The Scientific Fundamentalist

A Look at the Hard Truths About Human Nature
Satoshi Kanazawa is an evolutionary psychologist at LSE and the coauthor (with the late Alan S. Miller) of Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters. See full bio

Comments on "When crime rates go down, recidivism rates go up"

When crime rates go down, recidivism rates go up

What should be the goal of the prison system in society? Should prisons aim to reduce crime rates? Or should they aim to rehabilitate their inmates so that they will not return to prison upon release and instead become productive members of society? As it turns out, we cannot achieve both goals simultaneously. Read More

Key Lies In Why Not All Men Are Criminals

If all male acts are carried out with the goal of attracting mates in mind, - as mentioned in your "men do everything to get laid"-reasoning - there must be some reason to why some become criminals and others do not.

The answer to the question of why not all men are criminals will then be key to limiting the number of crime in a society as it cannot be prevented nor discouraged, but instead is a matter essential to understand through further study.

Of course, it may be argued that some men are disadvantaged because of their social status, but it is no rule that all economically disadvantaged men become criminals; just like it is no rule that all wealthy men refrain from committing crimes.

The conclusion of this all-too-narrow reasoning is that the mystery of how crime rates are to be decreased still remains, but I am confident that evolutionary psychology holds they key necessary for the solution of the problem's key to be discovered.

re, quoting from the

re, quoting from the above...
"...because they are incapable of feeling remorse or empathize with others’ pain,..."

there is no possible way in which you can read minds...
you have no way of knowing whether others can 'feel remorse' or 'empathise with others'...

further, the concept of 'empathy' rest on emotional sand...

you cannot 'feel the pain' of others...the idea that you may is projection and vanity....
it is also intrusive arrogance...
http://www.abelard.org/reasoning_empathy_concentration.php/#empathy_170707

Three Points

First of all, you present it as a very simple dichotomy. It's likely more complex than that. There's white collar crime and other crimes committed by older people who aren't necessarily life-long criminals.

Second, I do not think your point -- One important implication of Moffitt’s groundbreaking work is that all attempts to “rehabilitate” criminals in prisons are doomed to failure. -- follows from what you said previously. Are you saying that interventions on adolescent criminals cannot influence whether they continue with their criminal behavior or not?

Third, and this is more of a question, do we really know that the life-long criminals are such strictly due to genetics, as you say multiple times in your posting? What about environmental factors, such as exposure to lead, nutrition, and parenting? For example, there's some interesting correlational data that may show a link between lead exposure and crime rates (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/07/AR200707...).

Subscribe to The Scientific Fundamentalist

Worldshift 2012

A handbook for conscious change that could transform the current world crisis into planetary renewal.
Read more...
Saybrook University
Pursue advanced degrees in Mind-Body Medicine and Psychology. Learn more.
Read more...
Argosy University
Learn more about our graduate degree programs in clinical psychology.
Read more...

Find a Therapist

Search our customized Directory for a licensed professional near you.

Current Issue

Everyday Creativity

How to start living creatively and reap the benefits.