Michael O’Toole
CJ Senior Sem
10 October 2013
Reflection Paper
Through my career as a Loras College student I have learned that crime is everywhere in
our society, our society’s criminal justice system is somewhat flawed but functional, and that
Loras College has helped me to become a better active learner and reflective thinker, which will
help me in graduate school and in my future career.
Throughout the course of my major in criminal justice here at Loras, I have come to the
realization that crime can exist everywhere in our society as long as there is a suitable target,
motivated offender, and a lack of capable guardianship. These three factors make up routine
activities theory. The suitable target is frequently an opportunity for someone to commit a
crime. A motivated offender is self-explanatory in the sense that it is an individual with
compromised morals, who is motivated to engage in criminal behavior given the opportunity.
Lastly lack of a capable guardian, is the lack of an individual who might deter the offender from
engaging in their criminal behavior. Crime is not limited to lower socioeconomic class
neighborhoods, big cities, and thugs. Crime can occur anywhere in society, and there are plenty
of theories to help explain why these crimes occur and why people behave the way they do. For
example, anomie is a theory that states that crime occurs because of normlessness. It is
considered a social norm in our society that people should not steal or kill, however an individual
who lacks these social norms will engage in these crimes. Another theory of crime is social
learning theory, which discusses how people learn from their environment. If a child is brought
up in the inner city, in a gang infested neighborhood they will grow up watching how gang
members interact and learn how to live like them. Labeling theory, is another theory of crime
that explains how people will live up or down to what they are being labeled. For example,
according to labeling theory, if a child is labeled as a no good trouble maker in school they may
just live up to that expectation because that is what society expects of them. Crime is not limited
to poor neighborhoods and bad upbringings, people who have lived fortunate lives still have the
capability to be immoral. In white collar crime I learned that CEO’s and wealthy individuals are
no strangers to crime. These criminals were brought up in good moral wealthy households, but
anomie as well as routine activities theory explain why offenders engage in embezzling money,
tax fraud, and commit other crimes that seemed to initially be victimless crimes. Anomie
explains embezzlement, tax fraud, and other crimes, because these crimes display how the
offenders are normless. Paying taxes and following the law are social norms in our society, and
when an offender decided to defy the social norms it is explained through anomie. Routine
activities theory also explains these crimes, when a motivated offender is given the opportunity
to commit a crime and there is no capable guardian to deter the offender then the result is
engaging in crime.
In our society crime doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t matter if the crime is embezzling
money, robbing someone, burglary, drug dealing, or murder; it doesn’t matter if the offender is
rich, poor, black or white. Crime exists everywhere in today’s society, the only things necessary
for crime to occur is a motivated offender, who most likely lacks social norms, who is put into a
situation where they can commit a crime and there is no capable guardian to deter them.
Law enforcement, the courts, and corrections are the three branches of our criminal
justice system that strive for justice and the protection of our society. Through criminal law,
corrections, and criminal justice ethical considerations I’ve learned that our criminal justice
system is flawed. Through criminal law I learned that society is always considered the bigger
victim in any crime over the individual victim, to whom the crime was committed. This means
that justice might not always be given to the individual, in order to protect and ensure that justice
is given to society. For example, if evidence of a crime is obtained unlawfully, the evidence may
be thrown out in court. This is done in order to protect the liberties of society as a hole and
ensure police do not abuse their power. It is the prosecutor’s job to ensure that justice is given to
society not just the individual. In corrections I learned about “three strike” laws, where if
offenders are convicted of three crimes they are sent to prison. This is flawed because if
hypothetically an individual is arrested and convicted of possession of marijuana three times they
will be sent to prison. Three non-violent and victimless crimes can land an individual in prison.
“Three strike” laws can also result in sending an individual to prison just as they are about to age
out of crime. Aging out of crime is a criminal justice theory that states that individuals tend to
age out of crime around the age of 25, unfortunately a lot of individuals are processed into the
system before they age out of crime resulting in a harder future for the offender.
In criminal justice ethical considerations, we discussed the “Blue Code of Silence,”
which is an unwritten rule amongst police officers not to report other officers’ misconduct.
Those brave officers who do report misconducts, crimes, or errors about their colleagues tend to
become labeled as the black sheep on the force and are sometimes driven out of the department
and aren’t always welcomed by other departments. Although society’s criminal justice system
can be flawed, it is the best option to protect our society. Police work to protect and serve the
community as best as they can, in order to be the capable guardian society needs.
Loras College has taught me to be an active learner as well as a reflective thinker.
Through my double major in psychology and criminal justice I have had diverse experiences and
found creative ways to connect ideas from different disciplines to help explain crime in our
society. Through my experiences with law enforcement ride-along’s, sitting in on drug court at
the Dubuque Court House and visits to different correctional facilities I have learned to apply
theories that I have learned from both of my majors to these hands on experiences. I have
learned from guest speakers, how theories we go over in class are applied through their daily
work. I have learned to be creative in connecting concepts learned in psychology to criminal
justice concepts. For example, the role drug addiction plays on crime. When an individual is
addicted to a substance such as meth or heroine, their daily life consists of finding ways to get
their fix. Through my addictions course, drugs and behavior course, and criminal justice senior
seminar, I have come to the conclusion that addiction causes a lot of crime. A majority of the
time addicts will resort to committing crimes such as robbery or burglary so that they can pay to
get their fix. This happens because drugs release dopamine into the brain; dopamine is
responsible for stimulating the brain and causing a rewarding sensation to occur. (National
Institute of Drug Abuse, 2010) Once this sensation occurs it acts as way of teaching the brain
that repeating the behavior of drug use feels good and rewarding. This rewarding feeling makes
the individual want to continue abusing the drug; once the individual runs out of ways to obtain
their drug and achieve that rewarding feeling they desire they begin to turn to crime as a means
to their end. Anomie explains that the normlessness of addicts is the reason they engage in
crime, in order to sustain a habit.. Loras College has helped me to be a better active learner and
reflective thinker through my diverse course load and different class experiences, which have
taught me how to apply diverse concepts to one another and to apply what I have learned to real
life experiences.
These dispositions will help me in graduate school, by allowing me to both make
connections and apply what I’ve learned to different subject matter as well as life experiences in
my profession. If I were going to pursue a career in criminal justice, I would choose to be a law
enforcement officer in which all of the subject matter I have learned and experiences I’ve had
over these four years at Loras would apply. I would be able to better understand what caused
crime and make connections based on the material I have learned at Loras. The Loras
dispositions would help me be a better law enforcement official through my understanding,
connecting, and applying of different material that explained patterns of crime. However, I am
going to graduate school to study to be an Occupational Therapist, and pursue a career in
Occupational Therapy. Although this field is not related to criminal justice, it is very closely
related to psychology. Thus I will be able to use the diverse concepts and experiences I have had
at Loras College in order to help me develop a successful career as an Occupational Therapist.