The Influence of Different Society Factors in Encouraging The Commission of Unlawful Acts

In society, it is a common assumption that criminal activity occurs in dark alleyways or in impoverished neighborhoods. However, offenses are being recorded daily in the most common places: neighborhoods, stores, and even schools. Criminal behavior includes any act that violates the rules of society. There have been many debates on whether sociological or psychological factors are determining the likelihood for these types of criminal behavior in individuals. Sociological factors deal with the effect of family and society on the individual while psychological factors focus mainly on the individual’s mind and thought process. When contrasted with psychological factors, sociological factors weigh more heavily on criminal behavior and have more practical interventions proven to reduce crime.

Sociological factors are more influential on an individual’s decisions and life choices. Family life will influence an individual from the very beginning. Parents have the ability to shape their child’s life for the better or the worse. In “Do Social Bonds Matter for Emerging Adults,” Christopher Salvatore, an Assistant Professor of Justice Studies at Montclair State University, and Travis Taniguchi, a senior research associate at the Police Foundation in D.C, explain that children who are taught “conventional norms and values are less likely to participate in criminal behavior” (741). If parents effectively teach their children right from wrong, they can discourage their children from giving into peer pressure. Some father-less homes can fail to instill good values and influence in their children. Salvatore and Taniguchi explained, “boyswithout fathers were more likely to be seized by police compared to those who had a father [at home]” (741). This increase in criminal behavior may come from father-less children trying to find someone or something to fill the void that their father has left within them. This leads into a second form of influence that individuals encounter. Peer pressure is a direct result of whom an individual spends their time with. Peers can negatively or positively affect individuals. Salvatore and Taniguchi stated, “crime is the result of a lack of social controls typically built through social bonds” (738). Creating social bonds with peers who set bad examples of societal behavior will influence an individual to commit criminal behavior. This can be due to wanting to satisfy one’s peers in order to not lose their relationship. One of the greatest influences on an individual’s tendency to commit criminal behavior is societal issues. One example of this is economic instability within society. Salvatore and Taniguchi affirmed, “those with greater levels of economic instability and less property owned would be more likely to offend” (747). Factors, like economic instability, can lead people to participate in criminal behavior due to their insufficiency of basic needs. They strive to acquire what everyone else has, but they do not have the proper means, so they turn to crime.

Intervention methods can help to decrease the influence of sociological factors on an individual’s tendency to commit criminal behavior. In "Recidivism And Rehabilitation Of Criminal Offenders: A Carrot And Stick Evolutionary Game,” BijanBerenji, Tom Chou, and Maria D’Orsogna, Professors of Mathematics in California, put together a model to describe patterns of reversion to criminal behavior when given an intervention. Berenji, Chou, and D’Orsogna claimed “societal intervention and support combined with punishment and coercion” to be the best method in reforming criminals (2). Past criminals were given the opportunity to choose between breaking the law or receiving support to change their lives around. When exposed to more severe punishment, offenders are reported less likely to commit crimes again. The most effective way to reform these former criminals was to reward them with money. They will grab onto any opportunity to receive items or support that they were not able to receive before. In an academic journal on psychology, Sanne L.A. de Vries, a researcher from the University of Amsterdam, and other researchers studied different prevention programs for criminals. De Vries et al. found “programs with a family and multimodal format” are the best in preventing future criminal behavior (116). If the offender’s family is a good role model, then they are a strong support system and help to reinforce acceptable societal behavior.In “Violence in youth: Where do we go from here? Behavior therapy's response,” Thomas Ollendick, a Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, conducted “parental management training” to emphasize acceptable societal behavior and to promote a healthier learning environment (500). Ollendick’s study found that offenders had “lower recidivism rates” due to better conditions within their home environment (501). This proves that a stronger social bond with family helps to deter offenders from falling back into their previous pattern of crime.

Sociological factors have been explained by sociologists through theories and by looking at an individual’s social life. Sociologists explain why criminal behavior is an ongoing problem through the Labeling Theory. In “Measuring the Contextual Effects and Mitigating Factors of Labeling Theory,” Emily Restivo, an Assistant Professor at the New York Institute of Technology, and Mark Lanier, a Professor at the University of Alabama, described the Labeling Theory which implies that if people are labeled a certain way, they will continue to prove that label (117). When people commit criminal acts, Restivo and Lanier maintained, “the labeling of such behavior as ‘delinquent’ will often lead to secondary deviance” (117). If society labels an individual as a criminal, the individual will continue to be a criminal because that is what society sees him or her as.Another way sociologists explain why people participate in criminal behavior is by studying the individual’s immediate environment and social group. In "Sociologists And American Criminology,” Marshall Clinard, Associate Professor of Sociology at University of Wisconsin, explains that criminal behavior is a “product of social and cultural forces and represents a reaction of the individual in the social group” (552). This shows how societal interactions can lead to criminal behavior when an individual spends time with the wrong type of people. Societal interactions come strongly from within one’s family and peer group. Individuals can be influenced by a social group to commit crime in order to prove one’s power and loyalty. An example of proving one’s power through crime is seen in gangs. An individual might be told to commit a certain criminal act in order to keep “security in the gang” (Clinard552). Individual’s being initiated into gangs may even have their life threatened unless they demonstrate their loyalty to the gang through criminal behavior.

The root of psychological factors is sociological factors. The effects of society shape an individual into who he will become and what he will do. An example is that of a psychopath. Among the traits that psychopaths share, the most common one is antisocial behavior. In “Psychopathy: A Comprehensive Review of its Assessment and Intervention,” Diana Moreira, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Porto in Portugal, and other multiple other Professors explain that “socio-psychological traumas in childhood (e.g., emotional, sexual, physical abuse; neglect; violence; conflicts and parents’ divorce)” trigger psychological issues (192). These sociological factors can have the ability to transform an individual into an antisocial being when the conditions are right. Psychological issues can begin in the home due to poor familial bonds. In "A Developmental Perspective On Antisocial Behavior,” G.R. Patterson, Ph.D. in Psychology, and Barbara D. DeBaryshe and Elizabeth Ramsey, both Developmental Psychologists, assert, “poor bonding implies a failure to identify parental and societal values regarding conformity and work” (329). At a young age, children should be taught the rights and wrongs of societal behavior by their parents. Parents have a responsibility to punish their children for doing wrong. Punishing children instills a fear to do wrong in order to deter future criminal behavior. Another sociological factor that leads to antisocial behavior is “peer group rejection” (Patterson, DeBaryshe, and Ramsey 330). When children are young, it is important for them to socialize with those around them. A child who does not fit in with his fellow peers will feel left out and alone leading to antisocial behavior. The child may grow uncaring or resentful toward others due to this rejection, which could possibly evolve into psychopathy if the child is given no attention.

Some behavior disorders, a psychological factor, make a person more likely to commit crime. Schizophrenia, for example, is a mental disorder that disorients the individual into hearing voices or believing others are trying to manipulate them. In a population study, Charlotte Pederson, a PhD researcher at a psychiatric hospital, and other Professors of Psychiatry found that those with schizophrenia are “2 to 7 times” more likely to commit “violent” crimes than those without the disorder (516). This statistic displays how people with schizophrenia are highly inclined to criminal behavior.Although, most of these violent crimes may not have actually stemmed from the behavior disorder itself. In "How Often And How Consistently Do Symptoms Directly PrecedeCriminal Behavior Among Offenders With Mental Illness,” Jillian Peterson, a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, and multiple other Professors proved that schizophrenia is not the main cause of violent crimes among those with the disorder. Peterson et al. stated that only “12% of all violent or aggressive incidents” were directly related to symptoms of schizophrenia (440). This means that eighty-eight percent of the time individuals with schizophrenia were influencedby sociological factors to commit criminal behavior. With this statistic, psychological factors are proven to not be a major cause of crime in today’s society. Behavior disorders, if caught early on, can be dealt with positively through social interactions and community life. By doing this, individuals with behavior disorders will be able to function better in society and be less prone to commit criminal behavior.

Sociological factors play a key role in shaping the actions of individuals. Psychological factors were shown to be a by-product of a combination of sociological factors. In “Gene Warfare,” Randall G. Shelden, a Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, asserts “the causes” of criminal behavior “are social” (166). This means the major root of crime in today’s society can be explained by studying the sociological factors within an individual’s life. Sociological issues are vast and can affect individuals in many ways, good or bad. Criminal behavior can be deterred through strong social bonds and positive enforcement of acceptable societal behavior. Shelden maintains, “violence is further perpetuated by the violence within our own culture” (166). The greatest obstacle to overcome in avoidance of criminal behavior does not simply start with the individual but with the society that creates them.