My theory is that criminals commit the crimes they do because of the influence of their environment and peers. If someone grows up in a safe location (not including medical and mental illnesses) than they will live accustomed to that culture and lifestyle so they will be law-abiding and civil, but if they are raised in a dangerous area with crime and drugs than they will do those such things. People only know from what they have learned, and they learn from the way they were raised. Because you are taught to act a certain way every-day when you are younger, you abide and do so without questions because that is normal for someone in your environment and lifestyle to do. If someone in a safe environment is introduced by peers to dangerous and illegal things, than they will be tempted to join in. Peer pressure is a large portion of committing crimes, but I believe that those who are forced into crime by peers don't usually continue to commit crimes when they break those relationship ties unless they have an addiction to this act or to the substances that encourage them. Its monkey see, monkey do, people are influenced by their surroundings.
Scenario: WANTED *Micky Davis, 18, Caucasian male, 5 ft 6, dragon art tattoo on forearm, silver eye tattoo on neck. Arrested for theft, robbery, 3 assaults, possession of narcotics, and most recently first degree murder. This man is dangerous and if seen must be reported immediately to the police.
Story- Micky Davis grew up in a part of town with much less money and control, the slums as most call it. He lived in an ground floor apartment with his father, his mother moved out years ago, she too is a wanted suspect. The whole family has a criminal record, and the police know each by name easily. When Micky was eight his mother was evicted for drug trafficking and had been well known with the men in the neighborhood. His father was a chronic swearer but kept the money on their rent fairly well. Micky lived with this his whole life, as well as the putrid smell, shifty streets, and frequent gun shots at night, to him and the other people who lived here this was normal. At 15 he was involved in a gang known to the police as the Midnight Revolvers, due to their continuous use of the gun type. He is now on the run with this gang after a shooting in the neighborhood involving Micky and a rival gang-member.
My view- People like Micky Davis have their views on life altered and warped by their neighborhood. From the way he was raised he didn't know how else to deal with himself because having crack-head mothers and joining gangs at 15 was normal for the kids on his street and he was just doing what everyone else in his society did. He would have had such a different life if he were in a private school with a rich, business father and fake step-mother and owned half of California just as he would be different if he lived in Courtenay, BC, in a farm house with forty cows, a sheep-dog, seven siblings and a happy mother and father. Everyone is influenced by their family, friends and environment and that's why they grow up to think differently. People act upon what they know. Micky could have been raised to think that drugs and violence are a dangerous and bad thing, but he wasn't. He was raised to think that a loaded revolver and the f-bomb were essential to have at all times. Micky Davis was born into *black and white, there was no avoiding it.
*1-Not real name, made up for this particular project
*2-Black and White meaning the jail suit
Scenario: WANTED *Micky Davis, 18, Caucasian male, 5 ft 6, dragon art tattoo on forearm, silver eye tattoo on neck. Arrested for theft, robbery, 3 assaults, possession of narcotics, and most recently first degree murder. This man is dangerous and if seen must be reported immediately to the police.
Story- Micky Davis grew up in a part of town with much less money and control, the slums as most call it. He lived in an ground floor apartment with his father, his mother moved out years ago, she too is a wanted suspect. The whole family has a criminal record, and the police know each by name easily. When Micky was eight his mother was evicted for drug trafficking and had been well known with the men in the neighborhood. His father was a chronic swearer but kept the money on their rent fairly well. Micky lived with this his whole life, as well as the putrid smell, shifty streets, and frequent gun shots at night, to him and the other people who lived here this was normal. At 15 he was involved in a gang known to the police as the Midnight Revolvers, due to their continuous use of the gun type. He is now on the run with this gang after a shooting in the neighborhood involving Micky and a rival gang-member.
My view- People like Micky Davis have their views on life altered and warped by their neighborhood. From the way he was raised he didn't know how else to deal with himself because having crack-head mothers and joining gangs at 15 was normal for the kids on his street and he was just doing what everyone else in his society did. He would have had such a different life if he were in a private school with a rich, business father and fake step-mother and owned half of California just as he would be different if he lived in Courtenay, BC, in a farm house with forty cows, a sheep-dog, seven siblings and a happy mother and father. Everyone is influenced by their family, friends and environment and that's why they grow up to think differently. People act upon what they know. Micky could have been raised to think that drugs and violence are a dangerous and bad thing, but he wasn't. He was raised to think that a loaded revolver and the f-bomb were essential to have at all times. Micky Davis was born into *black and white, there was no avoiding it.
*1-Not real name, made up for this particular project
*2-Black and White meaning the jail suit
Hi Andraya,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your theory and your story/scenario to back your ideas up with. Attachment is a big idea in Travis Hirschi's work (actually attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief) and friends and family do just that. You have some good ideas here. Thanks!