society is mostly to blame for crime

SOCIETY IS MOSTLY TO BLAME FOR CRIME OF ITS PEOPLE.Essay Outline for JC2 General Paper Revision 2014

Wednesday, May 3, 2023 1

STEP 1 : INTERPRET• Parties Involved :

• The Individual• Society – that dictates norms and values• The Govt – that also dictates what society can and cannot do

• Big Ideas linked to this question : • Shared blame (bad apples vs bad barrel vs bad barrel makers)

• Personal responsibility


STEP 2 : CRAFT POINTS

STEP 3 : ADD SUPPORT

STEP 4 : ORDER


Pt 1 : Some may raise the concept of tabula rasa. Each child is born as a blank slate to be etched on and coloured by those around him. The harshest conditions increase his predisposition to crime. If he knows no other reality, then he is not largely to blame (even though he is not entirely free from blame)


Pt 2 : Some may also argue that specific conditions could lead to clouded judgment or increase the likelihood of crime, even for people who are raised to recognise right from wrong. Who created these conditions ? The society or the government Either one of them is most censurable


Pt 3 : Even though people are presented with temptations to commit crime, there are numerous overt crime prevention initiatives in society. This leaves the individual to make his own choices and take all responsibility for any crime he commits.


Pt 4 : Some may also argue that in developed societies, schools and the media are used to educate people on the law. A person cannot pass most of the blame to society.


Pt 5 : Another view is to judge neither the individual nor society as the most guilty party. In oppressive regimes, the government should get the most blame when large segments of society, made up of angry individuals, revolt against poor government by committing criminal acts. It means that the people in that society are, personally and collectively, desperate.


STEP 5 : Thesis Statement• Society should not take the most blame for crime that is committed entirely out of freewill.

• For society to take most of the blame, the individual must be shown to have been powerless.

• It is also difficult to let society take most of the blame when higher authorities are responsible for shaping it too.


society is mostly to blame for crime

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