ABSTRACT
In this article I shall explore explanations which consider crime in relation to the individual’s environment, as opposed to heredity, as described by Sapsford in article no. 15. More specifically, the focus here will be on the social learning experiences of the individual in the context of a primary socializing group in our society, namely, the family. Criminologists have been well aware of the significant contribution that a study of the family situation offers to an explanation of crime. In the 1950s, in particular, a large number of descriptive or ‘naturalistic’ studies were carried out on the families of ‘criminals’ and ‘delinquents’, the aim being to establish factors in the criminal’s family life, or so-called ‘under-the-roof culture’, which were responsible for their later criminal or delinquent activity. There was an abundance of folk wisdom to suggest that factors such as physical abuse and erratic discipline might be responsible; so by studying large numbers of ‘criminal’ families it was hoped that such causative factors could be clearly identified and differentiated.
