Current Events > C/D Most people don't commit crimes cause they fear...

(+) Yeah! (+)

c/d

Honestly, I don't believe jail deters a majority of people. It probably deters some, but there's plenty of people who commit crimes, but I think there's also plenty who just aren't inclined to commit crimes.

Haven't you ever taken a psychology class

DarthAragorn posted...

Haven't you ever taken a psychology class

what? what do you mean by this though?

DarthAragorn posted...

Haven't you ever taken a psychology class

were you asking me or AirJordan?

I feel like phrasing this with a negative makes this kind of hard to parse. Is this saying that people refrain from crime because they fear the punishment? I think is largely not true - ie fear of punishment is not the main deterrent of crime. I don't think fear of punishment makes a difference in crime levels, and thinking so usually implies that harsher punishment of crime will prevent further crime which is basically never the case.

It definitely deters most people. The ones it doesn't are people that feel they have nothing to lose.

Ozovzk posted...

I feel like phrasing this with a negative makes this kind of hard to parse. Is this saying that people refrain from crime because they fear the punishment? I think is largely not true - ie fear of punishment is not the main deterrent of crime. I don't think fear of punishment makes a difference in crime levels, and thinking so usually implies that harsher punishment of crime will prevent further crime which is basically never the case.

It does prevent reoffending, in the sense that it's much harder for someone to commit another crime when they're in prison. Especially one that affects the wider public.

GranTurismo posted...

what? what do you mean by this though?

Theres a concept commonly taught in undergraduate level psychology classes known as Kohlbergs Stages of Moral Development

Essentially people start in a preconventional state of reasoning where moral behavior is egocentric and motivated by punishments and rewards.

As people mature, they progress to the conventional state where moral reasoning is based on conformity and belonging to a society.

Some people can further develop a post-conventional stage where their moral behavior is derived from a belief in justice and other abstract principles and values.

So, to get to the TCs question, if you believe that obedience to the law is only motivated by punishment for most people, then its basically another way of saying that you believe most people are immoral and would behave freely as such if there wasnt the threat of violence against them for doing so.

I know I would commit a lot more crime if I thought I could get away with it. Fuckin' IRS.

Some people, yes. Not all people.

Definite C.

Plenty of people can be convinced to obey laws that deliver penalties when broken.
A far less amount of people actually obey the law/rules with honest consideration for other people.

As soon as you understand this, LOGICALLY you should keep a higher respect for the latter.

Dumb people who habitually take things for granted obviously don't hold that respect and refuse to value it.
And not-so-coincidentally they're the same ones who need penalties to keep them civil.
They're the reason an honor system alone never works...

There have been a few people I would have punched in the face were it legal to do so.

bump

The only laws off the top of my head that I don't agree with are copyright laws.

If I own one copy of a game/movie/music, I should be entitled to the copies for other platforms.

Last bump

Both, I guess. I dont assault people that start attitude with me and are asking for it because I dont want to deal with the legal fallout of that.
Also everyone here runs red lights like no tomorrow so idgaf if I do it anymore when the light is yellow and I can pseudo make it, hell, I even regularly turn left at a red arrow if the coast is clear.