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How can such sadistic acts—expressions of what moral philosophers would call sheer evil—be explained satisfactorily by poverty and deprivation? What is it in our society that produces such mindless rage? Was the 19th century French criminologist Jean Lacassagne right when he observed that "societies have the criminals they deserve"? Or has the whole connection between crime and society been exaggerated?
Some of the usual explanations seem pretty limp. Yes, America is a materialistic society where everyone is encouraged to accumulate as much as possible. Francis Maloney, commissioner of the department of children and youth in New Haven, notes that "merchants are upset about shoplifting. Well, all the goods are there on the rack to be taken. If you're trying to entice me with the tourist trap, the kid who hasn't money is going to take advantage too. We contribute to the offenses that are committed."
Yes, television glorifies violence and, yes, America is "permissive." In Madison, Wis.. Dane County Judge Archie Simonson released a rapist, 15, into the custody of his family. Madison, the judge explained, is a sexually permissive community where women wear see-through blouses. The kid was only reacting "normally," said the judge, though the 16-year-old victim was wearing an unprovocative sweater. But surely these and similar arguments, which go to any length to hold society and not the individual accountable, are glib and shallow.
More serious analysts point to the fact that, historically, rapid economic expansion and ethnically mixed populations have produced crime—hence the waves of violence in the U.S. in the middle and late 19th century. Another factor that historically has been accompanied by crime, points out Sociologist Marvin Wolfgang, is individual freedom. Some experts today argue that juvenile crime is spreading because everyone is pushing what he considers his "rights" to the utmost limits. Standards are lowered and blurred: any behavior, however deviant, finds its instant defenders. The traditional and constraining institutions of family, church and school have lost much of their authority. Says LaMar Empey, a University of Southern California criminologist who specializes in youth: "The 1960s saw the dissipation of the traditional controls of society. There was much more freedom of activity in all spheres, and it was inevitable that there would be more crime. Also, the admission that we had a racist society gave some people an excuse to attack that society without guilt."
Most important is the breakdown in the family. "The old saws about the family are true," says Judge Seymour Gelber, who hears 1,000 delinquency cases a year in Dade County, Fla. "We look for quick solutions, but family stability is the long-term answer." Adds Detective Ellen Carlyle: "The parents don't seem to care. They turn to the police and say. 'Here's my problem. Take care of it.' But they must start caring for their children in infancy."
Gelber notes that blacks commit 75% of the violent crime in Dade County, though they constitute only 15% of the population. But Cubans make up a third of the county's population and account for only 12% of the violent crime. The judge believes the strong Cuban family structure explains this