What keeps people from committing crimes?

[DallasApple]

For me I have absolutely no desire / urge or reason to murder or attack someone.(if you don't count the times I have thrown a shoe or a telephone at my husbands head)...

Actually I did fantasize one time about beating the bloody pulp out of the woman my husband had a fling with..I had it all figured out in my head..But I never took one step or any action in living out this fantasy..What stopped me?..I knew that I was kidding myself that it would make me feel any better..In fact I knew I would just feel evil if I did something like that..

Love

Dallas

[Heneni]

The fear of the unknown stops people from commiting crimes. Its the same reason why others commit crimes, its all they know.

Heneni

[Seyorni]

Murder, I've heard, has a low recidivism rate, and is usually a one-time crime of passion.
Theft and robbery, on the other hand, are often lifestyles.
Some people are raised in a criminal culture and don't know how to conduct themselves in normal society. Others have neurotransmitter deficiencies that require more intense stimulation than normal to feel pleasure, eg: military "service", extreme sports -- or armed robbery.

[stephenw]

Originally Posted by DallasApple

Actually I did fantasize one time about beating the bloody pulp out of the woman my husband had a fling with..I had it all figured out in my head..But I never took one step or any action in living out this fantasy..What stopped me?..I knew that I was kidding myself that it would make me feel any better..In fact I knew I would just feel evil if I did something like that..

Love

Dallas

According to the findings of David Buss, 91% of men and 84% of women have had at least one such vivid fantasy of killing someone.
Buss believes that murder has evolved as a product of evolutionary pressures - a theory of the 'evolved murderous mind'. He believes that murder can, in theory, be prevented 'through a deep understanding of its underlying psychological circuits and designing environments that prevent their activation'. He reckons murder has evolved as one of several contingent strategies for solving particular problems of survival and reproductive competition. He thinks the deterrent effect of a life in prison keeps many people from committing murder.

[DallasApple]

Originally Posted by stephenw

According to the findings of David Buss, 91% of men and 84% of women have had at least one such vivid fantasy of killing someone.
Buss believes that murder has evolved as a product of evolutionary pressures - a theory of the 'evolved murderous mind'. He believes that murder can, in theory, be prevented 'through a deep understanding of its underlying psychological circuits and designing environments that prevent their activation'. He reckons murder has evolved as one of several contingent strategies for solving particular problems of survival and reproductive competition. He thinks the deterrent effect of a life in prison keeps many people from committing murder.

Interesting..Yes I was later reasured that I was not the devil for having these thoughts..That is was normal..After a while I stopped feeling hatred toward her and the fantasy was no fun anymore..

Love

Dallas

[Charity]

Self control, morality and a conscience usually work, keeping people from committing many serious crimes................

[kai]

most people dont commit crime because they have no need to ,or do not feel the need to.

i do not feel the need to steal because i am fortunate enough to be able to buy most things i need,

i do not feel the need to harm someone for no reason because i am fairly mentally stable and i dont let things bother me too much.

I dont rape anyone, again because i do not feel the slightest desire to do so.


punishment or deterence doesnt work unless you feel the inclination to break the law and then think twice about it.


i dont know about morality but i just cant be bothered to break in and steal something. when i can just buy it with a warranty and all.

[Mjolnir]

Originally Posted by Leoben Conoy

Tell that to the hundreds of millions of people killed because of those great people.

I can think of many great people that did not cause killing on a mass scale.

[Random]

Fear keeps ordinary people from comitting crimes. Fear of authority, of incarceration, of shame and material loss.

There was a time when 60% of men died violently @ the hands of other men in this world before the age of 40, and women generally led appalling lives of abuse and terror. Growing old (to about the age of 50, say) was considered unusual, you were "lucky", or very powerful amongst men to be able to recruit other men to protect you...

Ah, the good old days, eh? Anyway...

In modern times, since the dawn of "civilisation" and two-parent families, it has become easier to inculcatate youth to the authority of the political State which, though ironically retaining the right to murder and steal for its own interests, forbids crimes it commits itself to "ordinary" people.

[ChristineES]

One thing I have noticed about the answers on this thread is generalization. What keeps one person from committing a crime will not work with another person. No two people will react the same way.

I feel that if I were to harm someone, it would be the same as harming myself. I have no violent thoughts. It isn't fear that keeps me from stealing- stealing from someone will harm a person. I do get angry at times, but even then I won't harm a person.

The fact is simple- I have absolutely no desire to hurt a person-- whether it be physically, emotionally, or spiritually. I am not saying I have never hurt a person- no one is perfect, but if I did it was not on purpose and even so I was consumed with guilt, even with minor issues.