Farrell And Swigert (1988, Cited In Henry And Lanier 1998) Claim That Crime

Farrell and Swigert (1988, cited in Henry and Lanier 1998) claim that crime and deviance are the inevitable consequences of fundamental contradictions within society's economic infrastructure. Bell (2001) claims that some view global capitalism as a brutal and oppressive force responsible for the misery and premature death of much of the world's population. Fleisher and Goff (1999) write that the combination of flat living standards for the masses and rising standards for a privileged few has received substantial blame for a variety of social ills. Murray (1999) writes that the far Left blames increasing criminal activity and the breakdown of the family structure on the persistence of economic and social equality whilst other less extreme factions blame these ills on greater wealth and security. Cottle (1977) contends that there are numerous problems with capitalism involving the perpetuation of the cruel treatment of the powerless and poor by the powerful and rich. Roberts (2002), perhaps referring to Fukuyama's own acknowledgement about the residual boredom after the end of history, writes that liberal democracy may still leave us fundamentally unsatisfied. Blevins and associates (2001) write about the end of history: This is the age of insecurity. It is the age of disintegrating family. It is the age of anxiety. It is the age of atomistic persons who have lost their footing in a fast-changing world. Finally, Mcinnes (2001) claims that [c]apitalism has failed as much as communism, adding that it lurches from one crisis to another.
Yet others attribute ills facing today's democratic, capitalistic societies to a variety of psychological and sociological issues that differ from those offered by Fukuyama (e.g. the information-based economy and the birth control pill). Eatwell and Wright (1999), in writing about Fukuyama's naïve conviction that general prosperity would automatically guarantee general happiness, claim that, instead of happiness, boredom, a drug cult, a rising divorce and illegitimacy rate, pornography, and violence resulted. Hamilton (2003) refuted the assertion that more money means more happiness in stating that Fukuyama and others who are only concerned about politics and economics do not consider the goals of actual societies and real people. Criminal activity has been blamed on wide ranging factors including heredity, glandular disease, mental deficiencies, psychopathic personality, unfulfilled wishes, family dysfunction, unhealthy recreation, lack of employment, and poverty (Reckless 1940) as well as biological factors such as chromosomal combinations, defective genes, hormonal and chemical imbalances, low intelligence, and brain or nervous centre maladies (Henry and Lanier 1998). Drug abuse has been linked to certain personality types (Burns and Steffenhagen 1987) and to physiological, psychological, and social factors (Martindale and Martindale 1976).