Cruelty In Society Essay, Research Paper
Cruelty in Society
928 words
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People in Tolna county has been recently shocked by a crime comitted by three teenagers. They beat their companion to death. They planned the murder, lured the victim to a desolate place where there was no mercy. They kicked, battered the poor boy with a stick, then with a shovel, afterwards they dragged him into a cellar and began to strangle him with a string. They tortured him for more than a half an hour before he died. The victim often had boasted of his parents’ wealthy situation, consequently the others had burgled their flat. After the first burglery the boy found out who had done it, and managed to get back the half of the money. It was before the second burglery that they planned the murder in order to prevent their being revealed.
This horrible homicide shows some characteristics of violent crime. The victim’s inconsiderate behaviour contributed to his death, by mentionning his parents’ wealth, he made his companions, living in poor condition, envious, their first motive was to get some material goods, then they killed him by fear of exposure. Premeditated murders often are committed by several people who reinforce each others’ inclination to the crime. Crimes against property, such as burglery and robbery, frequently are accompanied by cruelty. Elderly persons may easily become targets and subjects of violence, not only their property but sometimes even their life is taken away. A month ago a 75 years old man was beaten to death in Tolna county for his money, which was not a considerable somme. His wife also suffered some injuries.
Emotional murders are equally numerous in every society. They mainly happen within a family, between parents and children, or husbands and wives, or between lovers. Newspapers are full of this kind of events, surely everybody could mention some cases. In the town of Tolna five years ago a teenaged boy killed his father during their discussion. Two years ago a sixteen years old girl was murdered by her jealous boyfriend. According to an American study, in 1974, 47% of husbands had used physical violence on their wives, and 33% of wives had used violence on their husbands /Gelles 1974/. In 1979, a telephone survey was conducted in the USA in which subjects were asked about their experiences of domestic violence /Nisonoff and Bitman 1979/. 15.5% of the men and 11.3% of the women reported having hit their spouse, 18.6% of the men and 12.7% of the women reported having been hit by their spouse. Daly and Wilson reported that 54% of parent – child murders where the child was under 17 had been committed by the mother in Canada between 1974 and 1983.
What do the statistical data show in Hungary?
Crimes199019931994
homicide and attempted murders320461439
bodily harm
8 10710 32810 761
/ Magyar statisztikai zsebk?nyv ‘94 KSH 1995./
Why do people become sometimes so cruel, why do they use physical aggression? The French philosopher Rousseau’s opinion was that everybody was born with good morals but private ownership corrupted human beings. His Hungarian follover, Csokonai, emphasized in his poem “Az estve” that society is responsible for crimes.Freud reckoned aggression – as well as sexuality – a basic human instinct. Modern psychology refuses this idea and considers aggression the product of bad socialization. Scientists think that it can be learned, aggressive children usually imitate their aggressive parents, aggressive adolescents are in bad relationship with their parents, they cannot discuss their problems with them. The causes of violent crimes are very complex, subjective and objective, crimes are closely connected with economic conditions, social status and education. Media may have a bad influence on potential criminals, action films often represent homicides like simple, easy and fast actions, books and films may give new ideas of crime.
What remedies do society have against violent crimes? Perhaps society would have a greater chance to decrease the number of murders if mental hygiene had a part in the national curriculum. People should be taught to overcome difficulties intelligently, they should be taught how to bear stress without reacting with cruelty. Awareness raising programs on television, radio and in newspapers may also be very useful in prevention, lots of advice can be given to potential victims by experts.Fight against violent crime should be focussed on the criminal investigation. The most essential part of prevention is to block the causes and conditions of crime. Social and economic improvement in society may have beneficial effects. Educational institutions should put more emphasis on the process of socialization. Experts are not agree in the question of death penalty. Some of them think that it is unable to prevent violent crimes, because their number has not decreased considerably. Others, however, think that it may “channel” some people in good direction due to its being the strongest tool of deterrence. An other argument in the favour of the death penalty is that its lack may encourage some individuals to unlawful self judging. In the USA the death penalty was repealed in 1962, but since some states reintroduced it.” Beyond the interest of the society, the offender as its member is also expected to fit into its community and become a law-abiding citizen if the society helps him creating conditions for his improvement.”/Er?szakos b?ncselekm?nyek ?s