Far From The Tree By Solomon: Chapter Analysis

One of the comments that I was most interested in when reading the Crime chapter in Solomon’s Far from the Tree book, was the mention of three grand risk factors influence the creation of a criminal. A single-parent family since it might increase the probability of them having a low socioeconomic status. This later translates to a high chance at their child dropping out of school, not attending college, working low paying jobs, becoming substance abusers, and later on becoming single parents as well. Abuse and neglect, which often leads the child towards two paths. One includes depression and self-pity, since they see the world as an unsafe place. The other path is the one in which we would be interested since if influences the child to be aggressive and indulge in criminal behavior since they see the world as a war zone in which they need to fight in order to survive. The third factor is exposure to violence. Living in an aggressive household
does not only increase the chances of the child becoming violent because of observational learning, like we have seen in Bandura’s experiments fulfilling the nurture aspect of the years long debate. However, the nature aspect is also present, considering that if the parents are aggressive, then the child gets a genetic predisposition for such behavior. Even though, Solomon mentions three big factors, it is easy to see how like many other experts in the field, including the author of our textbook, Solomon takes a multifactorial approach when discussing the causes of the surge of criminal behavior in children. Another big influence in criminal behavior that keeps on reappearing in Solomon’s book, out textbook, among other sources in peer groups.
Most sources point out that even though family is a big factor in the way a child is raised and their values, peer groups seem to be an even bigger influence of their current and future behavior. Considering how in school children tend to gravitate towards cliques, to whom they develop a loyalty, it is easy to see how a child who is in a peer group that support the early use of illicit drugs, or places high vale in engaging in premature unprotected sex, will engage in those activities in order to maintain their place within their social group. It was interesting to see how even language was modified depending on who the child wanted to project. For example, Krishna, a Latino boy who was involved in a Chicano gang spoke very broken and crude English with Solomon when interviewing, however, as time went on and he became more comfortable with the author, he started speaking perfect
English. Finally, one of the things that resonated the most from Solomon’s Crime chapter was the struggle with identity that some children undergo and how that struggle might lead said children to join groups that engage in illegal activities such as gangs in order to find who they are. We were able to see this with Krishna again; through the chapter we could see how he often had a difficult time explaining who he was. He jumped from being Carol’s son, to being Raul’s son, his life story was told differently depending on his setting, his American and Guatemalan heritage often clashed with one another, not leaving room for the other one to join, and finally he was unsure of how to perceive himself, good or bad. All of those struggle in finding personal identity, leave a starvation in the child’s self to find who they truly are, and in some cases that identity becomes Criminality. It is there where they eventually find an environment where they ironically feel safe and part of a greater entity.