Why do people continue to commit petty crimes knowing they’re on their second strike?
Some thoughts (based upon experiences have lengthy conversations with people who are incarcerated or who have been incarcerated):
- Some people simply don’t fear prison — They may fear something happening to them while in prison, but they have become institutionalized and have accepted the fact that, for brief to extended periods of their lives, they may have to go to prison. A person who has this mindset really isn’t concerned about any laws requiring them to be imprisoned or to stay that way.
- As perverse as it may sound to everyday people” many people don’t think prison is that bad and oftentimes it is better than their lives on the street- You are feed, clothed and housed in prison. You can exercise,read and find a small job while incarcerated. You have friends in prion; you can obtain sexual gratification in prison and you may even find..love. To more people than many societies care to to admit, prison is far better than the lives that they will face if they are left on their own to exist in a largely uncaring world. Three strikes means little to people who have this mindset.
- One of the frightening aspects of crime if you consider it (and most criminals do consider it) is that you won’t be caught for most of the crimes you commit. — Career criminals learn fairly quickly that even if they don’t have a plan or if they fail at the majority of what they do when they commit a crime, they simply won’t be caught. And in many instances, they won’t even be detected. It can be reasonably argued that if you knew that what you did, regardless of how terrible it was, wouldn’t result in any punishment, you might be willing to to do it.
- Most criminals, who have had more than minor confrontations with law enforcement and the legal system, know that they won’t receive the harshest punishments for their crimes. — While murders, sex offenses (especially against children) and some drug offenses will net harsh punishments, most crimes are punished by time-served sentences, brief periods of additional incarceration or probation or parole. Any three strikes legislation will rarely be enacted due to prison overcrowding and the myriad failures of the legal system.
- Most criminals simply don’t care — As Tim Dees pointed out in an earlier answer, and what I have been able to glean from listening to many people who are currently lawbreakers, and who have been criminals, a majority are completely unconcerned by most things in life beyond themselves and their needs. They literally exist in a “moral vacuum” where they are unconcerned by most of their actions and how those actions affect others. I would advise that people watch shows which interview criminals and listen carefully to the number of “I’s” and “me’s” which are spoken. Those individuals rarely consider others outside themselves, making it clear that any punishment, short of immediate execution, would have little meaning to them.
Three strikes legislation is mainly to give the appearance that legislators are being “tough on crime.” It has true effect upon criminals or their activities as they:
- They don’t mind or don’t care about incarceration.
- They know that for most offenses that they won’t be caught or even detected.
- They know that any such legislation will almost never be applicable to them.
- They simply are unburdened by the necessary socialization skills to be concerned about others, making punishment the least of their concerns.