26 October 2011

Victimless Crime...

Are victimless crimes only hurting the person committing the crime or do you think that society as a whole suffers as well? Should some of these crimes/actions be decriminalized? Thoughts...

16 comments:

Gavin D said...

Is there really such a thing as a victimless crime? I'm not sure. For example, if I decide to go and blow all my money at the casino I might not be able to pay my rent. Then I would be evicted. That puts a drain on my landlord. I would be forced to live in the streets and become a drain on society as well. I would have no place to sleep or eat which would result in losing my job. I realize this is all a stretch but it is entirely possible. Where things get confusing for me is when I think about things like being required to wear a seatbelt or a helmet. Who is the vitim here? Some people might say you are only hurting yourself but I have to wonder if this is always true. What about if you get hurt so bad that you can't work and are forced to live off the state? Clearly there are people who could be afftected by this. Its possible but I wonder how likely.

EmilyPetrozza said...

I believe that victimless crimes not only hurt the person committing the crime, but also society as a whole. No matter what crime is being committed, I believe that there are consequences that come as a result. Like Gavin said, not paying your rent or other bills not only hurts you, but it puts other people in a bad position too. Another victimless crime is prostitution, which directly affects only two people. However, if a prostitute engages in sexual activities and contracts a sexually transmitted disease, this could affect society because it can be spread and cause more illnesses. Overall I believe that there are victimless crimes but they do effect society in an indirect way. I dont think they should be decriminalized because although they are considered victimless, they still are against the law and can effect society negatively.

Munoz10xoxo said...

A victimless crime like you mentioned does in fact only harm the person whom is actually committing the crime. However in many cases that can be argued if you really break it down and dissect it in many ways, which if you think about can be done with just about anything. I believe that examples like prostitution, gambling, vagrancy, illegal drug use, all of those are really self-explanatory in how you can easily see that the crime committed isn’t hurting anything or anyone one a part from the person who is actually doing it. Many may say that illegal drug use could be effecting more than one person and it really shouldn’t be labeled as a victimless crime because if you are using drugs under any circumstances, you really are if you think about it, you could be hurting the people around you, and even more so when the drugs are illegal you could be hurting the person who you got them from if your caught because of the illegal factor. So you see it can go both ways, but as far as it hurting the society as well, that is probably a big factor too, a prostitute getting a sexually transmitted disease, giving it to another person, soon a whole group of people are infected, the society starts to be hurt and so on and so forth.

Gigi Bellettiere said...

I believe that the actions that those who commit victimless crimes are not hurting society but they are hurting the ones that they love and who care for their well being. When a father of a family gambles his paycheck away at a casino, his community and neighbors and society does not feel the consequences that he feels, but his wife and children that must suffer without food do feel the consequences of his actions. I believe that society is not threatened by victimless crimes, but if you are close with someone who does commit these crimes you are a victim as well. Another example would be a prostitute suffering with a disease or infection. If she/he has a girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband they will also be contaminated with the disease. I believe that all of the crimes that are listed as victimless crimes should remain criminalized because I think that it keeps an order within our society, and shows people what is and is not appropriate. If adults do not follow the laws it still leaves an impression on young adults and teenagers who are learning about these laws which overall does make some sort of a difference when these teenagers and young adults develop into adults. It shows them that breaking these laws is a bad thing to do, and that no one should break these laws. It can also show them what severe consequences they can face if they do break these laws.

Sunburn said...

i believe that a victimless crime does hurt other people. if it hurts other people then how can it be considered a victimless crime. theyre obviously victims in the situation whether it be direct ot indirect. like the example that gavin had of the person blowing their money at the casino and not being able to pay the rent. what if this person were to have a family, the victims of this would be his family because they would be thrown onto the streets because of the selfish persons act of blowing their money at the casino. the family would be hurt indirectly.

jbalducci08 said...

I believe that victimless crimes only hurt the person who is commiting the crime. They put themselves in that situation, and they are just hurting themselves. I do not think that society suffers because it is not happeneing to them. It directly hurts the person doing the crime. I do not think that socitey suffers. For example, if a person chooses to illegally gamble. They are choosing put themselves in that postion and gamble and may waste or gain money.

(Wendy) Mei Yang said...

I consider victimless crime not only hurt the person committing the crime but, also society as whole as well. There are always some kinds of punishments if the crime is committed. People does things in many cases that they think they can get away with it. However, those decisions not only hurting themselves, but, it also is a concern in the America because the prison rates are already going higher than other states and is continuing to keep rising. I don’t think these crimes or actions should be decriminalized because there might be more consequences for letting them rejoin society without proper punishments.

Bsisson said...

I believe that victimless crimes in the end hurt both the person it is directly affecting as well as society as a whole. I think this because what the people do in a community and how they act directly effect how the community is judged. This judgement also leads to whether the community will be founded properly, the level of quality of the people that it will attract, and the smoothness of how the community is run. If people do not care about the area they live in and commit victimless crimes they are not only hurting themselves but they are harming the reputation of the society in which they live. It is possible toexperience growth and prosperity in a society if people do not work together and try to create a sound environment for everyone. Victimless crimes certainly do not help this cause, they greatly hinder it.

Nedra Keen said...

I believe that victimless crimes hurt bot the person committing the crime, and also society as a whole. There is always consequences for what people do in society. They say the prostitution is a victimless crime but it actually effects a lot of people. If a prostitute has a disease and has unprotected sex it can go to all the people that they have sex with and the people those people have sex with. This could not be victimless because it could hurt all these other people involved which effects society as a whole.

Erin Murphy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Erin Murphy said...

I don't think victimless crimes are really all that victimless. Yes, it's true that they directly affect the person committing them more than they affect anyone else, but that doesn't mean society is necessarily protected from the consequences of victimless crimes. For example, prostitution seems like a victimless crime on the surface; the prostitutes are the only ones in immediate danger of being assaulted or contracting diseases. However, if they have no other occupation, they are going to continue having sex with other people, passing the disease on to them and whoever else they choose to have sexual contact with. This one person can single handedly spread disease to many people. Another example is people who get addicted to gambling. If that person has a family they can end up spending college funds, vacation funds, money needed for rent or mortgages, and anything else they can get their hands on. The person that commits that crime may be the recipient of anger and resentment, but that family is still left without money to do the things that they need and want to do. Overall, I think that any crime has an impact on society, or at least affects more than one person.

Melissa Brown said...

I believe that society is effected by a victimless crime along with the victim themselves. If someone chooses to commit a crime, even if it only phyically harms the victim, it harms the victims parents mentally. They think, 'what did I do wrong while raising them?' Their friends will think twice about who they become friends with and how their actions will effect others. The victim's family is also effected. Though the degree to which they are effected depends on the degree of the crime committed.

MMckinnon42 said...

I believe that victomless crimes hurt the whole soceity as a whole. Some examples or victimless crimes are prostituion, gambling, and illegal drug use. These hurt the society becasue it usually gives the town and people a bad reputation. No I don't think these crimes should be decriminalized because they bring down socitey. The laws againest victimless crimes should be more strict to the criminals to help prevent thisn happening to socitey. I feel society would be much better if these crimes weren't happening. But you would never know the real answer to that because every society will have their own criminals that perform victimless crimes.

OneManShow said...

i think that no matter what someone is doing, they are affecting someone or something. For example, if someone is a prostitute, you may be hurting yourself, but you can possibly hurt someone like giving them an STD that might eventually kill them. Another example is drug use. If you are high on drugs, you might hurt someone because your head isn't right or if your family sees you constantly high, it might not hurt them physically , but it might hurt them mentally. basically all crime will affect society. "Victim less Crime" is really non existent.

Karan S said...

i believe that a victimless crime can hurt other people. if it does hurts other people, how is a victimless crime to be considered. It can be direct or indirect depending the situation. For example, Someone spent more then he/she earn, then how that person will be able to pay the bills? It does impact anybody living with that person because it is not easy getting by if you are too short on money. If that person was a roomate, then a person who live there will kick that spender who is unable to pay. Where that spender will live? on street? Roomate will be hurt indirectly for kicking that spender out.

KatieMay said...

I do not believe that victimless crimes hurt only the person committing the act, but they also hurt society as a whole. For example: drug use, prostitution, and illegal gambling all can affect more than one person. Drug use can affect multiple people, because the drug user themselves is deteriorating their body, but they can also hurt and disappoint their family by taking part in the drug. Prostitution affects society because the prostitute or whoever is engaging with the prostitute could possibly have an STD which can easily spread from person to person, then affecting society. Illegal gambling can affect multiple people because if you are the head income of your household and you get caught, your family could be put out on the street due to your victimless crime. I think victimless crimes should be punished so the rest of society is not negatively affected.