An Introduction to the Criminal Mind

By Laura Marie Wingate

T

he current way government programs for young people are implemented are ineffective because they are culturally inappropriate. 

If you needed a few $100, how would you get it? 

Where did you learn how to get money that way? 

John (name changed) steals for a living. When he was questioned about it he said he only broke into really nice houses that would have insurance. He said that he didn’t know any other way to make money. He had never been taught. At Christmas, his parents gave him stolen presents wrapped in newspaper.

John has a five-year-old son. His son doesn’t call him dad; he has only known him for a few months because before that John was in jail. He is a quiet and well-mannered child. He is also defiant and cunning. He will learn from his father. He too will probably grow up to do break and enters for a living, if that’s all he is taught.

No matter how many personal development and employment programs there are available, they won’t be effective in changing the way people think, and hence the way they act. It is not only the programs that need changing, it is also the way they are implemented. 

Young people who continue to live outside the law do so because that is what they have learnt. It is what they see, what they hear, and what they are told. Not only by their support networks, but also from the media.

Their culture also teaches them that it is the only way to survive. They learn to be suspicious of anyone who doesn’t think like them, and to retaliate against anyone who tries to change them or take them away from their culture.

People who consider themselves criminally minded 

• Watch other people

• Watch their back

• Trace their steps to leave no evidence of what they have done

• Don’t trust anyone

• Consider the views and conspiracies of political parties, local citizens and government systems; especially police; in their decision making 

Bearing this in mind, how do you think these people would react to a program where an employee from a government department, such as Corrections or Centrelink, tells them how they are supposed to make money? 

The general consensus is most criminal activities can make the same amount as the average weekly wage in just a couple of hours. They don’t have to pay taxes, wear a uniform, or get out of bed early. 

In addition, they think it is the government against them. That the government makes the rules so that everyone can follow like sheep. They think the government is wasting their time, doesn’t care about them, and knows it doesn’t understand them. 

To make it a little clearer, let me give you an example of how it might feel to walk into a job without ever being taught anything about it. 

Let’s say Centrelink told you to attend a job training session. They have sent you the address, the time, and a phone number to call if you can’t make it. 

You turn up on time, and there are a group of young people dressed in torn jeans, big boots, shaved heads, flannys and black t-shirts. They hand you a beer, light up a cigarette, and tell you that you’re going steal a car today.

The group of young people surrounds you, and gestures you to follow them. 

How do you feel? What do you do? 

They take you out to the car park, toward a new model Commodore. No one is in sight. “There you go,” one of them says. “Hurry up before somebody comes.”

Now how do you feel? What do you do? There would probably be a range of reactions to this situation -  

Intimidation?

Invasion of moral & ethical beliefs?

Incompetence?

Reflect back on the young people’s culture for a moment.

Do you think they could feel intimidated when they walk into a room of government employees?

Do you think they could feel their moral and ethical beliefs are invaded when they are asked to make changes to their cultural identity?

Do you think they could feel incompetent when they are expected to know how to act, even though they have never been taught?

Now what if this was the new dominant ideology and you had to get used to it? 

What if pressure was put on you to talk the talk and walk the walk?

What if there were new laws enforcing you to comply; otherwise your wages could be reduced and further defiance could lead to imprisonment?

What if these new law enforcement agencies had files on everything about you – your tax file number, your car registration, your family payment details. If they think you are not complying with the new legislation they will keep tabs on you until they catch you red handed.

Do you feel safe?

Do you trust your new government?

Do you want to your pay taxes, your rego, and fill in your family payment forms so that you are easily traceable?

Do you want to give them an invitation to take you to jail?

Okay, so this form of government is not about to be enforced, and you are not about to be told to steal cars for a living; but can you see how different this culture is to the current bureaucracy?

Can you see these young people are not likely to cooperate to government departments telling them to get a day job?

Can you see that there needs to be changes to the program design?

If we want to increase their job prospects we need to show them we understand their cultural history. We need to give them a reason to want to.  

By Laura Wingate