Eradicating Crime

Crime has been around for thousands of years- acts viewed as vile, evil and sometimes unexplainable by humans, have plagued our species since the pre-historic civilizations. The first attempt at creating a code of laws started in Ancient Mesopotamia with Hammurabi’s Code. Although humanity has come a long way from following Hammurabi’s idea of “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” we still struggle with finding fitting punishments for crimes, as opinions on the matter are widely subjective. However, over the recent years, with the development of criminology, the focus has shifted from finding a fitting punishment for a crime, to eradicate crime by starting with its root causes. Criminology is the field of Criminal Law dealing with attempting to figure out why crime happens. The practitioners and experts of this field have narrowed it down to nine main causes, though they widely debate what the main one is. The purpose of this research paper will be to go into depth about why poor parenting and broken homes are the root cause of crime- this being due to the fact that they have a negative mental impact on the child’s development, can easily lower the child’s altruism levels, and can ultimately lead into other causes viewed by researchers as root causes of crime.

The lack of good parenting has an enormous effect on the development of a child. In Canada, around 38% of marriages end in divorce (2018), and around 443 000 kids grow up in the adoption system (2017). Being raised without proper parenting forces a child to take their life into their own hands, with a complete lack of guidance, and a very low level of expertise as to what to expect from life. The difference comes in when the children have a good example of parenting from an early age. Though each family has its problems, the meaning of poor parenting and broken homes involves physical and mental abuse, substance usage, absent parenting or divorce, to name a few. Many countries with low crime rates also show a great amount of happiness and satisfaction when it comes to relationships between the parents. A study has shown that the lack of a father figure is the most relevant cause of time- stating that children that grow up without a father figure are three times more likely to go to jail than their peers. The divorce of a child’s parents likewise places them at a much higher risk of becoming a juvenile delinquent. The single, most important exception to the rule of broken homes applies to children that receive their satisfaction and parental guidance through their schooling or religion- as often kids tend to become attached to their teachers or religious mentors, as to have some form of guidance in their lives. Children not only need parental guidance- they crave it. It is as important and necessary for a child to grow up with good parenting as it is for them to be fed. Restricting a child from receiving the guidance they rightly need, is stripping them away from something absolutely necessary for their growing up to become healthy, functioning members of society.

Canada is on a constant, sure decline in levels of altruism. Statistics Canada has shown that only 21.3% of Canadians volunteer or donate, and those that do donate find that 3% is a proper amount. However, compared to countries like The Philippines, or the slums of Mumbai, our overall altruism rate as a nation is laughable. Therefore if a child grows up in a society that lacks altruism, will they not then become less and less empathetic as generations pass? And if empathy is not taught to a child from their early stages, will they not then not know how important of a value that is? The answer, as you would expect, is yes. A study has shown that if a child does not have emotional attachment to their mother in the early years, or if that attachment is somehow disrupted wether through the divorce of parents, substance abuse or neglect to only name a few, permanent harm will be done to the child’s capacity of forming an emotional attachment to others. Through a lack of empathy, and emotional isolation from others, the possibility of crime skyrockets. This certainly explains why children that grow up without a mother, or in the foster care system often turn to a life of crime- the lack of remorse and empathy towards others is only the damaging result of having grown up in an improper manner for a child. However, this problem can easily be fixed. Children need to be taught the value of altruism, and those that take part in adopting or fostering children should be well aware that the child is a person, not an object as they are often treated. By taking those first steps, one can confidently say that we will then be on our way to tackling the root cause of crime.

Lastly, a lack of good parenting can lead to other causes defined by criminologists as root causes of crime. Broken homes can lead to poverty, which then will inevitably lead to some extent of substance abuse, poor education and a high rate of unemployment. When one grows up in a family with no moral values and a high rate of mental and physical abuse, one becomes disgusted at the idea of family overall. This begins the cycle of them trying to find a community, a place that makes them feel like family. Although some people choose to turn to a religious organization such as a church or a temple, many feel that the satisfaction from within is nothing compared to the money they could make when joining a gang or a group of drug dealers. Surveys show that around 80% of gangsters come from families with broken homes, which is not surprising considering all anyone craves is a community. Humans are naturally social creatures- we hate being alone. If being social and finding your community means joining a gang, it does not seem out of the ordinary and unusual. Turning to a life of crime and drug abuse is easier than attempting at working through the mental damage done to one in the early stages of their development. Poor parenting also inevitably leads to a lack of education, which thus leads to a low rate of employment. It does not seem surprising that when a person can not find employment, drug dealing or anything else of the sort seems like a reasonable option, though it may not seem reasonable to those that grew up in an intact, supporting family.

The key to tackling the root cause of crime is not by judging-but rather helping the people that are more prone to it. I am sure that if we think hard enough, anyone can think of someone that they know, someone maybe even close to them that, after reading the essay above, they now know are vulnerable to a life of crime. We are called not to judge or be biased, but to lend a helping hand when we see something preventable. Children must have parental guidance from an early age. Altruism and empathy are key values that need to be taught to kids as they grow up, and the idea of a family should be safety, a place where one can be themselves without fear of being looked down upon, judged or mentally abused. Once Canada can perfect their notion of what a family is, the first step will be taken- and crime rates will slowly start to decline within our nation.