" The concept of 'individual responsibility' is a necessary fiction. Although societies must hold individuals accountable for their own actions, people's behavior is largely determined by forces not of their own making."
The writer rightfully proposed the issue of individual responsibility. I believe in the speaker’s assertion that although people are accountable for their own actions, their behavior is largely determined by forces from their surroundings .In the following discussion ,I would like to present my analysis and reasons to underpin my points of view.
To begin with, I would like to advocate that sociality which we human nature lies in. No one can exist without others who together with us constitute a complex and integrated world. Communication ,competence, cooperation ,all these human activities are practiced under the presumption that people are living in an organic and interrelated society. And it is just that society ,through various ways such as politics, culture or economy, exerts an fundamental influence on individuals value and behaviors. And these factors are not isolated due to the facts that they always intertwine together to form a greater impact on people’s lives. Take the situation of the youth of USA in 1960 for example. Around that time , protest against Vietnam War soared for the reason that many innocent lives were terminated in that warfare. Civil rights movement proceeded in people’s forceful demand for civil rights ,equality and democracy. And the news came that the murder of J.F.Kennedy. All these above leaded to the uncertainty and insecurity in that generation’s life .They no longer trusted their government and became suspicious of everything .Being lost ,numbers of them quitted school, participated in the revolution , finally formed a distorted value of life. So it is no doubt that they made some mistakes which might be considered reasonable at that time whereas we may regard as radical nowadays. Their behavior may be a little abnormal, However, in fact , it is because of the particular environment which left no choice for them at all . Here, we may now clearly see that it is the society where individual’s behavior find its origin and to a large part were shaped.
Aside from the greater environment,the relative small one such as religion, community and family also play a significant role in people’s behaviors. A person who is badly obsessed by certain heterodox is highly probable to commit a crime,while for them perhaps this trait act as an extrication for others which may perceived as merciful. Besides, the criminals rates of poor community far exceeds that of which possessed a higher statue and much more fortune. As for families, children who received a superior education from their parents and shares a harmonious family will probably performed more decent than those who suffered a childhood trauma such as family violence or single parent resulted from divorce .
On the other side, we have to admit that people to some extent decide their own activities as well. Self-determined, strong-willed, these individuals will more likely achieve great goals without affected by their environment. Moreover, from the perspective of law, everyone is responsible for his/her behaviors and cannot push it upon anyone else. Hardly can our social order and security be guaranteed without the precondition of such constraints.
In sum, based on above analysis and reasons ,we can draw this conclusion that social factors to a large part influenced and even decided the behavior of individuals .And personal accountability cannot be ignored ,for otherwise, our world will became all messed up.