@cockswain and @6rant6. There is a spectrum of behavior motivation that extends from the intrinsic to extrinsic. Maybe someone can find the cites for me if you need them, but the research I’ve seen shows that intrinsic motivation works a hell of a lot better than extrinsic. If you are motivated extrinsically, then basically you only behave well while being watched. The moment you are no longer watched, you do what you want without concern for consequences.
These are psychological and educational theories. Typically, people who grow up in militaristic households are extrinsically motivated. It is the military theory of how to mold people. These people also tend to be conservatives. They often believe in an authoritarian religion. They come from houses where corporal punishment was used as the only means of discipline. The mentality is that there is the master and the slave. The master is usually the man of the house and the slaves are everyone else. It is a mentality that is inherited to some degree, especially by black folk. Blacks are more likely to use corporal punishment to discipline their kids than whites do. It is one of the inheritances of slavery.
The best way to motivate people is with intrinsic motivation. This does not require effort since no one has to watch anyone else. People regulate themselves. People figure out what is moral on their own and do it.
Most of us achieve this state of existence at some point in our adulthood. However some are never able to figure out the moral thing on their own. They figure they can get away with what they can get away with, and if no one is watching them, they’ll take what they can.
In my community, when there is a disaster, people get out on the streets and help each other. In New Orleans, there was looting. Also in NYC. My community was based on Quaker philosophies. New Orleans has a history solidly entwined with that of slavery. New York… well, I’m not sure, because I’ve lived there, and I’ve seen cooperation there as well. So perhaps it is a neighborhood by neighborhood thing.
We want people to do the right thing because they want to. And if raised right, they will do the right thing because they want to. However, not everyone raises people right, and thus people are willing to behavior in an immoral fashion.
Those who are used to thinking in terms of extrinsic motivation turn to extrinsic motivators, like the death penalty or torture or light torture (called corporal punishment for kids). It doesn’t work. At best it brings temporary compliance. But it breeds people who don’t trust the fairness of society.
For punishment to work, it has to be infallible. It has to happen in every case where it is needed, and it has to happen quickly. Our justice system guarantees that punishment is going to fail most of the time. Our system is too slow, and too inaccurate, and it is not meted out fairly. If you are wealthy, you are more likely to avoid punishment.
If punishment doesn’t work, what do we do? What we should be doing is working to make sure that criminals don’t commit crimes again. That means we need to eliminate the causes of crime. Typically, that means people need jobs. They also need relationship skills. They need to buy into society and see it as fair. They need fairness.
I’m sorry I’m not offering proof for all of this. I just don’t have time. So I’m sticking with the theory. I don’t expect you to believe me without proof, but I hope you will open your minds to the idea that there are other ways of building a safe society. I hope to appeal to you as a practical matter. The kinds of deterrence we are talking about don’t work. They waste a lot of money. It would be far more practical and much less expensive if we devoted justice system funds to changing the way people behave instead of trying to make them hurt, which, it should be noted, makes them more likely to commit more crime in the future.
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