There are many ways to look at this delicate and controversial subject, but I believe we step into dangerous territory when we use the 'he was a product of his environment, let us be lenient' defense for someone who is guilty of committing a crime, and here is why:
*two people can go through very similar experiences (twins for an extreme example) and one does something bad, while the other does not. If we are products of our environment, wouldn't this be unlikely?
*It would provide an automatic excuse for anyone who has been through the horrors of war, or other such tragedy.
* Being in a (alleged) democratic society, personal responsibility and accountability for your actions should be tantamount, rather than blaming others or your past, for your current behavior.
* Would it make sense to locate those that have been through less than ideal circumstance in the past, and upon finding they did not act out in a negative way, reward them for this non behavior? Then, the same should hold true for the ones that do act out.
* A lot of people have bad past experiences, but use them to learn and grow from, often becoming the better for it. The ones that do not, and become dangerous to society are simply that:dangerous to society. There is no reason to look any further, as it does nothing to change the present situation. I agree, however, that it should be studied so that we may find and educate those at risk of becoming this way, so that they can avoid going down the same path. For example, both of my parents were physically and emotionally abused as children. They were educated that this often carries down through generations, and being aware of that, paid careful attention not to do as their parents had done. Because of this, I can thankfully say I was never abused. However, if they had abused me, would the fact that they had been abused made my abuse any less abusive? Obviously not. So, why should a person with a bad past receive leniency, which only perpetuates this negative behavior, when they could have had the courage to break the cycle, and made a choice not to?
* Everyone has something bad in their past experience, or they have not lived long enough yet. So, in essence, everyone would have a built in excuse to commit atrocities and receive lighter sentences. Remember, all experience is relative, and there is really no benchmark to pit one persons against another's.Somebodies wife of many years cheats on them, steals everything they have, and leaves. Somebody else has a girlfriend of a couple weeks break up with them. If either one of them then went on to randomly kill someone that you care for and love, blaming it on their 'failed relationship', would you be more lenient about the man who's wife cheated? I think not.
I have much more to say on this subject, but will drop it for now. Thanks for reading.
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