'The Weimar/Nazi view that criminality is biologically determined, could not fully account for such a dramatic increase in crime. The people in Berlin had not changed, but the amount of crime continued to increase.' This is an important point. Since its more or less impossible to carry out structured formal research (such as experiments) into the causes of crime, it seems vital to learn from history and its quasi-experiments. The implication here is certainly that social conditions had some sort of effect. The same argument can be made in reverse for Australia: a nation largely populated by the descendants of criminals, which manages to be one of the most law-abiding nations on Earth.
Thank you for your comment and for reading out post! I agree that experiments cannot be done and any attempt to do one would be unethical. The increased in crime demanded an explanation and perhaps one could make the argument that people with criminal tendencies could commit crimes because there was a lack of police, etc.... but that still makes social conditions highly significant.
Later this week we are posting the second part of this story where we explore how East German authorities understood crime and how the discourse around this understanding largely blamed capitalism and the West.
In a few weeks we will be posting how the West did the same (sort of).
You make an interesting point re Australia's founders and the rates of criminality there nowadays. This would be worth exploring in more depth. I have recently read this elsewhere, I think in a book about the history of booze (A Short History of Drunkenness by M. Forsyth) though I may be confused about where I encounter that claim.
Later this week we are posting the second part of this story where we explore how East German authorities understood crime and how the discourse around this understanding largely blamed capitalism and the West.
I'm looking forward to that update already. And I love the sound of a book called A Short History of Drunkenness. I gotta read that!
Thanks for another interesting and rewarding post, guys!
I bought this book at an odd little store in Gent that sells Books and Booze and they allegedly pair the books with their corresponding bottles. I will be writing a little review of that book. It is wickedly funny, and interesting. Yet I found myself wanting more...
'The Weimar/Nazi view that criminality is biologically determined, could not fully account for such a dramatic increase in crime. The people in Berlin had not changed, but the amount of crime continued to increase.' This is an important point. Since its more or less impossible to carry out structured formal research (such as experiments) into the causes of crime, it seems vital to learn from history and its quasi-experiments. The implication here is certainly that social conditions had some sort of effect. The same argument can be made in reverse for Australia: a nation largely populated by the descendants of criminals, which manages to be one of the most law-abiding nations on Earth.
Hello,
Thank you for your comment and for reading out post! I agree that experiments cannot be done and any attempt to do one would be unethical. The increased in crime demanded an explanation and perhaps one could make the argument that people with criminal tendencies could commit crimes because there was a lack of police, etc.... but that still makes social conditions highly significant.
Later this week we are posting the second part of this story where we explore how East German authorities understood crime and how the discourse around this understanding largely blamed capitalism and the West.
In a few weeks we will be posting how the West did the same (sort of).
You make an interesting point re Australia's founders and the rates of criminality there nowadays. This would be worth exploring in more depth. I have recently read this elsewhere, I think in a book about the history of booze (A Short History of Drunkenness by M. Forsyth) though I may be confused about where I encounter that claim.
Later this week we are posting the second part of this story where we explore how East German authorities understood crime and how the discourse around this understanding largely blamed capitalism and the West.
I'm looking forward to that update already. And I love the sound of a book called A Short History of Drunkenness. I gotta read that!
Thanks for another interesting and rewarding post, guys!
I bought this book at an odd little store in Gent that sells Books and Booze and they allegedly pair the books with their corresponding bottles. I will be writing a little review of that book. It is wickedly funny, and interesting. Yet I found myself wanting more...
Thank you for the kind comments and for reading.