The tie-in to criminal behavior can be made easier to understand when we objectively remember that "crime" is a term which connotates defined "unacceptable" human behaviors. By "connotating," I refer to Behaviors being simply behaviors; lying, robbing, raping, killing, etc., can only be denoted as being purely human behaviors. Emotional thinking gets in the way when we try to be objective about a seemingly subjective matter. Try to remember that these "criminal" behaviors are learned; so far, innate behaviors and/or reflex behaviors have escaped being defined as criminal by law. No penalties yet for the acts of defecating or sneezing, or behaviors of that nature.

The definition of the learning process mentions reinforcements, positive and negative, as being any object or event that increases the probability of a response. The positive reinforcers being such that a reward or pleasant event follows an action. The negative reinforcer being such that rewards a response by bringing an end to discomfort. Then there was the classification of "primary" (natural physiological or bio±ogicai rewards) and "secondary" (learned) reinforcers, upon which delayed reinforcement reduced impact to the extent that if the delay is too long, no learning will take place at all. And that nevertheless, long chains of behavior may be reinforced by a single reward; that, for humans, much learning is based upon feedback about the effects of a response.

Armed with the above framework for our thinking, let’s look to the basic criminal for "positive and negative" reinforcers which brought about such learning that permitted criminal behaviors. To get closer to a realistic understanding, we need to understand that criminal behaviors per se are self-serving, and usually pleasurable for the criminal. Please remember that learned value formations define what is to be considered pleasurable in the P.O.V. (point of view) mode. You may wonder how another human being could find pleasure in lying, robbing, raping, or killing, but remember the old adage, "One man’s meat may be another man’s poison."

As individual human beings, we are subject to a process of conditioning and we learn from that process. This comes to the issue of developing a taste for something ad thereby acquiring a value which will allow you to behave or accept behaviors in line with that understanding.

Basic humane sensibilities are numbed through media bombardment of violence in the form of murder, rape, beatings, and psychological deviance and cruelty. When these avenues of expressive behaviors are seen in light of addressing and redressing human passion, rationalization processes become easier. Many of the story lines in crime dramas attempt to defame the perpetrators of violence, but there is a weird twist that I haven’t noticed any focus made by professionals, or anyone else for that matter.

People who would see the villains as villains are those people who have values compatible with the writer of the crime drama. An example might be a drama about a boy raping a girl because she looked sexy in her tight jeans. Those sympathetic with the writer would see this reasoning as irrational and unreasonable, "...how could anyone in their right mind come to that kind of conclusion...!" Others watching the drama might be overwhelmed by their own inflamed libidinal desires and see the intended villain as the provoked victim of the girl’s sexual taunting with her tight jeans; "...she wanted it, and she got just what she asked for and deserved...

Murder is another behavior that may come about through the ease of rationalization. Something as seemingly senseless as the "drive-by shootings" to the majority of viewer may be thrilling to some viewers. The very thought of such an adventure in violence with a minimum of physical risk could easily excite the imagination of a growing number of desensitized individuals in the viewing audience.

So when you have such a dichotomy of perception by viewers, what may have been intended as a thwarting drama could actually be awakening perverse desires from the darker side of human nature in the ever-growing number of deviants in our society.

Of course, this kind of thinking is confusing at best, because it poses the paradox of "...it’s hell if you do, and hell if you don’t..." for the writers and the "gatekeepers" in mass media. Because the present majority have "upstanding values," the shows go on and on; seemingly thwarting an audience of viewers who probably wouldn’t behave in that manner anyway. What it may boil down to is simple entertainment value. People in general love to be horrified. It’s true, no matter how much they may protest such an assumption. But check the TV ratings and see what percent of the viewers the films of violence over-ride the Disney films and Channels. Death, horror, and destruction are the basis for intriguing tales which capture the human imagination, seemingly more than anything else.

Personally, I can remember when I first came into contact with some prostitutes on personal relationship basis beyond the professional encounters. One woman in particular became a very good friend when she allowed me into her "real" life, away from her "trade." It was interesting how we became friends. We were both 24 years old when we met in a hotel room for sex. We had a really good time together and my only instruction to her was for her to pretend that she and I were married and very much in love.

After our love session, I mentioned to her that I found it hard to believe that someone as beautiful and intelligent as I found her to be would be involved in prostitution. She responded that she was surprised that someone as handsome as she found me to be would resort to the services of a prostitute. My reasoning was that I wanted the benefits of those precious moments of sexual intimacy in the guise of love without all the responsibility that went along with a real relationship of that nature. I told her that it was because I wasn’t fit to be a real husband and father because my first marriage had failed because of my criminal behaviors which led me to prison. So I believed that if I offered money for affectionate lovemaking, that I wasn’t misrepresenting myself nor my intentions. Although my reasoning figuratively "blew her away," she admitted that she liked that kind of thinking.

Her reasoning for being a prostitute blew me away, also. She told me that she was married and had a beautiful baby...