Caveat Emptor Analysis

Ken Perenyi is known to be one of the best American Art forgers of all time who spent almost thirty years meticulously copying the paintings and various artwork of masterminds such as Rembrandt and Hieronymus Bosch. Many have differing views as to how or why Perenyi’s criminal actions began, but the risk factors present in Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger provide some insight into the early beginnings of the new life Ken Perenyi submerged himself into. Risk factors play an extremely significant role in determining the outcome of future behaviors for human beings. In Wrightsman’s Psychology and the Legal System, risk factors are divided into four categories: Antecedent Conditions, Early Indicators, Developmental Processes,
At the age of just 17, Perenyi was being introduced to artists, celebrities, and models who were not displaying appropriate actions. Tony would pass around joints, and Ken, a typical teenaged boy, partook in the gathering. From there on out, he was smoking with his new friends and was even taught how to roll joints by Tom Daly who insisted he know the basics considering Ken did not know what he was going to do after his completion of trade school. Drug exposure at a young age is a major risk factor for the repetition of criminal behavior. (Wrightsman, 64) Though Perenyi explained that “a whole new world was opening up” to him through Tony, he did not realize the weight of these small choices he was making (Perenyi,
When determining how responsible a person is for the crime(s) he or she has commit, it is only fair that the judge take time to review the possible risk factors. For example, a major risk factor for children at a young age to develop criminal like behavior in their later years is whether or not they came from a neighborhood that is high in crime. If a child has been continually surrounded by crime, he or she is much more like to reproduce the actions they’ve seen growing up. On the contrary, if a child who grew up in a very safe neighborhood and was raised by a strong, loving family produced the same crime, the judge may believe that he or she is more responsible for their illegal conduct than the child who was predisposed to it. It is also necessary for a judge to be interested in risk factors due to the fact that certain risk factors may not play as big of a role as others in the individual’s choice to act out illegally. For example, marijuana is illegal for minors, yet in our world today, many minors smoke weed, making it less of a risk factor when it comes to producing criminal behavior. Therefore, I strongly believe judges should take the time to analyze the risk factors and weigh their part in each individual’s case before deciding how responsible he or she is for crimes such as those dealing with theft and forgery. Ken Perenyi