You won’t find one answer that explains why every criminal commits a crime.
Root Cause of Crime: What we know
But, today we have answers that tell us the root cause of at least 50% and probably closer to 80 – 90% of crimes.
The headwaters of a river are where the river begins. Before the headwaters are formed, the water comes from somewhere. You cannot look downstream and determine what caused the river to begin flowing. You have to look at the headwaters.
In the same way, you cannot look at a criminal or a criminal act and figure out from where they are where the criminal activity began. You have to go to the headwaters. In my work, that’s what I’ve done. I’ve traced criminal activities back to earlier life events and situations to look for common factors.
Addictions are often associated with crime. I traced addictions back to earlier life events and situations and found the same common factors I found when I looked at the headwaters of crime.
I did the same thing for mental illnesses and found the same headwaters.
I did the same thing for many chronic physical illnesses and found the same headwaters.
One source and many undesired outcomes.
That’s good news because when you change the source so that it is healthier, all the branches become healthier.
We can afford to put more resources toward the solution because it addresses multiple problems, all of which have money being thrown at the downstream symptoms and very little being directed to the source.
What is the source?
Some people will say it is poverty. It’s not. When you understand the source, it is easy to see why poverty and crime are often closely related. But if poverty were the source, every poor person would become a criminal and that doesn’t happen.
Some will say it is child abuse. It’s not. When you understand the source, it is easy to see why child abuse and crime are often closely related. But if abuse were the source, every abused child would become a criminal and that doesn’t happen.
Chronic stress is caused by our habits of thought—not by our circumstances. The way we perceive our situation, whether we feel hopeful or hopeless, determines how much stress we experience. It is not the situation. The abused child who hopes for a better future will fare better than the abused child who doesn’t see any way out of their situation.
Even a wealthy child can feel extremely stressed if their habits of thought add to or multiply the amount of stress they experience. That’s why not only poor and abused children develop addictions and turn to crime.
Chronic stress leads to poor outcomes in terms of behavior and mental and physical health.
Chronic stress is more about how we process data than about our circumstances.
When we teach at-risk children skills that help them manage stress better, their outcomes improve. They are more likely to do well in school, they are more likely to finish school, they are more likely to go to college, and they are more likely to finish college. They are also less likely to use or abuse drugs or alcohol, less likely to become involved in crime, and less likely to have a baby while in their teens.
The path from chronic stress to addiction, mental illness, and chronic physical health problems is well documented. The root cause of crime is a lack of skilled stress management.
I can’t prove how much crime can be prevented. I know that hardened youth in Chicago who were deemed too far gone to help decreased criminal activity by 44% just by being helped to learn more about how to use their brain to reduce stress and being given activities that helped them develop healthy self-esteem. No one had to threaten them, no one had to lock them up—they just had to treat them like humans instead of throwaways. Imagine that!
There are tons of nuances here. I wrote a 514-page book with tons of science and lots of strategies that help individuals develop the skills that reduce stress. Don’t buy it unless you’re really interested in the science. It’s expensive and heavy. I wrote another book that for laypeople that provides tons of stress-reducing strategies without the heavy dose of research. Strategies in the more recent book are evolved versions of the ones in the earlier book. They are still rooted in science, but they are less likely to put you to sleep with the supporting research.
See Prevent Crime with Primary Prevention for citations to research results that support primary prevention as a path to reducing crimes before they occur.
It doesn’t matter that this solution might not completely solve the crime problem. It will take a huge chunk out of the problem. Once we prevent crimes we know how to prevent, it will be easier to identify and find solutions to the others. We shouldn’t wait.