Most people seem uninterested in addressing the roots of crime. Far too many don’t want healing. They’d rather get even.

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THE LAST WORD
Underlying Cause of Criminal Behavior is Economic
by William M. DiMascio
Executive Director, The Pennsylvania Prison Society
Warren E. Buffett, the billionaire investor and Faulty policymaking in criminal justice also leads
second richest man in America, caused a stir re- to unintended consequences. We see this happen-
cently when he told the world his $7 million in pay- ing time and again as in the knee-jerk response of
roll taxes was much too little. shutting down parole when a police officer was
“That sounds like a lot of money,” he wrote in a shot, or the increased sentences for small-time
New York Times op-ed article. “But what I paid drug use, or the relentless hounding of sex offend-
was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and ers. Costs go up, the level of crime remains un-
that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by changed and the soul of society suffers and takes
any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax another tumble.
burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and T. Richard Snyder, professor of theology at New
averaged 36 percent.” York Theological Seminary, writes about the conflu-
It’s unusual to hear the mega-rich asking to be ence of economics and punishment in his 2001 book,
part of the shared sacrifice that we are told is The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Punishment.
needed in this economically distressed period. “While it is possible to identify many factors that
Their silence on the matter has been deafening, contribute to criminal behavior — the pervasive-
especially when you consider their numbers. In ness of drugs, the disintegration of families, the
2009, for instance, 236,883 households had annual absence of community services, and others — the
income in excess of $1 million — that’s a lot of underlying cause is economic. These communities
zipped lips on the subject of tax breaks for the are desperately poor, not because of drugs, the
wealthy. breakdown of the family, low literacy or poor
Public policy on controversial issues like govern- health; rather, the reverse is true: these conditions
ment spending and prisons, for that matter, tends are the tragically predictable results of poverty.”
to develop in times of crisis when a thoughtful, ra- Snyder also has been involved for many years in
tional response and the voices of credible stake- the master’s program offered at Sing Sing prison.
holders are most needed. Unfortunately, at these He adds:
crucial moments, emotions and politics also weigh “We must recognize the economic roots of crime
heavily on the process and too frequently tip the and understand that the fundamental, God-given
scales of deliberation in the wrong direction. That purpose of wealth is for the health of the whole so-
was obvious during the “debt limit debacle” where ciety….
anger and heated political rhetoric resulted in
brinkmanship and an unnecessary lowering of the “The problem with any suggestion of fundamental
nation’s credit rating. (see Criminal Behavior, continued on page 15)

2. Criminal Behavior, continued from page 16
economic change as a way of addressing crime and
our punitive response to it is that such a suggestion
assumes that people are concerned about the conse-
quences of our punitive culture and are willing to
seek alternatives. Unfortunately, too often this is
not the case. Most seem uninterested in addressing
the roots of crime. Far too many don’t want heal-
ing. They’d rather get even.”
It doesn’t seem to matter much if you’re talking
about the tax breaks of billionaires, or the miseries
of the poor, or if your field is high finance, theology,
sociology or political science.
At issue are human values — how we treat one
another. If you have lived long enough to learn
life’s important lessons, you know that dignity and
self-respect are the treasures worth having and you
earn them by dealing fairly and honestly with fel-
low humans.
Let’s stop coddling the super-rich and insist that
they pay their fair share of the tax burden.
And, let’s stop seeking justice that is built on re-
venge and insist on fairness that aims for redemption.