I'm often confused by discussions around poverty, addiction, and crime because they seem to focus heavily on society and not much on individual responsibility

[YourWaryPlumBalonz]

For context, I'm autistic, grew up in a low-income household, and my dad was largely absent and neglectful. He rarely showed up, wasn't particularly involved, and wasn't much of a support. Despite that, I never got involved in crime or drugs.
Instead, I used the support that was available. I got help from charities, received government support related to my disability and employment, and eventually found a professional job. It wasn't easy, but there were people and organisations willing to help.
So what I'm struggling to understand is this: if support exists, why are so many problems framed primarily as society's fault rather than the responsibility of the individual?
I'm not saying circumstances don't matter. Clearly they do. But there seem to be plenty of people who experience poverty, disability, family breakdown, neglect, bullying, etc., and don't end up addicted, committing crimes, or repeatedly making self-destructive choices.

Stop now, as soon as your parents got their undergrad never mind their PhD, they were no longer working class and you never were.

Personal responsibility matters, but pretending addiction is just a lack of willpower shows a lack of understanding of how it works.

Bully for you that you don't know where to find them... perhaps that in itself is a part of the benefit to not being in or around certain environments eh?

Eta:
Saying “just don’t take it in the first place” is simplistic. People don’t always understand the risks, and nobody starts taking a drug intending to become addicted. The initial choice to try something and the loss of control that can develop into addiction are two different things.

Well done you, I guess.

I’m convinced now this thread is a wind up, nobody can be this thick.

The OP has highly educated parents. Students who used food banks and welfare when their child was small. Not the average working class family. I find this thread hilarious.

The first school I worked at was a poverty stricken area. I had never seen it before. I thought poverty was Africa as I had seen on the TV. There was lots on offer for people but not many took the opportunities. I thought it was laziness. It wasn’t until I had been there a few years that I got to see why. It’s generational. Parents don’t believe in education because they have a job and are okay. They don’t trust help. They believe that anyone from ‘the social’ just wants to take their kids away.

Where I worked there are whole estates that were like this. It’s not easy for a child, especially a teenager, to be the one who takes a different path.

It’s very easy to sit and judge and my goodness I was guilty of it until I looked deeper.

@Shireshire sometimes what is on offer has barriers those organising don't see.

You clearly have no idea what some children go through, particularly children who have to suffer through the care system.

Look up ACES.

I can’t be bothered to provide an in depth education to you, since you can clearly do this yourself but you choose to see problems through your own lenses.

Foster children who have had 20+ placements before the age of 3…they don’t know who to trust and never experienced love. I’ve seen a 4 year old who had two of their fingers cut off by their father, and god knows what they went through before this came on the radar. Open your bloody eyes. These things haunt people for the rest of their lives.

I dont see what being autistic has to do with anything.

You can just not take it. It's very simple. If they take a drug and get addicted it is their fault. It is fully their fault if they knowingly ingest a toxic and illegal substance. Oh I'm taking a poison it has bad effect for my health. It's the consequences of your own actions.

You’re either being willfully ignorant or are just completely clueless about addiction and why people become addicted in the first place. Addiction isn’t as simple as “you can just not take it in the first place”. If it were that easy, addiction wouldn’t be the complex health issue that it is. Either way it's clear I'm flogging a dead horse here.

Clueless

You are coming from a place as a person who values your life and health. People in addiction often if not always have large emotional trauma in their bones.
They only care about blocking out the trauma at the expense of people who love them and themselves, they don’t care about food, unless it is food addiction. The fix comes first. Shutting down emotions is the first priority.
They probably had limited choices of food as children in a bad environment giving them a lifetime of eating to get pay. Making a family meal on £2. White bread, butter and a packet of plastic ham.
It always astonishes me when an educated person is so narrow minded about social issues in society.
Three girls from my class in school ended up on heroin addiction. They’re all dead. They were very clearly troubled children who had parents with learning difficulties or addiction.
They were most likely sexually abused too with an open door policy in their cold home.

Ok but as with people in domestic abuse relationships, you cannot help people that do not want help. Some people will reach that point, accept help and turn their life round, but it’s a small minority and sadly the majority will continue with addiction and crime. The only question is how many people they damage along the way as we prop up their existence

You are right they have to want change, if they could shut off their brain and seek help.

If only they weren't so traumatised that they cant recognise that they need help. Or that people offering help are genuinely offering help not judgement.

Ok so my last job involved help being offered to addicts.

Appointments were made, therapy offered, courses and programmes.

They didn’t turn up.

Almost like they had trauma/disordered lives and so on?
Huh. Imagine.

A person trapped in drug addiction living in chaotic environment missed an appointment? No way.

No, they pretty much all missed all the appointments.

What do you suggest? Forcibly locking them up?

It's not poverty. It's trauma, neglect, adverse childhood experiences, mental health issues, learning disabilities, and luck.

Support community workers in the area who reach them with understanding at food tables etc. Who encourage them into rehabilitation and a better life. This people depend on volunteers and donations. Sack the majority of people pushing pens and use the funds to support community workers who do make a huge difference, most have lived a similar lifestyle before they recovered.
Society would be a lot worse without the people in these communities who help others.

💯 Facts.

Never an excuse for violence. I had very bad childhood experiences as well. Doesn't give me any excuse to rob and to steal and to hurt others.

You realise that many addicts were introduced to drugs and alcohol as children by their parents right? I’ve met people who were given drugs as young as 9 years old.