what you think and how you act.

Teenagers in this society need a better alternative than jail. Teens need an option that is going to help them learn from their mistakes as well as make them better people. We need this because we can make people re-think how teenagers really are along with giving teens a second chance to become someone better. In addition, it is going to help them learn the effects drugs have on the adolescent brain along with how much damage the drugs are causing. Alternatives are also much cheaper than going to jail as well as being much more effective than throwing a teen in jail.

The criminal law system encourages compliance and reduces non-compliance through an array of mechanisms, including situational and social crime prevention along with increasing police powers under the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Amendment Act 2014 (LEPRA). The criminal law appears to be relatively effective in decreasing non-compliance, as the majority of people are law-abiding citizens as they enjoy the liberties and protection that a disciplined society provides. Criminal law may further encourage compliance by punishing violations of the law on behalf of society where individuals fail to comply. However, regardless of the criminal law’s efforts in reducing non-compliance, continuous defilements of the law occur frequently, causing the community to question the effectiveness of the criminal law in encouraging compliance and reducing non-compliance.

How does society expect to help these young individuals to become better for society when the adult prisons fail to take care of them? According to Campaign for Youth, it provides facts that 40% of jails did not provide education services at all and only 11% provided special education services. It shows that a lot of juveniles are not getting a proper education. Education is the key to help these young individuals to earn a second chance when they are released from jail. Most teenagers in an adult prison don’t know how to write or read.

There are more jails than colleges in the US. This means we care more about housing the uneducated than schooling to get educated. The average US prison nowadays is understaffed, overcrowded, and just plain dangerous. The prison system now is to expensive and overcrowded. Peter Wager from the Huffington post mentions drug offenders saying, "Around 50% of all imprisoned prisoners are drug offenders (Wagner)." that’s around 1 million non violent people that are using the taxes and resources of the US. If even half of these people are released that could be billions of dollars saved. If the US were to republish drug crime laws to bring down the expensive, overcrowded prisons in the US.

Numerous people in the world have participated at least in a queue for something in their life. Therefore, this can be seen as one of the laws that have changed our behavior. While the number of people breaking the law might slow down, however, the number will not turn down completely anytime soon. For few people, they might even argue that the law does not alter a person’s behavior. The following essay tries to analyze both view and comes to a conclusion.