Upbringing Excuse for Criminal Behavior? Research Paper

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Nature vs. Nurture

Much has been made as of late about whether and to what extent offenders should be held liable for their actions when they grow up around illegal or morally depraved activity. Such activity can include domestic assault, child abuse, child rape or molestation, emotional abuse and so forth. Quite often, child offenders below a certain age are not held liable or held as liable as they would be if they were adults or at least close to being eighteen years old. Indeed, the old saying "the apple does not fall far from the tree" proves itself in many situations. However, while forgiving some transgressions due to poor upbringing may sound good on paper, it would open a Pandora's box of problems and would not work in practice.

Analysis

The idea that a child below a certain age, although that age tends to vary based on the offense and the age of the child, should not be held to the same standards as adults makes a lot of sense. Indeed, if a nine-year-old kills someone, it begs the question if they truly could or would understand the gravity and wrongness of what they did. However, when one puts forth the idea that children and adults should be forgiven their crimes just because they grew up around bad circumstances, that is a bridge too far and for a couple of reasons.

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First, defining what is a "bad childhood" and what crosses the line in terms of someone being held responsible or not being held responsible would be difficult to impossible to define and enforce. Second, it would be seen as a boon to defense attorneys and depraved degenerates everywhere to just kill, stab and rob and then blame it on their bad upbringing or the lack of one or more parents. Third, even children with bad childhoods can mend their path and there should always be a point where people are assumed to be able to choose the right path or the wrong path. Irrespective of what they choose, they must be forced to deal with the consequences of their actions or inactions (Russell, 2014).

Disregarding liability and responsibility would be insidiously obtuse and would open the door for people to say that they do not owe….....

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