The Real Cause of Crime

There is a remarkable fact that sociologists and psychologists have been studying for years and yet can't seem to fully appreciate its significance. The fact that no matter how much abuse, hardship, and emotional trauma that a person experiences – especially children – they can and will recover fully and live happy “productive” lives, but only so long as they have direct and meaningful (sincere) support from the people around them. And, conversely, even the most mild and insignificant emotional discomfort can and usually does lead to a self-destructive and dysfunctional lifestyle when a person has no real emotional support.

Of course I'm only stating this fact in simple layman's terms here in order to make it a bit more relevant to our blog; but it is a well-studied phenomenon that provides cues that could lead us to a far better world if only we were more willing as a society to accept the fact that “the harm one person can do to society is far less than the harm society can do to one person” (paraphrasing Michel Foucault).

In the present world society tends to shift blame for social problems onto groups and individuals within itself. The criminal is the cause of crime, and the terrorist the cause of terrorism. But, as numerous studies have consistently shown, not to mention history itself, criminals are invariably the product of social circumstances, and terrorism the inevitable result of greedy government policies.

The “real” problem, as I see it, is that we can't force people to care genuinely about each other. Any and all attempts to do so – i.e. attempts to “control” other people's behavior – invariably results in only more chaos and confusion.

So what should we do? I say there is only one thing we CAN do: Love, and be patient. This requires us to look within ourselves for the “answers” to the crime and terror we see around us. It requires us to stop trying to control other people and stop imposing our ideas (of “justice”, for example) onto others. It also requires that we have faith in humanity, and that we come to realize that inhumanity is born in our own ignorance, not the ignorance of others (i.e. their ignorance is a reflection of our own, without exception!)

[J.D. August 2, 2016]

“What is happening inside a cancer cell cannot be fully understood without considering its place within an intricate communications network [community?] of other cells.” - George Johnson, The Cancer Chronicles

P.S. I include this quote because it seems to reflect the ontological connection that all truth has throughout nature; it is one way we might know the truth when we see it.