| Your answers indicate that you think sociological
factors — such as family, peer groups, neighborhoods, schools, unemployment,
lack of education, and poverty — produce or determine criminal behavior. This
is the theoretical concept of sociological determinism, which identifies
factors beyond our control as the primary variable resulting in criminality. |
 | Anthony Bolin, age 5, plays with his toy gun six months after he was shot in Watts, LA.
Joseph Rodriguez, 1992 |
Although this type of thinking didn't enter into
the discourse until the 1920s and 1930s, the variations on it are numerous
and complex. Some believe that crime, like any other behavior, is learned
from the people around you. Others suggest that it is an innovative way
of achieving societally approved goals in the face of a societally generated
lack of means. Yet other theorists identifies social disorganization,
or lack of consensus regarding norms and values within a community, as
giving rise to crime.
These theories have provided the impetus for rehabilitation.
They hold that criminals are merely people who were poorly or wrongly
socialized. With proper treatment, or re-socialization, they can live
a "productive," "fulfilling," or "right" kind of life. It also suggests
people are not free to act, and therefore they are less responsible for
their behavior.
|
| This may seem like a kinder, gentler approach. Criminals
don't need punishment, they need to be cured. But there are constitutional
limits — like the 8th Amendment, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment — to
the penalties that can be inflicted on a person. An offender undergoing
"treatment" has much less protection under the law. With this so-called
favorable goal in mind, we can — and have — justified some disturbing "cures,"
from surgery to removing children from their homes. The treatment regimens
can get pretty invasive and
presumptuous. Can we punish people who are not considered responsible
for their behavior? It is impossible to punish a neighborhood, or a bad
childhood. |
