Causes Of Crime

Question 1

What is one Psychological Cause of Crime?

Answer 1

• Addiction

Question 2

What is Addiction as a cause of Crime?

Answer 2

• When someone needs to feed their addiction, the cost of this may be greater than their income, therefore to feed this they have to turn to crime e.g shoplifting/theft.
• These may begin out of personal circumstances which is out of their control.
• It is also linked to poverty & deprivation.

Question 3

What is the Moral Issue surrounding Addiction as a cause of crime?

Answer 3

• When under the influence, are you responsible for the choices you make? Is it different committing a crime when under the influence to when you are sober?
• Does the type of addiction/reasons make a difference? Should they be rehabilitated or punished, or both?

Question 4

What is the Christian Response towards Addiction?

Answer 4

• Someone who is suffering from addiction deserves our understanding, love + support instead of being thrown in jail.
• This is because causes of addiction are varied and it may go outside of the person themselves.
• May argue addiction is an illness and we need to treat these actions differently.

Question 5

What is the consequence of the Christian Response for Addiction?

Answer 5

• They would not place them in jail, but instead focus on ways to help those who are addicted.
• Jesus forgives the sins of the people, we can then forgive this person and instead getting rid of the root cause instead of punishing the person.

Question 6

What is another Psychological Cause of Crime?

Answer 6

• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)

Question 7

What are ACE’s as a cause of crime?

Answer 7

• ACES are described as stressful events that happen during childhood which can impact their physical/mental health later on in life.
• These can be linked to depression, substance abuse, cancers, loss of parent, etc.
• People with 4 or more ACES are 15x more likely to have committed violence.

Question 8

What is the Moral Issue to do with ACES as a cause of crime?

Answer 8

• Are ACES just an excuse for poor behaviour, as not everyone who experienced trauma goes onto commit crime?
• Do we have a moral responsibility to understand and fix ACES?

Question 9

What is the Christian Response to ACES as a cause of crime?

Answer 9

• We choose how we act due to the free will high God has given us, and this person is breaking the 10 Commandments, which is a sin.
• At the same time, we can show these people compassion like Jesus showed during his life, and help these people.

Question 10

What is the consequence of the Christian Response towards ACES as a cause of crime?

Answer 10

• We need to make these people suffer the consequence of the crime by putting them in prison, but we need to rehabilitate them as well through therapy to be able to get to the root of their problem and love them like Jesus did.
• At the same time, rehabilitation may not work as they may refuse it, which shows we shouldn’t love them as they don’t deserve it (they know what they are doing is wrong)

Question 11

What is a third psychological cause of crime?

Answer 11

• Mental Health

Question 12

What is poor mental health as a cause of crime?

Answer 12

• Those who are labelled psychopaths or sociopaths are more likely to commit serious + violent crime. However, the causes of these behaviours are not clear, so is it their fault or not?
• It is estimated 1 in 6 people experience. Mental health problem, these can include: anxiety, depression, bipolar, schizophrenia etc.

Question 13

What is the Moral Issue around Mental Health as cause of crime?

Answer 13

• How do you prove someone has a mental health issue, or that this is the cause of crime? IS it being used as an excuse?
• Or are they not in control of their actions, therefore they deserve help and love?

Question 14

What is the Christian Response towards Mental Health as a cause of crime?

Answer 14

• It is not a valid cause of crime due to our ability of free-will.
• At the same time, illnesses like schizophrenia means it is very hard to ignore the bad mental health side of it, and therefore they deserve love and compassion. Christians have the duty to help the weak and vulnerable.

Question 15

What is the Consequence of the Christian Response towards Mental Illness as a cause of crime?

Answer 15

• Less empathy shown towards them at risk of not providing appropriate help to those that need it, as they could be faking a mental illness.
• Need rehabilitation to help and control mental health to become a stable person in society.
• There can be a charity towards these people in the community and prison?

Question 16

What is an environmental cause of crime?

Answer 16

• Area

Question 17

What is Area as a cause of crime?

Answer 17

• Depending on where you live can impact your outcome on life, as poverty is linked to crime and placed that have high poverty will have high rates of crime + unemployment.
• 1982 Broken Windows Theory is that if a place is already broken, people are more likely to do more damage to it as it is seen as acceptable behaviour. If the Government repair the place, it will just be destroyed again.

Question 18

What is the moral issue towards area as a cause of crime?

Answer 18

• Should the Government keep helping these communities by fixing things, or should they not hep therefore leaving them in a worse position?

Question 19

What is the Christian Response towards Area as a cause of crime?

Answer 19

• Christians want to build a ‘Kingdom of God’ on Earth where everyone is able to live comfortably whilst being happy spiritually and materially.
• Christians place a great emphasis on helping the poor, so in this instance they would want to help these people, rehabilitate them as much as possible so nobody is in a bad circumstance.

Question 20

What is the Consequence of this Christian Response towards Area as a cause of crime?

Answer 20

• Christian’s want to help the poor as much as possible, so they would not place them in prison for their crimes, but instead help them get a job, set up places where they could go e.g youth centres, skate parks to really solve the root cause of the problem.

Question 21

What is another environmental cause of crime?

Answer 21

• Personal Gain

Question 22

What is Personal Gain as a cause of crime?

Answer 22

• There can be many types of personal gain such as ‘white collar’ crime where people steal out of selfishness and greed.
• On the other hand, people may commit crimes out of necessity, and it is not their choice as they have to feed their family and themselves.

Question 23

What is the Moral Issue to do with personal Gain as a cause of crime?

Answer 23

• Is it a viable cause of crime, as not all people who are in poverty resort to committing crimes, but is it okay to just ignore the ones who are in desperate need of help?

Question 24

What is the Christian Response towards Personal Gain as a cause of crime?

Answer 24

• Personal Gain as Greed is not a valid cause of crime as it breaks the 10 commandments.
• But in the way of necessity, they may recognise the pressures of society and how people who are weaker may give into committing crime as they believe they have a duty to help the weak.

Question 25

What are the consequences of the Christian Response towards Personal Gain as a cause of crime?

Answer 25

• Christian’s would want to equalise the poor and the wealthy and be able to help wherever possible e.g donation to charity instead of holding people accountable for their crimes, they would make sure they are in a good place.