Violence! It’s All Around Us
“Ready for immediate release. The Birmingham Police Department reports that at approximately 8:21p.m. this evening , a robbery occurred at Auto Zone, located at 6600 1st Avenue North” (Lieutenant Henry Irby BPD). “Ready for immediate release to date , fifty-seven (57) homicides have been reported in the City of Birmingham during 2006, compared to forty-two (42) at this time in 2005. Homicide #57 occurred on Tuesday, July 11, 2006, at approximately 6:50p.m., at 2716 34th Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama” (Lieutenant Henry Irby BPD).
Robbery, rape, homicide. When is the last time a news reporter could make it through a whole show with out mentioning one of these crimes. The above mentioned quotes were press releases from the Birmingham Police Department. In the first quote pertaining to the robbery both the officer and one of the two suspects were shot. In the homicide the deceased had been stabbed in his own home. Violence is all around us, and is still a growing problem; but how big of a problem? Who are the offenders? Who are the victims? What causes it? And, What can be done about it? These are important questions without immediate or easy answers.
How big of a problem is this is almost a trick question. What information would one use to determine the size of this problem? The number of victims? Or, the number of victims and their family and friends that it directly affect? Or, how about, the number
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of victims, their personal family and friends and their community? This list could grow still with the offender and their family. The possibilities are endless.
Now the question of who the offenders are can be narrowed a little. Law enforcement officials, psychologists, and society at large have been trying for years to document the characteristics of the people guilty...