There are different types of criminal acts. Some are casual, unpredictable and opportunistic like a bag snatching or a smartphone lift from a club when someone rested their phone on the mahogany bar just for a second. Other times, crimes are planned well in advance, gestated for long periods of time, with the pros and cons weighed to consider risks vs reward before deciding to carry out the criminal act.

It’s Not Always Obvious Who Was Going to Commit a Crime

It’s not always the most likely person who will commit an act of larceny or assault another person without warning. Sometimes the person walks into the store and looks like trouble the second you lay eyes on him or her through a video security system. But other times you’re asking, “Him? Really?” when told what they did the night before.

What Triggers a Criminal Act?

A crime can be carried out simply as a protest against the state or the federal system of control through laws and restrictive regulations. It doesn’t always have to be for monetary gain, personal pleasure or out of revenge. It can be an act of anarchy, opportunistic, and seemingly almost random when actually it’s not. It depends on what injustice the person feels and what action this spurs them to take in response to the perceived injustice.

Can Acts of Crime Be Prevented?

The pre-crime division as depicted in the Minority Report movie where “precogs” saw crimes being committed before they happened, and officers went to arrest people before they’d even done anything wrong is interesting. Is there a way to actually prevent crime when you don’t have your very own precog to assist you? Well, there just might be and it’s not through the use of the latest questionable technology developed with Homeland Security in mind either.

Is Counseling the Answer?

Being able to talk with people to help them think and work through their problems is far more effective than leaving people with no hope causing some to take drastic action. Quite often, crimes are committed to make a person feel significant (controlling another person by brandishing a weapon is an act of control over another) which indicates that the person feels insignificant in their normal life. By working through their difficulties in creating a happy, productive life for themselves, they can feel greater levels of significance and a lesser urge to throw it all away by turning (back) to crime.

One way to get involved with this transformative process is to study for an online masters in counseling at Bradley University. The counseling master’s degree online is created to learn the skills to help others with their life problems. The course is studied over the internet. Anyone who enjoys helping other people to live more fulfilling lives will find happiness in the counseling profession because it gives direct access to people in need.

Crime is preventable when it is treated at a societal level by kind, caring individuals who help others believe that their lives can have both meaning and significance. It’s never too late to turn a life around.