Do you believe in being a product of your environment?

Question

Everyone makes mistakes - but all i hear are those who point fingers.
We ALL have close family members that have strayed on the wrong path - those of you with those HARH answers towards felons, i wonder if you treat your family members the same way society does because of THEIR mistakes?
Family being a brother,sister, parent.

Answer 1

We are all products of our environment. But environment encompasses the close talks you have with your mother, father, sister, brother, friends, and your upbringing, as much as it does your material surroundings. Some people have the will to rise above bad environments, some just don't have what it takes. Even people given every advantage in life turn out to be criminals. It's the whole nature vs. nuture debate and it still hasn't been settled. Sometimes people point fingers to feel better about themselves, sometimes it's just plain self-righteousness. But you are right, no family is without its "black sheep." I was MY family's black sheep because I was so independent. I didn't settle down and get married like a good girl should, instead I partied and had a great time seeing the world and married late. Yes, that actually made me the black sheep of my family, though I never had trouble with the law. Families still protect their own, and the felons you speak of should treasure their family that still accepts them. It's true that no one gives you the type of acceptance your family does, at least in most cases. But, it's unrealistic to expect those who have no connection to or experience with a felon to feel compassionate towards them. Fear and a sense of self-preservation prevents them from doing so for the most part.

Answer 2

I believe that anyone can over come their environment if they choose to. It drives me crazy that when someone gets caught for killing a police officer or robbing a bank or any other major crime, that they say it was because of the way they were raised. I am tired of it.

Yes I do have a right to speak about it because my sister and I were abused in every way you could think of and when we went to our mother at the ripe old age of 3 and 6 and told her she beat us for lying. Now my sister and I are the only two kids in the family that have never returned home, been in jail or broke a law. We support ourselves and take care of our families without the government help.


We have both gotten tickets for speeding or something like that but we have never been arrested or charged or even questioned in a crime. So I can't see why the environment that someone was raised in is such a large factor. I don't listen to my brothers or nephew with that junk so I am certainly not going to listen to someone else.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Answer 3

My younger brother is in custody right now and is likely to be going to prison because of choices he made. Is that what you mean? He had the same advantages and disadvantages as the other 5 of us but he choose to be a criminal. His guilt or innocence is entirely up to the courts but if he is convicted then he can suffer the consequences.

I also know a man who went another direction, we worked together when I was putting myself through college. He was a Mexican kid from the barrios who wanted to do better. He continued to work and went to college himself. He has a Ph.D in psychology now.

We all make good and bad choices and we all have every opportunity to choose the best paths to follow. When a person chooses a path, they are free to make any choice they like. But once they choose a path, for good or bad, they have made the choice themselves. With the right to choose comes the responsibility for your actions.

Answer 4

Definitely, but with exceptions. Strict parents often find their children rebel - fool around, have sex, take drugs, drink copious amounts. Those kids, though, straighten themselves out later in life. Children who commit crimes and adults who commit crimes against people and property - as opposed to the misdemeanors of soft drug possession and public drunkenness - are nearly always products of very bad parenting.

We should never allow bad parenting as a defence in criminal cases, though. Children and adults know the difference between right and wrong whether they were taught it or not. They must be held accountable for their actions.

Answer 5

yes very much soo.