The Social Treatment of the Adult Offender

Abstract

The study of criminal behavior can be approached from several angles. The several approaches are not at all mutually exclusive. Indeed, they provide views of the same phenomena on different levels. For example, we can study the material causes which generate the setting for criminal behavior. This necessarily leads to an analysis of the social and economic patterns of contemporary American life. Or we may be interested in the efficient causes of crime. This raises such questions as, Why do individuals become criminals? and Can individuals be prevented from becoming criminals? It should appear obvious that whatever the cultural conditions are which produce criminal behavior, they finally operate through and only through the personality of the offender. No less true is it that the criminal-mindedness of the offender reflects the surroundings in which he moves, lives, and has his being. In seeking for the causes of crime we must not confuse the search for the material conditions which provide the setting for crime with the psychological drives of the individual which lead him to criminal activity. Both points of view are legitimate and complementary. It is as futile to emphasize one as it is to deny the other. We wish to comment on both points of view. are the material causes of The delinquency areas of our large cities are characterized by poor housing conditions, congestion, lack of supervised recreational activities, and a generally reduced standard of living. The majority of adult offenders have had little schooling, they are unskilled workmen, their employment record had been poor, and their family life unwholesome. The majority of criminals belong to economically disadvantaged groups. American students agree in general that crime reflects widespread social and economic disorganization. These are the material conditions which may lead to crime. Whether these conditions will become operative depends upon the types of individuals exposed to them. This leads us to the other question, What are efficient causes of crime?