What causes criminality and lack of morals?

[Yellow Saddle]

Hmmm. Name checking particular countries and nationalities as being particularly famed for criminality is the kind of thing that would - back in the day - have caused a degree of uproar on here. We'll see how the thread goes.

I can't fault his citings. Point to his errors if you want but don't wokewash the issue. Let's call a spade a spade.

 

[markemark]

Would that be enough to turn you into a criminal? Seriously?

If you have nothing and are desperate I can think of no greater cause.

 

[Cycleops]

...and not a digging implement.

 

[Cycleops]

If you have nothing and are desperate I can think of no greater cause.

So where would you draw the line? A bit of untruth on your benefits form or mugging an old lady for her pension,?

 

[markemark]

So where would you draw the line? A bit of untruth on your benefits form or mugging an old lady for her pension,?

None of it is right. I don’t draw the line anywhere. But it’s probably the main driver for crime. Desperation and lack of opportunity.

 

[Cycleops]

Desperation may be a reason for crime but it's not an excuse or a 'get out of jail free' card.
'Yes yer honour, I was desperate so when I saw the the woman drawing all that money out of ATM I just had to bash her and take it'.

 

[markemark]

Nowhere did I say it was an excuse. Your opening question did not ask for excuses but what causes it. And desperation and lack of opportunity causes it.

 

[Slick]

I agree, its mostly about lack of opportunities but also there does seem to be a sense of entitlement in some, who think the world owes them a living.

I'm sure there will be some who would feel some common methods used by my old man to get by, would have strayed into their definition of criminality. The truth is, he provided for the wider family any way he could, and I know for sure that I wouldn't go hungry if the money ever dried up.

Its an interesting question and I could probably mews the subject matter for some time. Anyone who thinks they wouldn't take food that wasn't theirs has just never been hungry enough.

 

[blackrat]

Not everywhere, thank God!
I lost a phone (bounced out of my bar bag) whilst cycling on a local hike/bike trail and eventually after spending time going back over my route, I returned to the trail head annoyed at myself. However, upon returning home my wife said she had received a call from a fellow cyclist who had found it. I immediately drove to his house to collect it and gave him a few bottles of pickle juice as a thank you.
Another time, I forgot to re-zip by saddle bag (common error on my part) and my wallet fell out. Same story, cycling up and down the trail to find it and on returning home the wallet was there, having been returned by a female hiker who saw my address in the wallet and drove to my house to return it.
Both trail angels.

 

[raleighnut]

You can't just blame parents.

People get to a certain (young) age where risk taking becomes something they do and if they keep getting away with it, they'll keep doing it.
Their own sense of morality ultimately guides their choices, no matter how 'well' or 'badly' one has been raised.
It's not just a class thing either... the bad eggs of one social class may shoplift whilst bad eggs in another class merely embezzles.

Nah, by 'upbringing' I don't mean just the parents but the whole environment. The "Don't talk to the bizzies" attitude is prevalent in many areas but then again the 'boys in blue' don't really inspire much confidence/trust in those areas.

 

[Andy in Germany]

The programme I work on is partly to try and keep crime down, and is operated to some extent for economic reasons. It's cheaper to help people and give them an opportunity to get their lives back on track than to wait for them to commit a crime and pay to sort out the problem afterwards. We get people with psychological issues, addiction issues, some are sent to us instead of being sent to prison, and some are just down on their luck.
My entirely unscientific observations are that people with psychological issues that have a criminal record tend to be from a childhood environment that was abusive, or where they were surrounded by crime.
I think ultimately it's a decision, and the responsibility rests on the individual. My job is to help people, but the responsibility is always with them, which some clients don't want to hear.

 

[Punkawallah]

There is a lot of noise nowadays about ‘human rights’, not so much about human responsibilities.

 

[captain nemo1701]

I blame nurture & influence by peers. Take a certain blond guy while working as a motoring journalist who racks up £££1000's fines by parking his car on double yellows. Later in life gets hoist by his own petard for breaking rules he created. Unfortunately in the UK, we now have a culture of 'get away with it as long as you possibly can'. I see the same thing with, say, escooters. Only an idiot in the age of smartphones won't know they are banned, so there's a certain arrogance in using one in public knowing fully you're breaking the law but you put your personal convenience ahead of others ie pedestrian/cyclist safety. The same happens in planning with some people blatantly building stuff that breaches regulations and then leads to years of disputes etc with the local authorities.

 

[Ian H]

Many years ago there was a study done on twins who had been brought up separately, to try to gauge the relatives effects of nurture and nature. The two I remember seemed to confirm the nature theory - one was a policeman, the other a burglar.

 

[Time Waster]

If you have nothing and are desperate I can think of no greater cause.

I know of people with very little, really struggling. Criminality wouldn't even come near their thinking. It wouldn't cross their mind. Living in damp and mouldy flat that they're still struggling to afford. They're exposed to criminality every day due to where they live and where they work (employer doesn't discriminate against ex prisoners and some of them are back at it as well as working).

Seriously while life prospects might be a factor it's never the whole story. Nothing is going to be that simple.