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  • Essay / Analysis of Frank's criminal behavior in Catch Me If You Can

    Catch Me If You Can is an American film based on the life of Frank Abagnale. The said actor lived with his French parents in New Rochell, New York. After a divorce between his parents, he fled. As a result, he lacked money for his personal use, to the point that he began to rely on trust crimes to survive. On his 19th birthday, Frank managed to fool many people by falsely posing as a doctor, a pilot, and a Georgia parish attorney. In one particular case, he falsified a pay slip at Pan Am where he managed to steal $2.8 million. Primarily, the offender committed check fraud. After numerous successful robbery attempts, he was so proficient that the FBI asked him for his help in arresting other offenders. His interaction with police began after an arrest by Carl Hanratty, an FBI bank fraud specialist. After the first arrest, Frank convinced Carl that he was Barry Allen, another FBI agent tracking the bank fraudster. After that, Frank left the hotel, but Carl discovered that it was a trap. Unable to find him, Carl felt stupid and disappointed. Later at Christmas, Frank called Carl to apologize for dumping him. However, the excuses were only mischievous. Aware of this fact, Carl promises Frank that he will fail in the short term (Steven and Jeff, 2002). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay By this time, Frank's tricks now included false identities as a lawyer and doctor. While posing as a doctor, he fell in love with Brenda whose father later discovered his hidden identity. Luckily, Carl found him at his engagement party. Unfortunately, Frank slipped through the bedroom window. Two days later, he arranged to meet Brenda in Miami. However, he noticed that plainclothes officers were waiting to arrest him. As a result, he fled to Europe. Seven months after the escape, Carl revealed to his boss that Frank was forging checks, hence the need to track him down. After Carl misses the authorization to meet Frank in Europe, the professionals demonstrate that the fake checks came from France. As a result, Carl meets Frank in France for arrest. Therefore, a sentence of twelve years in prison was appropriate. For the latter part of his sentence, Frank was given the privilege of serving in the FBI as an anti-bank fraud agent. The theory that best describes Frank's criminal behavior is the routine activities theory which is closely related to the rational choice model. Primarily, regular activities theory holds that people commit crimes because of the lifestyle they choose. For example, Frank started out stealing money to survive after his parents separated. Several years later, he was still forging checks because that was the life of his selection. The applicability of conventional theory is based on the principle of rational choice whereby offenders choose to commit crimes based on the profitability of those crimes. To determine cost-effectiveness, potential offenders weigh the benefits of a crime against its costs. If the benefits are greater than the costs, the offense is executed. On the other hand, if the costs of crimes exceed the benefits, then the crime is abolished. Usually, benefits include stolen money, pleasure from crimes, prestige, or revenge against an enemy. On the other hand, the costs come with jail time, shame, and fines. For Frank, the profits from the crimes werevisibly higher than costs, hence the continuation of counterfeiting. For example, he managed to steal $2.8 million at one point. Despite the use of a false identity in many other cases, the risk of arrest was visibly low. For example, Frank easily escaped three arrests while he was an international criminal. At first, he managed to fool an FBI agent into believing that he was another FBI agent chasing the thief. As a result, Frank escaped from the hotel. Later, this Christmas, he dared to call the FBI agent he had cheated on earlier at the hotel. As such, this malice indicates that Frank was aware of the low likelihood of a successful arrest against him. In the second case, Frank escaped through a bedroom window while attending an engagement party with his lover. Two days later, he escaped further arrest in Miami Beach, from where he flew to Europe. Additionally, Carl was unable to determine the origin of the counterfeit checks until professionals identified France as the country of the crime. Finally, Frank ended up working for the FBI rather than being a prisoner for life. In addition, he did not reimburse the amounts stolen thanks to his counterfeiting which lasted for many years. As such, there is evidence that Frank's criminal behavior was lucrative enough to warrant continuity. Another perspective to explain Frank's behavior is the social context that ultimately shaped his rational decision. Precisely, the environment favored bank fraud. Perhaps Frank realized that bank fraudsters were difficult to catch and that even when they did happen, the penalties were minimal. Proof of many cases of bank fraud in Frank's neighborhood is the fact that he helped the FBI arrest other offenders (Steven and Jeff, 2002). It is for this reason that the police considered it wiser to release him to help in the arrest of other criminals. In addition to using these theories to understand Frank's decision to become a criminal, a list of individual characteristics contributed to his negative lifestyle. Firstly, Frank is an extremely dishonest person. From the beginning to the end of the film, he was more comfortable lying than telling the truth. One such case is when her lover's father discovered that her identity was fake. Additionally, he falsely entered his name on his pay slip, changed his name in many cases and even misled the police. The first crime prevention policy based on rational theory is to ensure the presence of law enforcement. In particular, law enforcement depends on the number of police officers, their equipment and their training. Returning to Frank's example, the use of counterfeit checks continued due to the insufficiency of law enforcement, whether in numbers, training or equipment. When he was first found at the hotel, Frank was able to deceive the FBI agent because the agent did not have sufficient mechanisms to determine the true identity of the offender. Additionally, the officer was alone, thus signaling the importance of having sufficient law enforcement. Additionally, Frank escaped through a bedroom window because the police officers were not enough to arrest him. Last but not least, the lack of adequately trained agents has made it difficult for the state to control bank fraud. When the problem got out of control, FBI agents even worked with criminals like Frank to arrest other offenders. Another measure put in place to prevent bank fraud is the creation and maintenance of a correctional facility (Sutherland, 2017). According to the film, the.