Feral Kids and Social Disorder

There’s a very useful article for all sociology students in today’s Times by Richard Morrison.

Here’s what Morrison has to say:“Britain hasn’t “gone to the dogs”. And the vast majority of kids aren’t “out of control”. But a vicious minority causes endless trouble, and it has to stop. You sometimes feel that you, as a lone individual, can’t do very much to address the ills of society.But Chairman Mao wasn’t wrong when he declared that every long journey must begin with a first step. So this is my first step. The next time I see a kid doing something outrageous in public, I pledge to make my views known to him, or to her.”

Morrison’s article is food for thought and begs many questions. Here are just a few that spring to mind:

1. Which sociologist’s ideas more helpfully explain this state of social disorder; Durkheim or Marx?

2. Would a zero tolerance approach help tackle the problem described by Morrison?

3. Why do bystanders avoid getting involved in criminal incidents? Look up the concept of ‘bystander effect’. It comes from social psychology (nothing wrong with that). How does our socialisation and dominant norms and values tend to lead us to avoid ‘getting involved’?