Adonis Diaries

Criminal Conditions (February 16, 2009)

            In critical situations of death (suicide or killing others) two main conditions have to exist.  The first basic condition is a physical material one (health problems or financial miseries, or both).  The second complementary condition is an idealistic spiritual motivator (revenge, dignity, freedom, and so forth).  As the material condition persists in being bad then the spiritual factor develop in focus, in target, and in planning.  Committing a crime is not easy at all because you need a network of supporting elements; you need the arm, the close friends’ network, the social and cultural environments, and you need the target to be frequently available.  Even what we always label as “crazies” need a support system to carry out their crime.

The spiritual motivator always comes in second in the chronology of a crime but it quickly takes a life of its own and over shadow the fundamental source of the germinating idea.  There is this special case where the criminal is dirty rich and yet commit crimes; but we always forget to dig a little in his past before he became rich and how he started his trip to riches, and how he built his support system.

            There are ways to deflect the soaring spiritual emotion.  First, the material condition is altered temporarily and the second factor is temporarily slowed down on its track because it failed to gel in focus and target.  Second, the material base is not changed but the spiritual motivator is redirected to financial crimes.  Third, the supporting environment and elements are altered in recognition of the danger and a heightened climate of vigilance may deter a criminal plan.

            It really takes a little to change the material condition to deflect the whole process.  The potential criminal can be encouraged to ask or “knock on doors” and is shown the techniques for demanding the basic necessities for physical survival, mainly finding a decent and feasible job. The potential criminal can be treated for his recurring health problems that are not fictitious; though many of these health problems could be a fiction of the imagination for lack of a yearly thorough general examination caused by a deficient preventive health system to all the citizens.

            It really takes a little to change the supporting environmental/social conditions to deflect a crime in the planning stage.  Removing one of the numerous elements or tools in the supporting network can deviate a criminal act.  Benevolent or charitable support groups can play a catalyst for behavioral change.  A community in a town or district can shoulder many responsibilities when decently funded for social activities.

            It really takes a lot to de-focus a planned criminal act once it gelled in specific targets and means.  They say human is forgetful and that is why he manages to survive all the traumas. The fact is, even when the far advanced “spiritual factor” has been tamed, it only takes a simple cue in this tumultuous life to re-activate a matured plan.

            I might have been describing individual cases but it easily extends to genocide of whole peoples like the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, the Lebanese, the Iraqis, the Afghanistanis, and all the people who have been subjugated to miseries and apartheid policies.  This is a reminder that the West should not be surprised for revenge activities for a long time, activities that would be labeled “terrorists”.

Police inspectors and investigators in criminal acts have mapped a coherent taxonomy for “individual crimes”. Social and human sciences lack coherent taxonomies for social crimes that reporters and media businesses need to know and learn in their coverage of their “bad news”.  It is up to the audio-visual reporters in the front line to taking seriously their jobs in order for society to be exposed to the fundamentals of criminal behaviors and the many facets and conditions of criminal activities.