What is true about cause-and-effect relationships in the social world Most patterns of behavior have a single cause?

Answer 1

Most patterns of behavior do NOT have a single cause. As examples, even experts and professionals disagree about the cause and effect relationships that result in:

• child-peer bullying
• teasing from peers
• Alcoholism
• cheating during marriage
• domestic violence
• divorce
• child battering
• child sexual abuse
• most crimes
• victimization of vulnerable persons (children, the disabled, the elderly)
• sexual assault and rape (of children, the disabled, the elderly)

Causes of behavior is often ill-defined and clouded, in part because professionals must rely on the person's statements about why the person committed an act, and the reasons can differ widely. As examples, 100 persons committing the following acts were asked "Why did you do it?" every person guilty of committing the same acts would likely give a different reason or excuse:

• A child who breaks a window.
• A child who cheats on a test.
• A child who pushes another child.
• A teenager who plagiarizes a term paper.
• Teens who bully and intimidate other teens or younger kids.
• Teens who "act out" in the community.
• A spouse who cheats.
• A man who beats his wife.
• A man who refuses to work and drinks away his money.
• A man who sexually abuses a child.
• etc.

About the only commonalities in patterns of anti-social behaviors such as those listed above might be resulting from these reasons (causes):

• "I wanted to do it."
• "I had the opportunity to do it."
• "I didn't think I would get caught / or was hurting anyone."
• "I don't know why I did it."