Blame parents, not cuts, for rising crime

AN EPIDEMIC of violent crime is sweeping London. In the past week, we’ve seen footage of a man wielding a ‘zombie knife’ in a road rage incident, while comedian Michael McIntyre was robbed at knifepoint after his car window was smashed.

One young woman is fighting for her life after her mobile was grabbed by two men on mopeds as she walked home in North London; and a gang armed with knives and hammers raided a London jewellers. Since the start of the year, there have been more than 60 killings in the capital.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has been quick to blame budget cuts.

But I find this ‘excuse’ quite disturbing. The vast majority of us do not require a police presence in order to behave ourselves. We know what’s right and wrong.

Psychologists tell us that morality develops in stages.

A young child’s understanding of what is right and wrong is based solely on whether or not they will get punished.

In a teenager, however, feelings of guilt about their actions should prevent wrongdoing. By adulthood, a more nuanced, balanced morality will have developed, where actions are guided by principles of ethics or being in the public good. Movement through these stages is guided by parents.

The fact that so many people appear to need the threat of punishment to enforce lawful behaviour suggests that, from a psychological viewpoint, they are profoundly developmentally stunted.

So, rather than blaming government cuts, we should be asking why it is that so many parents seem incapable of instilling a sense of morality in their children.