Crime Quote by Louis Menand
![“[Quatelet’s first claim to catch attention] was that since (as he believed he had shown) there is a ‘law’ governing the amount of crime in a society, moral responsibility for crime must lie with the society and not with the individual criminal. ‘It is society that prepares the crime and … the…” quote by Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/272/louis-menand-8583_crime_quatelet-s-first-claim-to-catch-attentio_2559213.jpg)
““[Quatelet’s first claim to catch attention] was that since (as he believed he had shown) there is a ‘law’ governing the amount of crime in a society, moral responsibility for crime must lie with the society and not with the individual criminal. ‘It is society that prepares the crime and … the guilty person is only the instrument who executes it,’ is the rather dramatic way he expressed it. People who murder—like people who marry and people who commit suicide—are only fulfilling a quota that has been preset by social conditions.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Mind of the Criminal, author unknown, year unknown
Argues that crime is largely shaped by societal conditions, implying collective moral responsibility rather than individual blame.
In simple terms: Society influences crime rates.
Key Takeaway
Address social factors to reduce crime.
Themes
sociology
crime
responsibility
Mood
reflective
critical
Type
philosophical
analytical
When to use this quote
- urban planning
- education reform
- poverty alleviation
- public health initiatives
Key Concepts
structural determinism
social policy
Questions to Reflect On
- How can societies change conditions that foster crime?
- What balance should be struck between personal and collective responsibility?
A Different Perspective
Individual agency still matters.
![“[According to Holmes], ‘Every year if not every day we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge. While that experiment is part of our system I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and…” quote by Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/656/louis-menand-8583_death_according-to-holmes-every-year-if-not-ev_403601.jpg)
