When someone unleashes a seemingly incomprehensible amount of rage upon innocent civilians – as seen in the recent Virginia Tech killings – there is one question everyone seems to ask: “What would motivate someone to do such a thing.” The problem is that this question often leads people to try to “de-motivate” criminals, which is simply not a realistic objective.
After focusing for nearly 100 years on the unrealistic task of de-motivating the offender, the field of criminology was given a reprieve in 1979 when Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson developed the “Routine Activities” theory of crime. This theory shifted the emphasis from the motivated offender to a) the suitable target of crime, and b) the capable guardian against crime.
Cohen and Felson assumed that in any society at any time there would be no shortage of people “motivated” to commit crimes. By treating the “motivated offender” as a constant they were shifting emphasis to two variables, which can vary wildly across time and geographical location. And they also provide the best explanation for the necessity of firearms ownership by responsible citizens.
Since the “suitable target” and “capable guardian” concepts are undoubtedly unfamiliar to most readers, I would suggest that we indulge in a creative exercise. It starts with the reader imagining he is a motivated offender – specifically, one who is motivated to commit the crime of burglary in a typical residential neighborhood in the year 1957.
If you take a few minutes to imagine you are “casing” a residence – that is, looking inside before entering – you will notice something interesting: There are few suitable targets inside.
All of the valuables inside the average 1950s home were simply too bulky for the average burglar to steal by himself. The television (there was probably only one), the radio, and the stereo system (probably a turntable connected to a receiver and two big speakers) were all many times heavier than they are today.
But there is something else the would-be 1957 burglar would see upon looking in the house: A housewife, or, in other words, a capable guardian.
Imagine further that due to the absence of suitable (i.e., light and expensive) targets and the presence of the capable guardian you delay your burglary attempt until 2007, though your motivation has never waned.
In the process of “casing” the average 2007 home, you see something very different. The television (now there are several), radio, and stereo got a whole lot lighter. And there are all kinds of new, light, portable, and expensive goodies to steal (laptops, DVD players, iPods, etc.). They all go by the same name: Suitable targets.
And, of course, you probably notice something else: Mrs. Cunningham isn’t home. In other words, there is no capable guardian standing in your way.
Property crimes have not increased dramatically in the last 50 years because of some magic increase in the number of evil people who are motivated to commit crimes like burglary. The motivated offenders have always been there. It’s just easier today to do what they have always wanted to do.
The story is no different with regard to violent crime. Today, we live in a society that is more densely populated than it was fifty years ago. Furthermore, the percentage of people living in urban as opposed to rural areas has dramatically increased. That means the motivated rapist (or murderer or mugger) has access to more suitable targets than ever before.
And, needless to say, the fact that people delay marriage and frequent bars and shopping malls in greater number means they are in greater peril. While the number of suitable targets has been rising, capable guardians have been disappearing.
Our nation’s colleges have long been a safe haven for criminals because they are areas with a heavy concentration of suitable targets for violent crime. The campuses keep growing as a larger percentage of the population now sees the necessity of getting a college education. And the freshmen classes who are getting away from the guardianship of mom and dad for the first time are classes mostly comprised of young women.
The University of Utah is one of a minority of schools that realizes there is one way to turn suitable targets into unsuitable targets for violence: Let them carry guns on campus. And other schools like The University of South Carolina and other colleges in that state may soon follow suit.
City College of San Francisco, on the other hand, is taking a different approach. They not only plan to keep their students unarmed but also their campus police. In fact, the school recently lost a police chief who resigned in frustration after someone stormed the campus threatening to kill innocent students. The man was arrested but only after campus police called in reinforcements from the City of San Francisco.
City College of San Francisco has every right to expend time and resources on teaching and research activity that seeks to understand and reduce the motivation of those who seek to harm us. They may ask the question “why do killers hate us?” They may even seek to sooth the killer’s inner child.
But the motivation to harm others can never be extinguished from the depths of the human soul. One can only keep the harmful at a safe distance with a loaded gun.
.
Mike S. Adams was born in Columbus, Mississippi on October 30, 1964. While a student at Clear Lake High School in Houston, TX, his team won the state 5A soccer championship. Mike Adams graduated from C.L.H.S. in 1983 with a 1.8 GPA. Mike Adams was ranked 734 among a class of 740, largely as a result of flunking English all four years of high school. After obtaining an Associate's degree in psychology from San Jacinto College, Mike Adams moved on to Mississippi State University where he joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity. While living in the fraternity house, his GPA rose to 3.4, allowing him to finish his B.A., and then to pursue a Master's in Psychology. In 1990, Mike Adams turned down a chance to pursue a PhD in psychology from the University of Georgia, opting instead to remain at Mississippi State to study Sociology/Criminology. This decision was made entirely on the basis of his reluctance to quit his night job as member of a musical duo. Playing music in bars and at fraternity parties and weddings financed his education. Mike Adams also played for free beer.
.
Upon getting his doctorate in 1993, Adams, then an atheist and a Democrat, was hired by UNC-Wilmington to teach in the criminal justice program. A few years later, Adams abandoned his atheism and also became a Republican. He also nearly abandoned teaching when he took a one-year leave of absence to study law at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1998. After returning to teach at UNC-Wilmington, Adams won the Faculty Member of the Year award (issued by the Office of the Dean of Students) for the second time in 2000.
.
After his involvement in a well publicized free speech controversy in the wake of the 911 terror attacks, Adams became a vocal critic of the diversity movement in academia. After making appearances on shows like Hannity and Colmes, the O'Reilly Factor, and Scarborough Country, Adams was asked to write a column for Townhall.com.
.
Today Mike Adams enjoys the privilege of expressing himself both as a teacher and a writer. Mike Adams is also an avid hunter and reader of classic literature. Mike Adams published his first book, Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel, in 2004. His second book, Feminists Say the Darndest Things: A Politically Incorrect Professor Confronts "Womyn" On Campus, was published in 2008.
- Kids Write Obama on Abortion; Obama Misplaces Them - Tuesday January 22, 2013 at 5:15 pm
- Stand For Life - Wednesday January 16, 2013 at 12:44 pm
- Fellowship in the Woodlands - Thursday January 3, 2013 at 1:23 pm
