Family Influence, Media Impact, and Natural Law
Crime Factors
Family Influence
Incomplete or Broken Family
May result from parental neglect or the death of a parent. The absence of a parent can cause economic or emotional imbalance in the child or young person, influencing delinquent conduct.
Large or Promiscuous Families
Families with low income and large numbers of children often experience overcrowding. When a family lives in a single room that serves as a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom, there is a greater potential for premature sexual activity and illegal activities involving minors.
Delinquent Family
If the family is headed by someone involved in criminal activity, whether occasional or habitual, it will influence the child’s behavior.
Immoral Family
Characterized by one or both spouses engaging in prostitution or begging.
Vicious Family
Characterized by one or more members dedicated to drug or alcohol abuse, which can extend to the conduct of minors.
Media Influence
The media often has a negative influence due to the content it broadcasts, which is easily absorbed by children and youth. This content is often filled with violence, pornography, and deviant behavior, leading to the consumption of harmful substances.
Natural Law
The Essence of Natural Law
Also known as natural right, it is the birthright a human person acquires at birth; it is an inalienable right inherent to being human.
Characteristics of Natural Law
- Universal: Must be respected by all rulers and cannot be violated by anyone.
- Unconditional: Recognition of these rights cannot be made contingent.
- Imprescriptible: Does not expire with time; it exists as long as human beings exist.
Naturalism is derived from Latin, meaning “right and natural.” The origin of natural law principles, according to various authors, stems from God or nature.
Positivism
Positivism emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period marked by technological changes, such as the events of the Industrial Revolution, coinciding with the questioning of religious knowledge.
As people sought explanations for social phenomena, they turned to science for security and confidence. Positivism, a doctrine initiated by Auguste Comte in the nineteenth century, emphasizes reason through experiments, observation, and experience to discover scientific laws and theories.
Positivism locates the cause of events in reason, regarding it as the sole source of knowledge. Therefore, scientific knowledge is synonymous with positivism.