Misdaad vir Beginners

In die vorige blogpos word liries uitgewy oor die sogenaamde dempende effek wat 'n kultuur dan op misdaad sal hê.

Wat is kultuur? Hoe op dees aarde kan dit iets te doen hê met die voorkoms van misdaad. Die wette is tog duidelik oor wat gedoen mag word en wat nie. Hoe kan kultuur enigsins 'n groter bydrae tot gehoorsaamheid lewer as wette en strawwe?

Ek het gaan rondkrap vir 'n definisie van kultuur (as beginpunt om die vrae te beantwoord) en dit lyk my asof 'n mens in die Sosiologie 'n breë, werkbare een kry wat hier inpas.

"Many sociologists and anthropologists define culture as the system of values and meanings shared by a group or society, including the embodiment of those values and meanings in material objects. The people of any group or society share ideas of what is right and wrong, good and bad; and they share a body of knowledge about the environment, and about ways of doing things. Culture is not only shared: It is learned. Humans are not born with culture as bees are born with an instinctual social behaviour. Instead, we learn the culture of our society by observing and being taught by other members."

[Popenoe: Sociology (4ed -1980), pp102-103]

Dit is duidelik dat formele wette ook deel van die "kultuur" in hierdie sin kan wees. Daar is egter aan die ander kant ook baie reëls wat ons nakom wat hoegenaamd nie "wette" in 'n formele sin is nie. Hier kan 'n mens dink aan tafelmaniere, optrede teenoor die teenoorgestelde geslag, godsdienstige oorwegings (soos om Sondag kerk toe te gaan) en baie meer.

Tog is 'n plaende vraag: hoe gebeur dit dat ons ons so vereenselwig met allerhande vereistes dat geen formele strawwe nodig is as afskrikmiddel nie? Dit  word ook dikwels gesê dat mense selfs formele wette nakom uit gewoonte en nie juis omdat hulle hul verknies oor die strawwe nie.

Dit is een ding om 'n rits vereistes te hê hoe om jou te gedra. Dit is 'n ander ding om jou te onderwerp aan daardie vereistes en hulle na die beste van jou vermoë na te kom.

Dit bring ons natuurlik terug na Eysenck se kondisionering (waarvolgens daar sielkundige prosesse is wat gevolg word om die mens met die gewenste houding te programmeer). Diegene wat tot hier gelees het, sal weet  dat ek argumenteer dat bo en behalwe die kondisionering, ons gewone leerprossese ook 'n bydrae maak tot ons gehoorsaamheid en onderdanigheid.

Dit word ook duidelik in bostaande definisie van kultuur gestel dat dit iets is wat geleer moet word:

" Culture is not only shared: It is learned."

So ek dink 'n mens kan met veiligheid sê dat kultuur nie net bestaan uit 'n stel reëls nie, maar dat die reëls  deur die individue ingedrink en geabsorbeer word en dat dit deel van hulle word. Hulle doen dit deur leerprosses (of as 'n mens 'n aanhanger van Eysenck is, deur kondisionering) - of soos ek argumenteer, beide. In wat hierop volg, beskou ek  kondisionering as 'n deel van die algemene leerproses

Hierdie proses waardeur die reëls van die kultuur geabsorbeer word, word ook in die Sosiologie aangetref onder die term sosialisering ("socialization").

Die volgende aanhalings help hopelik om dit duideliker te stel.

"The process by which individuals learn the ways of a society or group so that they can function within it is called socialization....It is one of the key concepts of sociology.  No matter where a child is born, be it New York City, Bombay, or the Trobriand Islands, the process of socialization is similar. Through interaction with other people, the child is transformed from a helpless human animal, ignorant and completely dependent, into a social being. The child undergoes years of socialization before adulthood, discovering the most acceptable patterns of behaviour and learning social roles. These roles may include daughter or son, sister or brother, or student. The child learns the language of the culture into which he or she is born, and also the values, rules, knowledge, and skills to enable him  or her to function in and contribute to that culture. Socialization  goes on throughout life. As an adult, the process continues, with new roles to be learned: employee or employer, husband or wife, parent. Even in old age, the need for role learning does not end. A person must learn to be a senior citizen, retired worker, widow, grandparent.

The concept of socialization helps to explain two fundamental aspects of social life: How the individual becomes able to participate in society and how the society gets its members to behave in ways that will let it function smoothly. In addition to learning social skills for their own benefit, through socialization the members of society learn to behave in ways that are adaptive for the society as a whole. When the process is complete and effective, people feel that they want to do what, in terms of society's needs, they are expected to do. Every society seeks to shape the behaviour of its members into patterns that will preserve it. A society will only last so long as its members act together to support and maintain it.

Although this perspective on socialization stresses conformity, no one conforms to social expectations 100 percent of the time. And societies can never be completely effective in the socialization process. When role performance varies too much from expectations, we speak of social deviance.  "

[Popenoe, op cit, pp132-133]

Na my mening is dit duidelik hieruit dat 'n mens misdaadgolwe kan verwag as die leerprosse wat verbonde aan socialization is, nie na wense funksioneer nie.