Technological applications have had an impact on almost all sectors of the economy. The same changes have equally pervaded the area of criminology and criminal behavior in general. Crime has become increasingly complex given the advancement in weaponry. In addition, the juvenile nature of the law on modern forms of crime has made some crimes pass out as legal activities chiefly because of the silence of the law on such like crimes. This makes it difficult in the overall to analyze criminal behavior on the context of weapons technology. The brief of this paper shall be to discuss the impact the emergent weapons have had upon criminal behavior.
It is essential to appreciate the fact that while crime is facilitated highly by the weaponry in place, the fight against crime is equally achieved through the use of weapons mainly by the law enforcement officers. The role of weaponry in criminal behavior can, therefore, be seen as a double hedged sword. Interestingly, only the negatives tend to get audience in most of the literature already out. The advantages of the weaponry in the fight against crime should receive equal illumination if a common societal stand on weaponry is anything to comeby. In understanding the criminal behavior within the context of application of weaponry, it is essential to appreciate the pros and cons of technological applications. Criminals continue to employ technological devices and mechanisms to perpetrate criminal activities in a manner that makes criminal behavior more indirect in nature. In other words, the criminal behavior has become less engaging and confrontational. Instead, the criminals have chosen to employ deceit and pretenses in perpetrating their criminal activities.Moreover, criminals have easily engaged in related activities such as terrorism and drug trafficking thanks to the advancement in the weaponry employed.
Criminal behavior essentially examines the manner in which criminals carry themselves in the execution of their activities. The typical criminal is motivated by the need to succeed in the criminal activity. While theorists have adduced different reasons for the indulgence in crime, the chief reason remains a question answered on a case by case basis; thus the question what really motivates one into crime? However, the criminal behavior for the criminals in the field is almost the same. The behavior of a criminal is premised on a Marxist foundation. This is to say the criminal is out to advance his or her interests and any behavior that would enable him succeed in his or her objective is embraced. In the context of application of modern weaponry, the typical criminal applies technological weaponry to the extent that it can aid in the achievement of the criminal objectives. Therefore, technological weaponry makes and or facilitates the commission of certain crimes and hence influences the behavior of criminals towards certain tendencies. This can be observed clearly in virtual crimes such as cybercrime and related criminal activities. In addition, technological weaponry tends to give more confidence to the typical criminal who believes that he is better equipped and ready to tackle the challenges and barriers to his advances in criminal activities. In other words, suffice it to say that criminal activities are boosted by the application of technological weaponry.
It can be argued that technological applications have complicated crimes. Criminals,in their drive to succeed in their endeavors, have adopted the use of technological weaponry which is considered sophisticated and effective over the older forms of weaponry. This is more common in large, organized crime and terrorist activities. In the United States of America alone, the increase in gun violence is a testament of the application of technology. The relationship between increasing gun violence and criminal activities can be explained by the Strain Theory of crime. According to the Strain Theory, criminals are generally informed and influenced by what happens in their environment. Under the same narrative, it is argued that criminals migrate from a simple context to sophisticated contexts. The complicated nature of the environment compels them to apply more effective and modern technology. Firearms stand out as the most available and abused technological applications. To this extent, it needs to be appreciated that technological weaponry have played a facilitative role. In their efforts to succeed in crime, criminals have adopted firearms, contraband and other forms of technological devices. There has been an increase in activities in crime partly aided by the technological applications in place.
However, the use of firearms is a fairly complicated matter. While the spread of firearm applications remains unexplained, some pointers could be placed towards increased trade and globalization. Criminals have taken advantage of the globalized markets to smuggle in goods including contraband and firearms. In addition, nation states have become less responsible in the manufacture and accountability for thefirearms. The effective nature of firearms such as guns makes their application preferred by the modern criminals. This is because the firearms tend to increase the chances of success due to associated effects of their use. The latter tend to be fatal and the mere brandishing of the same sends fears among the citizenry in turn making the hunting mission a success.
However, with the emergence of weaponry, the typical criminal has shied away from confrontational crime. The typical criminal now prefers engaging in passive rather than active criminal activities with the increased application of weapon technology. Active crime is more confrontational and involves the physical interaction of the criminal and his victims. On the other hand, passive crime involves indulgence in crime from a virtual location where criminals and their victims hardly interact at a physical level. The latter mode of crime tends to find preference among the modern criminals. Criminals perceive virtual criminal activities as being more secure, less risky and more rewarding. This is buoyed by the general state of ignorance among the populace. Most of the victims of cybercrime and related activities are often conned out of ignorance of the mechanisms of operations. The situation is further compounded by the fact that the laws in most of the jurisdictions are tenuous and incomplete in areas of cybercrimes and related laws. The criminal justice departments are also less equipped and trained on how to go about solving crimes of a virtual nature. This set of factors has led to the changes in trends in criminal behavior.
Criminals have taken their activities to the virtual world and are reaping millions in stolen money through fraud, extortion and related criminal activities. It remains to be seen how the system can work to contain the ever increasing cases of cybercrime. Criminals take advantage of the loopholes in the systems coupled by the state of ignorance of the citizenry and end up perpetrating criminal activities that may go unnoticed. Exactly how has criminal behavior changed with the shift from physical to virtual criminal activities? One outstanding area of change relates to the application of the mental capacities. The latter form of crime requires deeper mental competencies and abilities. The criminals that survive and thrive in the market do employ ingenious methods that deceive their victims and law enforcement officers. In many cases, law enforcement officers have fallen through the traps setup to confuse them. The highly technical applications used in executing criminal activities ensure that the criminals leave no traces for detection and consequential investigation. Further, the virtual nature makes the execution of the crime possible from a remote location.
Within the same strain are the increased cyber-terrorism activities. These relate to criminal activities perpetrated by terrorists at international levels. Most of these crimes are manifested in the attacks of systems such as transportation networks, military systems, and school networks, among others. This form of criminal behavior is motivated by the need to sabotage the systems in the process causing confusion and instabilities. The consequential confusion that emerges is then taken advantage of by the terrorists to commit other heinous crimes. It should be appreciated that criminal behavior assumes this trajectory out of the technological convenience. In overall what this has impacted is an increase in overt methods of attack where the war is left to the virtual corridors. The consequential investigation and detection becomes equally difficult given the little to no evidence left during the execution of the virtual attacks.
However, in general it is equally appreciated that while technological weaponry has facilitated crime and occasioned cunningness, resilience and tactful behavior among the criminals, the situation has also been dicey on their part. This is because technological weaponry and devices have been embraced in bids to combat and in some cases completely eliminate criminal activities. In addition, technological applications have made it easier to trace down criminals, observe and study others and even track property that has been stolen by the said criminals. This trajectory of affairs has occasioned in the modern criminal a cautious approach to criminal activity. Engaging in crime has no longer become a trial and error activity. The high degree of precision required lest one gets caught has in some cases slowed the criminal from indulging in crime. In addition, the level of specificity required for the crime to be successfully perpetrated un-apprehended has made the weaker parties chicken out of the process. Crime has been left for the talented few who are able to cheat their way in the system without being caught up. Despite their cunningness and agility, it has been difficult to evade elaborate systems put in place to aid in their detection and pursuit. Some of the newer technological challenges facing criminals today include the CCTV camera systems, the screening systems in public places, the metal detectors and scanners, among others. The technology make the criminals behave in a slackened manner and are more laid back in efforts to evade being captured in the systems.
On the flipside, it can also be argued that the same weaponry and technological devices have created a sense of dependence by law enforcement officers. This has in turn boosted the confidence of the criminals. The strategy typically adopted entails the sabotage of the technological systems. Upon complete and successful sabotage of the system, the law enforcement is unable to respond to attack and emergency situations giving the criminals a field day in their engagements. This approach imbues in the criminals a sense of false confidence which is often misleading whenever the system sabotage fails. It can be argued thus that the application of technological weapons is fatal on the party whose weaponry fails.
It is difficult is analyze the impact of weapons technology on the criminal behavior. This is because criminal behavior is not easily observable. Criminals operate behind the scenes and generally strike when least expected. However, the question is considered in the context how the technological weapons facilitate the criminal activities of the criminals. Criminal behavior is equally a dynamic characteristic that is influenced by a number of factors. It is not accurate to connect criminal behavior to the technological weaponry only. This is because this relationship does not exist in a vacuum. On the contrary, criminal behavior is influenced by other essential factors such as the social setups, the economic conditions precedent, the nature of law, the criminal justice systems, among others. That notwithstanding, this paper appreciates the role technological weaponry has on the overall behavior of the criminal. It is this paper’s postulation that the criminal is confident, risk taking and resilient given the opportunities modern weaponry avail to him. However, within the same strain, the same weaponry imposes on him a degree of precision, the need for calculated moves and the need for caution. Given the foregoing, it remains difficult to observe whether the modern weaponry has a positive or negative effect on criminal behavior.
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