Unhappy Adolescents are Criminals in the Making

Transcript

1. Unhappy Adolescents are Criminals in the Making That’s an over-generalization of what the blog Youth Happiness Can Deter Crime, Drug Use, seems to be suggesting. Of course the only thing “studies have shown” and “studies have proven” can confirm is that maybe, probably, plausibly something is true, although there are too many variables to be certain. Certainly I agree that “in general” that happy adolescents and teens are less likely to become involved in crime and drugs. That seems reasonable to me but nothing is ever that un-complicated: situational depression may cause a youth to make temporarily unhealthy choices, but because the depression is co- dependent upon an underlying issue, the depression itself is not likely the cause or even contributor, toward criminal behaviour. What’s more, clinical depression can be triggered by environmental factors. Overall, the hypothesis that a happy teenager is less likely to make poor choices sounds reasonable, but human behaviour is so much more complicated than that. It’s one of the reasons why the results of “studies” are so ambiguous (at least to my way of thinking). Yes depression and anger can lead to making stupid mistakes. Mind you, where you have drug use, which came first? Happy, positive teenagers also experiment with drugs, and to a degree, criminal behaviour (petty shoplifting, for instance). They also make unhealthy choices in the way of friends, not because they do not have healthy role models in their lives, but for reasons no one can fully understand, least of all teenagers themselves. And teenagers who demonstrate rage are among the most perplexing since there are disorders such as ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) and CD (conduct disorder), that result in rage, and they have little to do with rational thinking or behaviour. In this case, trying to ensure your child is happy and has a positive self-image are pretty remote. It’s no one’s fault. It’s just the way it is. That’s one issue I take with studies and their conclusions. They cause a sense of failure in people whose children become juveniles, and make poor choices, and display problematic behaviour. There are great families who raise difficult children and who knows why these things happen? Put an adult in place of a youth in this study. Are depressed adults more likely to commit crimes or use drugs? I doubt the former is true. The jury is out concerning the latter. Do positive, happy adults never make unhealthy choices or display any type of criminal behaviour, no matter how mild? For instance, once I was shopping with a friend and I watched the cashier count back her change. When we left the store, I informed my friend that the cashier had given her $10 too much. She counted her money and realized this was true, but she kept it. Her rationale was the store made so much money, it wouldn’t be hit by a mere $10.00. Not only does that not excuse theft, but another issue was whether or not the cashier would have the money docked from her pay cheque. I like the idea that positive, happy people are less likely to become criminals, but I don’t accept that it’s as simple as that.