Reflections of the Criminal Mind

Excerpt: A Danger to Society

Staring at cinder blocks, listening to sounds of heavy doors locking and unlocking, fed meals that just aren't enough for grown men. This is the life of the criminal if he gets caught. I keep hearing those words while playing spades with a hustler, "It's not cheating if you don't get caught." He deals us better hands, "reneges" to win the game. And I know he's doing it, but he's my partner. We wouldn't win if he didn't. Everyone cheats. That makes it even. So, it's only cheating if you get caught.

It reminds me of a line I read in John Martel's Conflicts of Interest. "Isn't it possible that the flapping of destiny's wings in your distant past might have set in motion a nonlinear force that could cause you to do something completely unpredictable at a crucial point in your life, something that could bury you in chaos?" And I think about the psychobabble connecting the ability to commit a crime to some traumatic experience in the criminal's childhood. And I think about the opposing stance that it's an excuse for justifying criminal behavior. Both are right. Both have merit. But I see an angle to the psychobabble. The criminal mind is merely a reflection of life and the way things are.

A small town in Western Maryland, Smallton has an infrastructure it can't afford. Schools, roads, public transportation and parks are just part of the resource draining scenario that worsens every year. Yet its citizens face stiff penalties, often jail time, for such offenses as writing bad checks. And the state doesn't even waste time making sure fathers pay child support by garnishing wages, withholding tax refunds and suspending driving privileges. Schools are closing and textbooks are falling apart, but the lodge at Rocky Gap State Park stays sufficiently funded costing taxpayers dearly. This is likened to the guy who makes his car payment but comes up short for child support. I advocate neither the state, the county, nor the dead-beat father. But what's fine for one to do should not be a crime for another.