Crime in the age of selfies
An increasingly common phenomenon among sex offenders is that they videotape their crimes and post them on social media. Back in 2017, forensic scientists Sveinung Sandberg и Thomas Ugelvik published article “Why do criminals record their crimes? Crime and Punishment in the Age of Selfies,” in which they wrote: “At first glance, it seems an illogical and counterproductive thing for a criminal to record his crimes. After all, when criminals use their video cameras, they may inadvertently contribute to their own capture and conviction. …Nevertheless, …despite the apparent lack of logic, it is becoming increasingly common.”.
Since then, the phenomenon has worsened. In trying to understand its causes, Sandberg and Ugelvik write: “When offenders reach for their cameras, it is a socially and culturally ingrained choice. In short … these offenses must be understood in the context of (1) the sexualization and pornographicization of society, (2) a new culture of online humiliation, and (3) a culture of snapshots fueled by new technologies.”
These reasons may encourage offenders to document sexual offenses.
The problem with the education system
There is a deeper and more pernicious reason: offenders do not consider these acts as crimes at all. They see nothing wrong with what they do.
To make matters worse, even the older generation does not consider sex crimes as horrible as society usually perceives them to be. For the most part, the attitude is, “It happens, they’re kids, what do you want?” Of course, no one says that, but it’s an underlying tendency.
So the problem is not with criminals, but with society. When the education system focuses entirely on memorizing information and does not take the time to build healthy social relationships at all, the current situation is the only possible outcome.
We need to rethink the way we look at education. We need to put human relationships-the ability to function as constructive, positive elements in society-at the top of the ladder. If left unaddressed, the situation will deteriorate to the point where we dare not go outside our own doorstep.
The Problem of Selfishness
Human selfishness destroys all the good that still remains on this planet, and we worry about everything but our own behavior. Even if there were some benefit in solving environmental problems, our ego would not allow us to implement any solution if it required the slightest unpleasant change in egoistic behavior. In fact, that is exactly what is happening today.
It’s not air pollution that poisons us, and it’s not “covid” or hunger that kills us. All the blame lies with what is behind them all, what is causing all these disasters. Our only enemy is selfishness, and the only way to correct it is to teach society mutual responsibility and mutual concern for every person on the planet.
The world dealt with each problem in turn, and none of them were solved. None. Some of the problems may have subsided a little, but they will soon return with redoubled force.
It’s time to deal with the root cause of all these problems, our own ego, and solve it once and for all. Until we admit that we are our own worst enemies, that we ourselves create all the problems we are trying to fight, our civilization will not be cured. If we understand what the problem is and agree to work together, we have a chance to fight and win the fight.
