Chapter IV: Origin of Criminals

The normally intelligent person is not given to crime; the riff-raff and flotsam and jetsam of society is more apt to be criminally inclined than others. Pauperism, bad associates, gambling, drinking, the use of drugs, such as morphine, cocaine, etc., are causes leading to crime. The pauper criminal is generally known as a tramp, hobo, panhandler and beggar; they constitute the great majority of petty offenders and very seldom resort to grave crimes such as murder, especially murdering some one above their station in life, although they hold life cheaply among themselves and will often kill each other over trivial matters, depending upon their ability to escape through their knowledge of the country, being aware of the fact that the officials will not spend much time investigating the murder of a tramp or hobo.

The knowledge of being afflicted with some incurable disease, such as consumption, or some physical defect accompanied by poverty and ignorance, will often drive one to crime, for the simple reason that they are aware of the fact that they are sufferers and do not value their life and liberty the same as a normal man. Young men between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five years are the greatest offenders, especially those who have the wanderlust; their lack of early training and home influences, coupled with poverty and bad associates, often drives them to crime. A great majority of the convicts in the penitentiaries are under thirty years of age, and after their discharge from some penal institution they gradually drift back to crime.

_The Detection of Crime_--In the popular mind the methods of the detectives are shrouded in romance and mystery. Detective stories flood the country and the various figures that stalk through the pages of fiction, from “Sherlock Holmes” to the “Thinking Machine” are beings of strange powers who solve mysterious crimes by the marvelous effects of deductive reasoning or by the intuition of genius.

The truth of the matter is, that detection of crime is simply a skilled business and wherein the successful detective is simply the man who understands the laws governing scientific detection and applies them carefully to each case. Detection is simply a process of elimination on the one hand and of accumulation of possibilities on the other.

The first step in detection is the examination of both the physical and moral evidences involved in each case. The examination of these physical and moral evidences furnish the detective with what are called clues.

_Clues_--Clues are either external or internal. External clues have to deal with the physical aspects of the case, and internal clues have to deal with the moral aspects of the case. The detective must proceed in an orderly way, and, first examine the external clues.

These external clues include objects that have been used in the perpetration of the crime and all objects that show any imprint of the criminal’s use; for example, weapons, tools, articles of clothing, foot prints and finger prints. The detective will therefore carefully examine the entire locality of a crime to see if inanimate objects suggest the criminal.

The science of finger prints alone is practically an absolute means of identification. Care should be taken to examine all objects for such marks. Clues must be examined, imprints or weapons inspected carefully and the entire scene of the crime should be reconstructed so that each alteration in furniture, etc., would suggest a new method or throw light upon the commission of the act. Close observation is the first requisite to discovering clues and this should be done most systematically.

The first step is to group your facts and afterwards to draw your deductions. The larger number of facts you have to deal with the easier should be the solution of the problem, as each fact is a link in the chain.

Another class of clues which is important in murder cases is poison. The exact poison should be determined by a careful analysis, and this properly belongs to the scientist rather than to the detective. Among the poisons generally used may be mentioned potassium cyanide (which is the most powerful of all), white arsenic, bichloride of mercury, etc. The first step for the detective is to investigate the source from which the poison is bought and this will infallibly lead to a strong clue against some individual.

Some cases are reported where medical science was called into play and the murderer used a culture of some virulent bacteria, simulating death from natural causes. Elaborate investigation is required in such cases as this.

_The First Offense_--First offenders are, just as the term implies, those not habitually given to crime.

Their criminal acts are not due to morbidness or weak mindedness, but usually are the result of pressing circumstances and committed only after their powers of reasoning against the act, their ability to realize their own best interest in not doing, their conscience and their fear of the consequences have been triumphed over by their inclination to do by the cause or motive underlying that inclination.

Most men are at times, under the stress of circumstances, tempted to commit crime. Usually their reasoning will successfully oppose the idea and the crime remains unattempted. In cases of insufficient training or education, however, where powers of reasoning are insufficient to override the inclination born of the motive; where men of greater intelligence would have let mental and moral opposition down the temptation, men of the single offender class are wont to see only the “red” of cause and motive and blunder into the act.

Take the case of any single offender, consider the motive underlying his act, consider his education, training, status of intelligence and you will find that the act naturally followed the circumstances preceding it, which formed the motive; whereas, with instinctive criminals, the morbid mind of the offender really forms the cause or motive for the crime, and produces a result without any direct bearing on preceding events, and in cases of crimes committed by professional criminals, the offender has no interest in the scene of his crime and his mind actuated by criminal habits makes the end to be gained the motive.

Taking the first mental characteristics of the offender, and the circumstances surrounding him, it would be comparatively easy to classify the crime. But in most cases the detective must begin with the crime and from the manner of its execution and the circumstances leading to it the motive must be deduced. With the motive as a working basis an actor must be found whose interest in the scene of the crime harmonizes with the motive, and also whose mental characteristics fit the nature of the crime and the manner in which it was committed.

We have, therefore, to consider first, what motives compel men to commit crimes, and second, what are the criminal characteristics of the human mind.

The motives which are capable of inducing normal men to commit crime may be classified under three heads: (1) a desire for profit, (2) passion, (3) fear.

The profit or gain sought may be either money, the possession of some coveted article or even some intangible end, such as freedom from circumstances not compatible with the offender’s desires; for instance, matrimonial bonds, jail sentences, etc. (In this latter case the act would be that of breaking jail, and the motive for profit would be the freedom sought).

Usually there is something stronger than money to tempt, something to augment the desire, _i.e._, a particular use or pressing need--such as the meeting of debts incurred by sickness, financial troubles, high living or dissipation, or a desire to obtain money to spend on the woman (or man) with whom the offender is in love.

Absolute destitution is often a sufficient motive for crime, but the fact is then one of self-preservation. Poverty alone is seldom a sufficient motive, but comparative poverty to one accustomed to plenty is often a cause of crime. Envy of those possessing wealth and a desire to imitate them is often the motive in cases where, for instance, the profit to be derived becomes very great. A man who would not think of stealing a small amount might easily give way to temptation and embezzle thousands of dollars if the opportunity presented itself.

In cases where the offender appropriates money to his own use, expecting to use it only as capital with which to earn more money and then pay back the principal without the knowledge of the owner, the offender does not intend to injure or defraud the owner and does not do so unless through financial losses he is unable to make the return and the shortage is discovered. Although there is no criminal intent involved the act is then construed to be a crime, as a matter of public policy and to serve as a lesson and warning in general.

Theft, breach of trust, embezzlement, forgery, arson and murder are the most ordinary crimes for profit. Arson for profit is the act of setting fire to property which has been heavily insured; first secretly removing as much of the more valuable property as possible with a view of collecting the insurance on the whole.

Murder is sometimes committed for life insurance, inheritance or as a means of severing an unhappy matrimonial bond; however, murders from the latter motive are usually committed by morbid persons, since a normal minded person would seek some other means of gaining the desired end. Another motive for profit is that of covering the evidences of crime.

The passions most productive of crime are anger, jealousy, revenge, etc. Hate may not be regarded as a motive of serious crime with offenders of this class, because hatred cannot become strong enough, except in a morbid mind, to serve as a motive.

The crimes due to anger are usually crimes of violence, such as assault, and although they are not legally considered to have criminal intent, are, nevertheless, punishable to some extent. Such crimes are usually unpremeditated and vary in degree of violence according to the tempers common to different races and individuals; and on these same racial and individual temperaments depend the extent and violence of crime due directly to a motive of jealousy, the most common form being assault or homicide. The Italian, French and Spanish people are exceedingly jealous natured, while this trait is much less noticeable in English, Irish, Scotch and German people. Jealousy is a primitive expression and finds most encouragement during the period of greatest sexual development, between sixteen and twenty-five with women, and eighteen and thirty with men.

Fear of physical violence, of death, of loss either financial or otherwise, of punishment, exposure or shame, either to the offender personally or to his family, becomes a motive for crime and justifies all acts in the eyes of the offender. The law recognizes the instinct of self-preservation and justifies any act where the motive is fear of physical violence or death, provided the danger is immediate; however, where the danger is distant, the law refuses to sanction the act as it provides other measures for the protection of the individual.

Among the influences that determine crime, the most powerful are environment and association with respectable people. Home life is and has always been a great conserver of society. Every man hesitates to bring disgrace to his family. Therefore, when we find an habitual criminal, it is almost sure that he is without home ties. If a crime is committed by a highly respected man, who is bound by family ties, it is certain that some great need or influence rendered him susceptible to the crime.

Legal restraint is another conserving force. The folly of using illegal means to gain an end is oftentimes brought home to the criminal if he stops to consider what will be the result of his act. A mistaken idea of the easiest way to accomplish a purpose blinds a criminal to the fact that it could be done with less risk if done in conformity with the laws. It is an established fact that when there are laws that punish crimes adequately, the offenses of that particular kind are greatly diminished. White slavery is a well known illustration of this.

The influence of alcohol, morphine, cocaine and other drugs, however, render possible the perpetration of many crimes. Alcohol stimulates the body and vicious passions of men and brings about deeds of violence. Drugs lead to sneaky and petty offenses, thievery and lying. In a very short time the users of drugs become habitual offenders and cannot be classed as “single” criminals.