The topic of crime is complex both from the point of view of legal assessment, and from the moral and ethical principles in society. Its complexity lies in the relative conventionality of the very concept of "crime", which primarily implies an offense.
The convention is that the legal norms themselves in different eras and countries can radically differ. So, even in our time, a criminal convicted by law and society in one country is perceived as an innocent victim by citizens of another state. An example would be the criminal penalties imposed in South Korea for adultery, which seems to any European as a shocking infringement of the right to privacy.
Nevertheless, in a sense, the first crime was committed by the Christian ancestor of all mankind - Eve, having tasted the forbidden fruit. Violating the established procedure, she was punished, which is a visual mechanism of the work of "legal norms" of that time. Millennia have passed, and in human society, by and large, nothing has changed. Yet why do people commit a crime?
Signs of crime
So, despite the difference in norms, all crimes will be characterized by the infliction of a certain moral, material or physical harm to the victim or society. Crime should be perceived by society as something extremely negative and wrong, otherwise it will be doomed to chaos and failure.
The punishment system is designed to serve as a limiter for a person who decides to commit a criminal act. It is the basis of law and order, but it often gives rise to a vicious circle when a person convicted of a minor offense, subconsciously angry at the society that condemned him, which leads to the commission of more serious crimes. That is why the development of the legal norms and laws themselves, as well as the system of punishments, is a very difficult legal and psychological task.
Common causes of crime
Trying to find out why people commit a crime, scientists often use the term "socio-psychological factors." This, of course, is correct, since it is very rare to single out one specific reason that pushed the person to an offense. However, they should still be considered as separate social and psychological aspects, which, stacked on top of each other, form in each case a completely unique complex for any criminal.
In addition to psychological and social reasons, a number of conditions are necessary for the commission of an illegal act. Often, despite psycho-social dissatisfaction, a person does not commit a crime until the moment the circumstances themselves push the potential criminal to commit an unlawful act. Let us consider in more detail the reasons that make people break the law.
Loneliness and rejection
No matter how strange it may sound, it is precisely rejection by society that is the most common psychological reason for committing all kinds of crimes. Of course, such conditions originate in the family, where sometimes, even with apparent prosperity, the child feels unnecessary and rejected.
Next, the first teams that a person gets into the game come into play - a kindergarten and a school.If here relations with society do not develop, it is not possible to make friends or establish even neutral communication, a person develops sociopathy, which in the future can manifest itself with a whole gamut of child’s behavioral reactions from complete isolation in itself to outright aggression. And while parents ask themselves “why do children commit crimes”, such people do not accept society and its laws, just as it does not accept them.
The value-legal system of a juvenile delinquent was initially improperly laid down, which is no longer possible to fix in the future. Loneliness and rejection will almost always be the answer to the question "why do teenagers commit crimes." It is very dangerous here that the general condemnation of the first offense leads to a deepening and aggravation of the problem, and the criminal group often becomes the first social group that accepts this person.
Self-doubt and fear
These psychological factors are formed mainly in childhood, when a child is faced with unreasonable aggression from peers or too severe punishments from parents. The subconscious mind seeks to find out the reasons for the negative attitude towards oneself, against which the inferiority complex and the fear of external factors develop.
In the future, the person constantly feels the need for self-affirmation, which can be achieved by criminal means. It should be noted here that it is impossible to find out why minors commit crimes, not taking into account the fact that this age period is characterized by an urgent need to gain authority both in front of parents and peers.
Psychological motives
It happens that the offender has a specific motive for the commission of an illegal action. Such motives include revenge, jealousy, hatred. In this case, a person, committing a crime, perceives it as an act of retaliation and restoration of justice. Faced with such precedents, psychologists noted that the perpetrators always know why they commit crimes, and, as a rule, they do not regret what they have done.
Low living standards and social dissatisfaction
Everything is relatively simple here. A person, feeling a constant shortage of money and material wealth, does not see a legal way to achieve his goals. Selfish interest becomes the cause of the absolute majority of crimes in any society. The universal idealization of material wealth creates a stereotype in people's minds that money is happiness. Striving for material well-being, a person constantly conducts a comparative analysis of himself with more successful acquaintances and, as a rule, comes to the conclusion that he is no worse. This is another reason why people commit a crime.
Impunity
Statistics show that in countries where compliance with the law is the highest value and has no exceptions for those in power, crime is several times less than in those where the level of corruption is high. This is completely logical, because the human psyche, observing the daily violation of the law from the side, erases the value-legal border and no longer perceives the crime as a taboo. In addition, in the subconscious, there is always the opportunity to avoid punishment, which also does not favor the observance of the law.
Mental disorders
One of the most complex and controversial causes of crime, because it is difficult to prove and always causes doubts among others. It is known for certain that there is such a mental disorder as kleptomania, when a person is prone to petty theft, but it is quite difficult to prove this disease. The same pedophilia is a scientifically proven mental disorder in which a person is sometimes not able to give an account of his actions.
Moreover, if the pedophile is not sent to prison, but merely sent to compulsory treatment, a completely reasonable resonance arises in society on the topic “why do people commit a crime of such terrible content and do not bear objective punishment for it”. It will also push socially unstable individuals to violate the law.
There can be an infinite number of reasons for committing a crime, and even the most experienced psychologist will not be able to answer the question "why do people commit crimes." Essays, short stories, novels and even scientific works on crime only prove that this negative phenomenon has been accompanying mankind since its inception and, unfortunately, is unlikely to ever be completely eradicated.
