Research Conclusion

11. After sending out my survey, I was surprised with some of my results. More people than I expected knew what the "Three Strikes" Laws were, even though the majority did not.  I was also surprised that 29% of the people who took my survey did not agree with the laws. I was expecting 100% of people who took my survey to agree with it, considering I assumed them to lack background information. I was not surprised that most of the people to take my survey were unaware that California was most strict with the "Three Strikes" laws, because New Jersey and Texas both seem like stereotypically strict states.  Nearly 100% of people chose murder/rape as the worst crime in their opinion, which I agree with and expected. One theory of mine that I was trying to prove through my survey was a trace of gender separation.  For two of my questions, I asked about self defense for both males and females.  83% of people who took my survey felt sympathetic for the female who committed murder in order to protect herself, while 71% of people did not feel sympathetic toward a male who committed murder as an act of self defense.  I find it very fascinating that gender plays such a huge role in something like crime and jail.  It is amazing that two human beings that committed the same crime could be treated differently in their punishments based on gender.

Overall, I am very pleased with my results.  My theories were mostly proven and I learned a lot about my society's view on crime and what it takes for them to feel safe.  It is obvious that the people who took my survey were raised in good areas and offered a great education, but crime is still relevant to all of our lives.  People who tended to lack background knowledge on the three strikes laws agreed with it, while people who knew of it tended to disagree with it.  I personally agree with the "Three Strikes" Laws even though I have a lot of experience with the topic through my research and survey.  In my opinion, everyone needs something that will make them feel protected from the uncontrollable, crime.  Even if the "Three Strikes" Laws do not provide a fair case for criminals, they off a sense of safety and reassurance to the majority of the population.  The laws have the ability to ease the fear of everyday people, much like myself, who hear about murderous crimes on the news and do not want to live in fear of it happening to them.  My survey proved that the "Three Strikes" Laws need to be discussed more in school or even on television.  Also, it proved that there are many factors that could drive a person to commit a crime.  There are also many "exceptions" ordinary people tend to make for criminals.  These exceptions include being female, growing up in a bad area and self defense.  A murder is not always just a murder.

Violent crime is something that people from my society view as inexistent and unrealistic for our area.  It is horrifying to think that violence is happening everywhere, and people just like us are experiencing it.  Violence rates have gone up and crimes are becoming more relevant and reoccurring.  The "Three Strikes" Laws NEED to be discussed and people need to be warned about all different types of crimes and how to protect themselves.  Crime is not a myth, and we need to work together to stop it.

Update

10. So far I have created my survey for my Violent Crime Project.  It contains 10 questions about the "Three Strikes" laws and different crime related scenarios.  The person filling out my survey will be asked a series of factual questions about the "Three Strikes" laws and then read a small paragraph describing a situation in which someone committed a violent crime. By getting different answers and opinions from people through this survey, I will be able to see what makes violent crime "acceptable" in society.  The goal of this survey is to find out the opinion of the "Three Strikes" laws from the point of view of a noncriminal/normal person.

Strategy For Research

9. My topic is violent crimes and the goal of my research was originally to figure out a criminal's reasoning for committing a violent crime.  Now I am interested in the opinions of people who are not criminals.  How do they feel about punishing criminals?  Does putting them in jail or punishing them severely make normal people feel safer? In order to figure out how criminals feel when committing crimes, it is important to understand how people who would never commit crimes feel about it. So for my strategy I am going to use a survey to see people's opinions on the "Three Strikes" laws.  I plan on using an online survey to accomplish this.  At first I am going to ask if they know what it is and after that question I am going to give a brief description of it for the people who do not know.  I am going to then give the person a scenario involving a criminal and then ask a series of questions that follow the "Three Strikes Laws" to figure out if the person does agree or does not agree with "Three Strikes Laws".  After I finish surveying people, I am going to organize why people would agree with the law and for what reasons they do not.  The goal of this survey is ultimately to figure out what reasons would push a person into siding with severe punishment for criminals, or what reasons would turn a person against it.