How Does Socialization Affect Crime

When society looks at crime offenders, most people assume that the offenders are breaking the law because they come from a broken home, are of non-white ethnic background, live in poverty and belong to a gang. While some of these are true, others are not. Why do people commit crimes in the first place, what makes them think that is ok behavior or is this even preventable behavior that society can stop? These are great questions, which makes this essay take a closer look at how the influence of socialization can affect crime. Could it be that anybody is prone to crime, and could improper socialization have anything to do with the crime itself. In this essay, it will examine the theory behind this thought process. When looking at the correlation …show more content…
Crime occurs when the forces that bind people in society are weakened or broken (Siegel, 2012). When breaking down this theory, the main premise behind the thought process is fear of punishment, which acts as the deterrence for the person. People obey the rules for different reasons, but most follow the law because of moral and ethical beliefs and conformity to the rules in society. Rules are in place for a reason, they all make sense, so why break them. How you are brought up by your parents can have an influence on this theory as well, if your parents were law abiding and have established that good moral and ethical behavior, then the child is likely to follow and vice versa, if the parents taught to abuse or break the law and not follow it, then the child is likely to follow the parent and end up being an offender or a career criminal. While this might not be applicable in all situations it does follow a majority of those …show more content…
People interpret symbols and gestures different, which can portray a good image or a bad image depending on the circumstances that surround that situation. For example, a police officer using a Taser on someone can be viewed as excessive force if the person was compliant (most likely not the case) or was justified if the person could not be subdued any other way. Society looks to judge everything and everyone, from the car you drive to having tattoos, which can portray a good or bad image of the individual. It can also lead to be labeled, hence labeling theory; a criminal is most likely always going to be labeled a criminal in the eyes of society, which might lead to more deviant behavior. This theory really doesn’t explain how socialization can cause crime, but it is another way of explaining the social implications of being labeled a criminal or carrying around any type of negative perception of