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'...so if you get past your teens without criminality you seem to not become a criminal' 'Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man' There is

by dazc 9y ago

'...so if you get past your teens without criminality you seem to not become a criminal' 'Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man' There is a lot of truth in this. When I think back to my childhood there were always a few kids who were just bad. They came from the same background, had the same advantages, and so on but there was still something evil about them. Typical behaviours included stuff like sadistic cruelty to animals, bullying , random violence and vandalism with no real logic or reason to why they would act in such a manner? It could be explained away by saying something would be going on behind the scenes at home but (in these few cases) I really don't believe it. Of course, from as far as I can remember, all these people went on to be criminals of one sort or another in adulthood.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago
It can be surprising though, I recall one of my children's school friends who although he was never very academic was always mild mannered and well behaved with us, there were other children in the school who were a much bigger problem. He is now in prison for murdering his girlfriend.
quasse 9y ago
>They came from the same background, had the same advantages, and so on Did they really though? Thinking back to my childhood recently, I've come to almost exactly the opposite conclusion. There were some kids who I thought were just naturally shitty until I experienced enough of life to realize that they were the ones getting beaten up by their angry or alcoholic parents or being emotionally abused by a narcissistic family member. These were all things that I saw the signs of going to their houses or at sports games, etc. as a kid, but it was so far outside of my frame of reference that I didn't understand the context for what was happening. That angry arm grab and wrench just because dad didn't like the choice of font on a book report? Not a sign of a healthy home life, especially if that was the way he behaved with an "outside observer" in the house. It's all still anecdotal of course, with my small sample size and situation, but after going to a small school with the same ~25 kids (all from similar middle class households) for 9 years I can say that later success in life was strongly correlated to the ones that had supportive and non-traumatic home lives.
- dazc 9y ago
  I think you make a good point, a lot of kids do grow up in dysfunctional households and this is bound to have an impact. I knew kids like this too. In the cases I described before though, I honestly don't think this explains it. If it does their parents were doing a good job of hiding it?
csomar 9y ago
I’d not take a person entourage as concerte evidence. Evidentally, we need indeniable research here since it is about increminating people and putting them behind bars.

by dazc 9y ago

tonyedgecombe 9y ago

It can be surprising though, I recall one of my children's school friends who although he was never very academic was always mild mannered and well behaved with us, there were other children in the school who were a much bigger problem. He is now in prison for murdering his girlfriend.

quasse 9y ago

>They came from the same background, had the same advantages, and so on Did they really though? Thinking back to my childhood recently, I've come to almost exactly the opposite conclusion. There were some kids who I thought were just naturally shitty until I experienced enough of life to realize that they were the ones getting beaten up by their angry or alcoholic parents or being emotionally abused by a narcissistic family member. These were all things that I saw the signs of going to their houses or at sports games, etc. as a kid, but it was so far outside of my frame of reference that I didn't understand the context for what was happening. That angry arm grab and wrench just because dad didn't like the choice of font on a book report? Not a sign of a healthy home life, especially if that was the way he behaved with an "outside observer" in the house. It's all still anecdotal of course, with my small sample size and situation, but after going to a small school with the same ~25 kids (all from similar middle class households) for 9 years I can say that later success in life was strongly correlated to the ones that had supportive and non-traumatic home lives.

dazc 9y ago
I think you make a good point, a lot of kids do grow up in dysfunctional households and this is bound to have an impact. I knew kids like this too. In the cases I described before though, I honestly don't think this explains it. If it does their parents were doing a good job of hiding it?

csomar 9y ago

I’d not take a person entourage as concerte evidence. Evidentally, we need indeniable research here since it is about increminating people and putting them behind bars.