NCJ Number
161533
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Crime is the result of the interaction of anthropological, telluric, and social influences.
Abstract
The anthropological condition concerns not only the organic and anatomical constitution of a person, but also the psychological. Each person inherits and personifies a certain organic and psychological combination of characteristics. This constitutes the individual factor of human activity, which either remains normal throughout life or manifests itself as insanity or criminality. Telluric factors are the characteristics of the physical environment in which a person lives. These are the factors in a person's daily environment that mold character and behavior and include conditions of housing, job, and neighborhood. Social conditions pertain to interactions with other persons in one's environment, including parents, friends, and neighbors. Crime is thus a social phenomenon that derives from the interactions of anthropological, telluric, and social factors. This means that the characteristics and dynamics of a society will determine the behaviors of those under its influence. Policymakers can counter criminality by devising plans and adopting policies designed to promote positive behaviors in all segments of a society. In the society of the future, "the necessity for penal justice will be reduced to the extent that social justice grows intensively and extensively."