The Causes of Crime - Essay Example

A study by Rutter and Smith cites the post-war emphasis on individualism. It seems to be that the answer arrived at depends upon who you ask and the sort of questions asked rather than any really accurate answers. Bruce Anderson, writing in 2006, comes up with another reason – not poverty, but pessimism and family circumstances. He points out that in the1930’s there was extreme poverty and unemployment and gross inequality, but less crime. Anderson brings up the problem of modern-day consumerism – modern youth is much more exposed than any previous generation to things they cannot afford to buy.

He quotes from a Downing Street Report ‘Crime, Justice and Cohesion’ ( January 2007) which states that half of all crime in Britain can be attributed to just 100,000 young males, in particular, they point to dissatisfied West Indian and Asian youths, and also many coming from single-parent families where they have little contact with their fathers. Although the subgroup may come from a different racial group similar answers will be found elsewhere in the world. They also often have poor educational backgrounds.

What is lacking in their lives is family stability. According to Anderson as long as people believe that their status in society is pre-ordained they will not turn to crime. However in modern society, some people can move their status, but this removes the excuse for others and so makes them even more frustrated with their position in society. Crime is therefore seen as a way out, especially to those with weaker characters and a lack of belief in their own abilities to succeed in other ways. Poor role modeling ‘he got in with the wrong lot’ is also a major cause of people turning to crime and this fits into behavioral psychology views.

Flowe ( 1996) looked at the psychological reasons behind criminal behavior. These hold that individual differences in personality, innate biological reasons, and particular social interactions may make some people more inclined to carry out crimes.  In 2004 Bennett et al put forward their idea that social cognitive skills are important. They pointed out that how a person copes with life’s stresses depends upon their cognitive social skills, i.e. their skills in interpreting social information.

This explains gender differences, with females usually being less inclined to carry out violent crime than their male counterparts. Conclusion. There is no one cause of any social problem, including crime. Although it can be argued that everyone is ultimately responsible for their own actions, yet at the same time it can often be wrong to hold a person as being wholly responsible for his crimes. There are a number of factors in our societies, such as family culture, as well as widespread systems such as education, politics and the economy, which put pressure on people to commit crimes.

There are psychological forces as well as the examples of others and peer pressure. With such complex reasons, it is not surprising that solutions are not easily arrived at, but it seems clear that simply building more prisons is not an answer.