In a discussion of neighborhood crime earlier today, an intellectual with a Ph.D. argued that crimes committed by “bored” kids are not as serious as the same crimes committed by “real” criminals. I replied that I am more troubled by crimes committed for their entertainment value than those grounded in more typical criminal motives (such as feeding a drug habit). And I think that if you polled most Americans, they would agree.
If you were walking down the street and got hit over the head, wouldn’t it bother you more if the attacker simply hit you because he was bored than because he wanted your wallet, or hated you for some reason? It would bother me more.
Boredom does not lessen the gravity of a crime, it makes it more serious. (Like “bored” murderers.)
So where do so many people get the idea that it makes a crime less serious?
Comments
5 responses to “Not real crime, just bored kids???”
Makes an excuse for a larger State.
Bored kids = kids not engaged by society. We can fix that–need a bigger state to fix it! More programs, agencies, to nurture the poor bored kids!
Don’t blame the kids, blame yourselves–you don’t fund and grow the state! If you grew the state, you wouldn’t have these problems!
Just speculation–your post, the antipodal contrast of the two views of boredom crimes, made me think.
Eric,
“If you were walking down the street and got hit over the head, wouldn’t it bother you more if the attacker simply hit you because he was bored than because he wanted your wallet, or hated you for some reason?”
No. I would be pissed off simply because I got hit over the head at all; screw all the “root cause” non-sense. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, a crime is a crime is a crime.
perhaps the bored kids saw the young palestinian boys playing soccer on the beach israeli navy trys to get them ;but miss the boys. The 9 year old boys run for their ;but israel blows them to bits with the next shell. Children see and learn.
Caz,
I think they learned it from ISIS. Or maybe Syria. Or Yemen.
Interesting question.
Most crime, at its root, is a function of a lack of empathy but is it worse if its proximate cause is lack of desire to do an honest job or boredom?
I’d say “boredom” is easier to fix, we’ve always had crime but bored crime seems to be more prevalent these days.
Not sure if it actually is, but it seems that way.
As for which is worse, T is correct, it’s all academic (which is the point of the post) why your head is being bashed in.
I would change the punishment though.
People who perform “bored” crime should just be severely beaten and released.
Next time they’re bored they’ll play XBox.