After reading current research on the causes of juvenile crime and noting that lack of opportunity, school failure, and parental neglect are often prominently mentioned, you have trouble reconciling what you read with what your personal experience. You think in particular of someone you went to high school with who, despite coming from a well-educated, wealthy family, being a star student and athlete, and having very attentive parents, carried out a series of burglaries and arsons. This illustrates the ____ fallacy.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The individualistic fallacy is the assumption that an individual's behavior is solely determined by their personal characteristics or choices, rather than by larger societal or environmental factors. In this case, the example of the high school student contradicts the idea that lack of opportunity, school failure, and parental neglect are always the primary causes of juvenile crime. The individualistic fallacy assumes that the student's personal characteristics or choices were the determining factors instead.

After Reading Current Research on the Causes of Juvenile Crime