Hello STEMsocial, my name is Naza and it’s been a moment since I last posted on this community. But today I thought to relate my thoughts on the criminology of a crime movie that I recently watched. It’s titled, I care a lot, you can find it on Netflix or any other platform that you’re comfortable with. I will be discussing the behavioral and social related science of the movie, and of course, it will all be in my own opinion.

Crime is an act that violates the law and is punishable by the law. People who commit crimes are called offenders or criminals. Criminal activities may include murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, aiding and abetting, rape, violence, robbery, assault; to mention a few.

For a criminal act to be identified as an actual crime, there are certain factors that must be considered; the act itself, the mental state of the offender and the cause of the act.

According to my findings, there are various forms of crime. I will be explaining a few of them as briefly as I can;

Cybercrime: This is an internet-based crime. It is a criminal activity that can be committed using computers or networked devices (gadgets and co). Cybercrimals carry out the act mainly or for the sole purpose of making money off of their victims.

Human trafficking: This is the forceful exploitation of individuals for benefits gained from work or service usually through some sort of sexual manipulation or labour.

Illegal possession of firearms: Only licensed individuals are permitted by the law to be in possession of firearms, anyone else found with a firearm is potentially unsafe to themselves and the society at large, hence such individuals are punishable by the law. In the movie, Alexi Ignatyev had an illegal possession of a gun and he was arrested for that. Also, Feldstrom had a gun which he used to kill Marla.

Youth crime: This type of crime is committed by young people. Generally, young people are more likely involved in criminal activities.

Fraud: This form of fraud is exactly where this movie is geared towards. Fraud is the use of deceptive means to gain monetary benefits. There are about three types of fraud; benefit fraud, tax fraud, money laundering. I will be centering on benefit fraud. Benefit fraud is committed when a person uses wrong information to get benefits from other people. The protagonist in this movie, Marla falsified the health status of her victims so as to lay claim to their assets and possessions.

You might want to find out how this relates to STEMsocial, well Criminology is a branch of science -the social science-, which studies the behavior and psychology of criminals. In the science of criminology, it is seen as a study that aims to understand deviant behaviors pertaining to crime and the society’s take on crime. The people who are responsible for carrying out research on crimes and their causes are called criminologists.

Source

Now to the core of the movie. The movie is about a shady legal guardian Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) who makes a living by taking advantage of the old and vulnerable, keeping them in a care home, while converting and selling off their assets as a means to pay for her services.

In the movie, Marla Grayson was the protagonist, though she was, in my opinion, the villain, very vile and only after her own benefits; but if I’m being completely honest, something in me supported her actions till of course, she got shot and that kicked me back to reality.

Marla, was taken to court on different occasions in the movie and the judge, Judge Lomax didn’t see anything wrong with what she was up to. After all, it’s legal according to their constitution to appoint legal guardians for the elderly citizens who cannot take care of themselves. So, she wasn’t exactly deviating from the law, though you might argue that she was a criminal because she connived with doctors to get information (which was most of the time false) about these old folks, but well it wasn’t recognized in the law court as a crime.

It was a very interesting movie as it made me understand that even though crimes are punishable by the law, somehow she (Marla) was able to back it up using the legal system; which goes a long way to explain the psychology in law. So I will not categorically and outrightly say that she was a criminal although she committed some sort of fraud, because I mean, using the law as a tool to forcefully take in the elderly and covert their properties has to be wrong somewhere in the books.. but since she wasn’t found guilty anywhere, it wasn’t a criminal act.

Feel free to let me know what you think in the comment section.

Thanks for reading.

References

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminology

https://www.government.nl/topics/crime-and-crime-prevention/forms-of-crime

https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/outlines/benefit-fraud/

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/criminal_law

https://homework.study.com/explanation/is-criminology-a-science.html

The Criminology of the movie ‘I care a lot’

References