In this essay I will evaluate the possible impact of crime in Ireland of three social changes in which I have identified in Macionis and Plummer 2012. The three social changes that I have chosen to evaluate and discuss is as families become less ‘traditional’, so older styles of parental control on behaviour become weakened (Morgan, 1978; Dennis and Endos, 1993).
Another social change that is will discuss is as young people have become a separate and often unsupervised age group, so their criminal activities and drug-using propensities increase. The final social change that I will evaluate and discuss is as girls become more equal, they may become more prone to being aggressive and assertive. Within these social changes I will discuss the possible impacts on influencing criminal behaviour and I will also explore some of the theories of crime and deviance (e.g. labelling theory, strain theory etc.) that may help to explain whether such a social change may lead to criminal behaviour. The first of the social changes that I will evaluate and discuss the possible impact or impacts on crime in Ireland is the fact that as families become less ‘traditional’, the older styles of parental control on behaviour become more and more weakened (Morgan, 1978; Dennis and Erdos, 1993).
Will this or has this already had a possible impact on crime and deviance in Ireland? ‘The family is the fundamental building block of human society’ (K N Wright and K E Wright, 1994).
