The novel named Savash’s Triumph written in 2024 by Mustafa Donmez is an extraordinary study for scientists working in the field of Criminal Justice and even for all enthusiasts. Although it only deals with reducing crimes in the United States of America, it is worth reading because it offers a different perspective in the fight against crime all over the world.
This book is totally 114 pages and written in English. The author narrated the events in a literary style and problems fluently and he offered inspiring ideas about crime prevention to the readers.
Short Summary of the Novel
The United States Department of Justice writes a letter to the University of Cincinnati and asks the academics working in the criminal justice department to make an extraordinary project on fight against crime effectively. If the project is approved by the Department officials, a large amount of donation will be made to the university. The head of the department who receives this letter establishes a 7-person team consisting of academics working in different disciplines. Together with the team members, they go to Meydan village in Diyarbakir city of Turkey, which is the birthplace of Savash Ozcan (one of the members of the team). There, they meet with a sect sheikh and tell that sect sheikh about their project.
The sheikh, after listening to the guests, decides to help them. He asks his students who recently practiced asceticism what they saw in the depths of the human soul. The students sincerely share their findings with the guest faculty members and in the light of the information the academics develop new strategies in the fight against crime. These new strategies are implemented by the law enforcement agencies in the city of Cincinnati and in a short time they achieve serious successes.
What is hidden in the depths of the human soul
In the novel, a sect students practice asceticism for 40 days (that is, they live for 40 days relatively hungry, thirsty, sleepless, without speaking and without contacting anyone) and in this way, they can go down to the depths of the human soul. There they make the following findings about human:
-Every human being has many characters and virtues. Human only puts the good ones of those characters and virtues on display and locks the bad ones in the cellar (that is, he exhibits his good qualities in society and hides the bad ones). For this reason, in order to fully know a person, it is absolutely necessary to know what he hides.
-The main reason why human commits crime is the 4 basic feelings in him: ambition, lust, unlimited desires and fondness of position.
-Everything in the world attracts its own kind, that is, it wants to be with what it feels close to its soul.
How to prevent crime?
In line with the findings of the young people who came out of asceticism, the academics made the following proposal:
-If a person destroys lust, ambition, desires and love of position, or at least restrains them, he becomes a good person and does not commit crime.
And these proposals were implemented in the city of Cincinnati like this:
-Children of school age were encouraged to study in boarding schools. The ambition of young people who wore the same clothes and ate the same meals to acquire much property decreased and their souls were disciplined.
-Young people of marriageable age and widows received assistance from the municipality when marrying, and in this way, lust was brought under control.
-Men and women over the age of 45 were invited to the municipal assembly every evening and their opinions about the municipal practices were asked. In this way, ambition for position was partly smoothed.
-The municipality provided families with minimum living standards (interest-free housing and car loans) and in this way most of the basic needs of people were met.
The contribution of this book to the field of criminal justice
The main contributions of this book to the field of criminal justice are as follows:
-Only police methods do not work in the fight against crime. The subtleties of the human soul must be known and measures must be taken accordingly.
-When developing new strategies, it is necessary to benefit from some other branches of science and their experts.
-Criminal justice experts should now reduce quoting from each other and turn to original ideas.
-While trying to understand crime and criminals, it is necessary to benefit not only from Western sources but also from Eastern sources.
A quote from the book
Sometimes cities give birth to universities and sometimes universities give birth to cities. When a settlement grows, the need to establish a university arises there because parents do not want their children to study far away. For them, this means both extra cost and missing their children. For this reason, as cities grow, more universities are born and take their place in social life.
Sometimes the situation is vice versa the and a university is established in a desolate place. And those who want to benefit from the commercial and social returns that the university will bring gather around it. In time, towns, districts and even cities are born. Those universities are not the nursery of the present time but of 20 years later. Universities are the maternity ward of the city’s rulers, artists, engineers, teachers, doctors and other white collars. That’s why the heart of every city is the universities; the heart and maybe also the grave.
The University of Cincinnati is also the heart, brain and most vital organ of the city of Cincinnati. Established in 1871 a little further from the Ohio River, this university has so far graduated many administrators and white-collar workers and has continuously nourished the society. Sometimes people gain honor from the place they work or graduate from and sometimes they bring honor to those places. To graduate from the University of Cincinnati or to work at this university is an incomparable privilege for many people.
Conclusion
This novel is a must-read one for those who are looking for different methods to fight crime and for those who are closely interested in the problems of the society.
