Title: Cultural Influence On Crime | Criminal Defense Attorney | Psychology of Law And Criminal Behavior
Headings: Cultural Influence On Crime
Cultural Influence On Crime
Heat Hypothesis
Southern Culture of Violence Theory
Cross-National Comparisons: The IAT
Individualism & Collectivism | America & Japan
Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Leading Criminal Defense Attorney
Author: Kenneth Padowitz, P.A.

Content: According to the IAT, our free market economy is responsible for the high rates of criminal behavior in the U.S. It is suggested that when the economy dominates over other social institutions, and the government does not adequately provide a legal means to achieve the desired wealth, it results in weak normative-controls over how people should conduct their lives. In other words, there is a contradiction between the messages we are given by our government. On one hand there is a strong push to be successful, and on the other we are lacking in legitimate ways to reach success, and only a small fraction of our population will ever be able to reach such a state of economic wealth. Unfortunately, encouraging entrepreneurship and individualistic ideals also leads to social inequality and higher crime. Not surprisingly, a relationship between economic inequality and higher rates of homicide has been found. According to the IAT, there are four fundamental cultural values responsible for elevated rates of crime: achievement, individualism, monetary fetishism, and universalism. Achievement is determined by how the culture views success and how it judges the value or the status of an individual; in America this is based on our individual accomplishments. A high focus on personal achievement, paired with limited available options to achieve, leads to an anomic lifestyle, in which the ethical boundaries may end up falling into a gray area in favor of personal goals.