Conference turris::womannotes-v2

976.0. "Individual/collective responsibility" by ULTRA::WRAY (John Wray, Secure Systems Development) Mon Feb 05 1990 23:42

    I've been reading some notes, here and in other conferences, that set
    me thinking (a rare enough occurence of itself).  I often read things
    along the lines of:
    
    "Blaming <and-therefore-treating> `society' for
    <insert-favorite-problem-here> is just a way of abdicating personal
    responsibility".
    
    I have seen this sort of thing said in the context of male -> female
    violence, rape, violence in general, drug abuse, random breath-tests
    for drivers, gun-control, anti-discrimination legislation, and many
    others.
    
    The general argument is that treating society affects every individual,
    irrespective of whether or not they have demonstrated a need for
    "treatment", and is therefore undesirable.
    
    So when does a problem become something that must be addressed at a
    societal level?  When does `society' have to be changed (either by
    legislation or by education - and what are the relative benefits of
    these options?) in order to eliminate a problem, or can
    treating/punishing only individuals who have demonstrated clear guilt
    always solve every problem?  Is "blaming society" for a problem
    abdicating individual responsibility, or is is accepting collective
    responsibility?