Social Capital Essay

643 Words3 Pages
1. Do you consider yourself to have social capital? If so, what form does it take? Social capital is the value of social relations and the role it plays in attaining economic results. I measure the social capital I have in terms of the beneficial friendships I have, and by this definition my social capital is substantial. 2. Do you believe there is a latent trait that makes a person crime prone, or is crime a function of environment and socialization? A person with a latent trait is more apt to get involved in crime. This is because their brain does not translate right from wrong, and when put into an environmental socialization network they are easy to manipulate and will do almost anything to fit in with the people they hang around with. Crime is also an environmental function. Crime can be a learned behavior,…show more content…
Do you agree with Loeber's multiple pathways model? Do you know people who have traveled down those paths? I think Leober's pathways model as I understand it, is just a way to group individuals and then claim that these individuals are more predisposed to commit crime. Look hard enough, and it's easy to say "All of these boys show similar qualities, they are an authority conflict pathway, and these boys are a little different, so we'll says they are a different pathway, the covert pathway, and so on. I agree that disruptive behavior should not be dismissed as mere adolescence or a "this will pass, they're just been a teenager" attitude, but his model to me suggests labeling. I've known individuals who were truants, who growing up were bullies, physically aggressive, and truant. But I suppose they never fully "went down the path" because known of them to my knowledge ever ended up getting involved in any type of criminal behavior either as juveniles or adults. In fact, much to my surprise, these people, who were all classmates of mine, in many cases went on to successful careers. One is even, ironically, perhaps, a criminal defense
Open Document