The Relation of Social Isolation to Crime Commiting

Human beings along with many other species are known to be included in a behavioral group referred to as “social creatures”. The marks of this group include family units, tribes, and friendly communication or interaction with other members- either within the same species or another entirely- of their own volition. A common example of a social species is wolves. They tend to keep to packs which allow for more efficient hunting, protection of young, and greater ability to keep a territory. Occasionally one may come across the term “lone wolf”. Wolves without packs tend to be seen as outcasts and are often tormented by other wolves and run out of pack territory. Due to being outside of a protected pack, these wolves often must run and move great distances with less food in a hopeful search of a pack who would accept the loner. These are often the wolves that attack humans due to their need to be highly aggressive to survive along with a very limited food supply. Humans are incredibly similar in their actions when socially rejected or isolated from peers. Humans often become more violent and begin to rebel against the society they feel has wronged them, often in the form of crime. Social isolation is one risk factor in potential criminals due to the causation of social instability, skewed morals, and increased likelihood of criminal relapse.

Due to the social reliance humans have in order to function optimally, the social instability caused by isolation often leads to acting out and/or psychological effects on that individual. For example, in “Effects of Family Structure on Crime” (graph 3), it was found that kids with intact married families who have been arrested make up approximately 5% of the population with the other family structures having an arrest rate of 8% or more. There are of course numerous factors that may play into these facts, however, it would be naive of one who ignored the probability of familial instability as an incredibly relevant factor if not the leading factor. In addition to the effects of social instability on adolescents, it also affects adults. “Brennan, Breitenbach, Dieterich, Salisbury, and Van Voorhis (2012) highlighted victimization and social withdrawal as risk factors for a pathway to crime…” (Lynch, K. R., M.S., & Logan, T. K., P. 2015). As one experiences victimization (AKA bullying, abuse, social rejection, etc…) it leads to a withdrawal from the society that has proven itself to be unaccepting of that individual. This leads to acting out and rebellion against that society which often presents itself by way of crime.

Social isolation can lead to moral values outside what is traditionally acceptable which often leads to the easier justification of crime. “Cillessen and Borch (2006) found that overt aggression predicted initially low sociometric popularity but increases in perceived popularity over time.” (Lansford, J. E., Killeya-Jones, L., Miller, S., & Costanzo, 2009). This illustrates a common scenario where one who is not accepted turns to physical domination and aggression in order to achieve a sense of belonging and power. Unfortunately increased aggression alone makes one much more likely to commit a crime or take risks. To also add the mentality that to be aggressive and act out is correct exponentially increases the crime risk. A recent study also highlighted the effect of social isolation on morality, “This study reveals strong evidence for an adverse effect of social isolation on mortality.” (Tanskanen, J., & Anttila, T. 2016). As a person scored higher on social isolation, so did they then score higher on hazardous morals. The correlation between loneliness and social isolation was incredibly slight and did not experience similar results.

Contrary to the belief that social isolation and loneliness tend to go hand in hand, “Social isolation and loneliness seem to have distinct pathways to mortality and health.”(Tanskanen, J., & Anttila, T. 2016). The correlation between the two is so small that they are considered unrelated. Thus, it is important to realize the argument is for social isolation and not loneliness. With this in mind, one could argue that due to the practice of isolation in prison, it must not have psychological effects because it is sanctioned as a common practice in the states. One study had, “ … the findings suggest that administrative segregation under two months in duration did not generate detectable psychological deterioration,” (Roberts, J. V., & Gebotys, R. J. 2001). The experiment, however, was based on 10 prisoners with prior experience in isolation and who volunteered for the experiment. The study also did not study effects if isolated long term and even admitted in their report that there may have been psychological effects that they were merely unable to detect with the resources at their disposal.

Social isolation is also an indicator of criminal relapse or continuation of criminal activities if their social relationships do not improve. “Youths entering treatment [rehab] with social estrangement were significantly more likely to relapse (HR = 2.25, p