The make up of a community, and it’s locality, have powerful influences on it’s members.
There are a number of strands which weave together to create situations where individuals learn how to survive. The cultural background of individuals is formed by the availability of education, employment, family belief systems and the level of congestion. When you add peer pressure and the subliminal images of the advertising industry the individual has little say in how they will behave because the pressure to conform over rides their wishes.
A trust in education allows any individual to become academically qualified. A child whose learning difficulties are not recognized and or who has no support at home has a greater chance of leaving school illiterate than someone who is helped. Both individuals have the same desires for money, good clothes, nice food and respect from the world at large. The person with little of no achievements at school is already at a disadvantage.
In some families no one has a job. Welfare supplies the money they need but this is limited in amount and the temptation to acquire more illegally is strong. When there s a culture of unemployment it is difficult to understand how the children can learn otherwise.
Having a lack of self respect can come about when there is a family belief system that the members are not of value. A lack of self respect can make someone present a front of indifference to what happens to them.
People with little education and low wages tend to live in areas which are not pretty and which cram as many people into the space available as possible. Congestion is shown among animals to be a cause of stress and it is no different for humans.
Fear of not conforming controls the actions of many. Being an outsider is frightening because there is no support system. To be an insider is to conform to the accepted behaviour of that group, even if it is against the conscience of the individual.
Advertising shows airbrushed perfection and without the education to see it for what it is, an individual could believe that is what the rest of the world has.
All these factors are relevant because they are elements in the commission of crime. A large proportion of the prison population are there because they lack education, a belief in self in a healthy way, or they come from a culture where this is the way of life. While there are some individuals who have managed to escape from this culture, many do not.
An individual who is given support and education has a greater chance of not breaking the law than someone whose environment supplies none of those needs.
