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36 Int. J. Offender Therapy & Comp. Criminology 1 (1992)

handle is hein.journals/ijotcc36 and id is 1 raw text is: Editorial Do We Have too Many Criminals? Edward M. Scott, Ph.D. Iwould assume that the majority opinion would be, Yes, we have too many criminals. We, also, have too many other people: poor people, psychotic people, alcohol and drug abusers, etc. Do we have too many politicians? Perhaps we have too many politicians who seem to be moti- vated by self-interest. Do we have too many dishonest business and professional individuals? I will venture an opinion-yes. The Vice President, Dan Quayle, stated (maybe insisted) that the U.S.A. has too many lawyers. The American Bar Association President idealized the lofty mission of lawyers-protecting the poor, etc. How holy can one's mission be? I suppose this is rather typical of individuals and of groups. The American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Associ- ation, American Psychological Association, and churches (to name a few) all look heaven-ward and tend to ignore the debris of their organization at their feet-but quickly point to the debris of other associations and organizations. A more complex and conflicting question: How come so much crime, poverty, rape, child abuse, murder, etc.? Does the problem originate in the home? Yes, to a degree-the genetic and neurological deficits of some parents and their children-and/or from inadequate and dysfunctional parenting, not physical defects. Do some criminals emerge from poor neighborhoods infected by gangs, drugs, etc.? Yes - to a degree - but some individuals rise above their neighborhood. Is inadequate education causal? Perhaps - for some individuals. Are some individuals greedy? Some suc- cessful business and professional persons certainly seem to be. We might ask, where have all of the positive influences gone? Are they gone away-everyone? Are the negative forces and the evil influences more powerful, more immediate, more exciting, more attainable? Are we - as a people-selfish, greedy, and self-centered? Even Greek mythology had its criminals. One of the better thieves was Sisyphus, a real clever devil; so clever that he was able, while in hell, to put handcuffs on the god Hades. On the contrary, seemingly the Russian people's response in August 1991 to the coup is an outstanding example of strength united for good. In the words of Morrow (1991), the Russian people accomplished a kind of miracle (p. 20). International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 36(1), 1992 from the SAGE Social Science Collections. All Rights Reserved.

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