History Main / SocietyIsToBlame

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Birds of a Feather", The Penguin looks to go straight once he's gotten out of prison, but when resident RichBitch Veronica Vreeland and her snobby friends decide to make him the butt of an exceptionally cruel joke, he reverts to his criminal ways to exact revenge. In the end, he muses, "I guess it's true; society is to blame. ''High'' society." At least Vreeland had the decency to feel bad about her role in it by the end though.

* ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics'' had [[http://qwantz.com/index.php?comic=3586 this strip]] where T-Rex told a story of Sherlock Holmes deducing that all of society was responsible for a crime, but then saying that since Holmes lived in “history times” this didn’t apply to modern audiences. strip where T-Rex told a story of Sherlock Holmes deducing that all of society was responsible for a crime, but then saying that since Holmes lived in “history times” this didn’t apply to modern audiences.

-->'''Arthur:''' What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society who abandons him and treats him like trash? I'll tell you what you get! ''You get what you [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] deserve!''

* ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics'' had a strip where T-Rex told a story of Sherlock Holmes deducing that all of society was responsible for a crime, but then saying that since Holmes lived in “history times” this didn’t apply to modern audiences.

In general, this trope is often a cause of UnfortunateImplications because it can come across as painting the poor/downtrodden as being predisposed to criminality or at least minimizes the presence of personal values against crime.

* One ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' story plays with this by introducing a group of concerned citizens determined to demonstrate that RousseauWasRight and get criminals to reform by showing them [[ThePowerOfLove kindness]]. Of course, the criminal they try this on turns out to be incorrigible and kidnaps his "rescuer". It's then PlayedForLaughs by having her be [[PityTheKidnapper so obnoxious]] that he begs to go to prison just to get away from her.

* ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' in the Disney film of the same name has to steal to survive, being an orphan with no education in a difficult time. In [[Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar the 2nd film]], after he's a guest of the palace, he becomes a Myth/RobinHood-esque bandit who steals from criminals but doesn't keep any of the booty for himself, giving it instead to the downtrodden and poor. [[WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries The cartoon series]] refines this even further in a flashback scene of Aladdin butting heads with another street rat over his willingness to steal money, whereas Aladdin only steals food.

* ''Film/BoyzNTheHood:'' The only one of the three boys to overcome the pressures of street life is Tre, due to the presence of [[GoodParentshis father]] counterbalancing the negative influence of life in Compton.

* ''Film/BoyzNTheHood:'' The only one of the three boys to overcome the pressures of street life is Tre, due to the presence of his father counterbalancing the negative influence of life in Compton.

* This is pretty much the main theme of ''Joker'', with Arthur Fleck even outright stating this during his climactic MotiveRant towards the film's end:

* The ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' movie's [[EarWorm memorable song]], ''Blame Canada!''

* In ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' Erik's behavior (killing people) is often attributed to this.

->'''Man''': All right, [[StockBritishPhrases it's a fair cop]], but society's to blame.\\

* Touched upon in ''Film/BatmanBegins'', where Bruce Wayne begins to sympathize with the criminal element when he encounters people who have to commit crime in order to survive (and, having cut himself off from home, having to do so himself), and then finds himself feeling a thrill when he expands his motivations from survival to profit. This is countered by Ducard, who notes that criminals look for, thrive, and encourage society's tolerance and understanding of their motivations. Bruce eventually settles on something somewhere in the middle, and he tends to restrict his hunts to those who cannot claim it is society's fault.

* ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'', often, especially ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. We wrap up the A plot more quickly than usual, find out that Johnny did it and the jury agrees... but our heroes realize that it's not really Johnny's fault and strike back against the corporate overlord / gang / societal disease that "made him do it".

** It does try to present socialization as a factor, rather than a determinant, but it has wildly varying degrees of success. ("Distress" and "True Night" used serious and overwhelming psychological illness as the motivator; "Pleasure is My Business" used almost nothing other than the societal issue.)
* ''Series/ColdCase'' mixes this with an economy sized {{Deconstruction}} of GoodOldWays. Expect at least five episodes a season or more to make the ''era'' of the murder the true villain, particularly when it comes to issues of race or sexuality. The episode "Best Friends," with an interracial female-female romance in the 1920's plays both factors for everything it's worth.

* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' two-parter "Past Tense" sends Sisko, Bashir, and Dax back to [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2024 America]], where the homeless and unemployed are relocated to "Sanctuary Districts." Theoretically they're given food, shelter, and help finding a job, but in practice they're locked in, overcrowded, and violent residents nicknamed "Ghosts" prey on the weak. The most prominent of these is B.C., a hair-trigger thug who knifed an important historical figure before his time and begins the all-important riots. As the crisis goes on, however, he shows hints that he wouldn't have turned to violence if he hadn't been shoved into the Districts--and in fact those with existing records are not ''allowed'' in, so all of the Ghosts only became dangerous after they were swept under the rug to be forgotten.

* The criminals in ''Film/WestSideStory'' invoke this mockingly in the song and dance number "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq28qCklEHc Gee, Officer Krupke]]". The gang leader plays himself, with other gang members playing a low-ranking police officer who arrests him and various authority figures. These various authority figures have various shallow theories about what the problem is, most of these theories being in SocietyIsToBlame territory. But what they all have in common is that they whack him over the head and send him away to be somebody else's problem. Oh, and they all either insult the lowly policeman or ignore him. It all ends with a mutual rejection: The final authority figure dismisses the gang leader as a bad person period, and the gang concludes that they simply want society out of their lives.

** The "no earthly good" self-flagellation? Preceded by yet another authority figure's rant, '''not''' hewing to the SocietyIsToBlame trope. After Riff explains to the social worker his resigned attitude ("work" is a four-letter word, strictly for chumps), "she"--play-acted with screeching intensity by A-Rab--adds her caterwauling two-cents:

* This seems to be the play's message regarding Jean Valjean and many other people in ''Theater/LesMiserables''. Valjean only stole to feed his sister's family, and got five years in prison. The conditions were so brutal he tried to escape multiple times, with each extending his sentence. When he's paroled at last after ''nineteen'' years, he finds it impossible to find work as a felon. He is so suspicious and hardened that even when someone ''does'' try to assist him (a [[GoodShepherd kindly priest]]) Valjean instead steals his silver. The priest, instead of sending him back to prison when he's caught, instead covers for him, giving Valjean a second chance. Once removed from this state, he becomes a successful businessman and town mayor, but only by breaking parole. Thus he's pursued by {{Inspector Javert}}, who only cares that he broke the law, which leads Valjean into further crime to escape. It's also echoed by Fantine, who's dismissed from her job when it's found out she's an unwed mother, and forced into prostitution to survive. She's arrested for striking a man harassing her, catches a fever and dies. Javert on the other hand firmly believes this is wrong, but rather crime isn't the result of environment ''or'' heredity (especially the latter he's keen to disprove, as both his parents were criminals). When it's finally proven to him that Valjean is a good man, he can't stand the revelation, [[DrivenToSuicide killing himself]].

* In ''TheOffice'' episode "Weight Loss"...

* In OnePiece, the New Fishman Pirates' IrrationalHatred is explained to be a result of growing up in a culture dominated by racism. Prince Fukaboshi goes on to say that the rest of Fishman Island is to blame, as instead of trying to reform the Fishman District's residents, they just ignored them and hoped things would turn out okay.

* Homer sometimes says the same line if you hit someone's car in ''TheSimpsonsHitAndRun''.

* This seems to be the play's message regarding Jean Valjean and many other people in ''Theater/LesMiserables''. Valjean only stole to feed his sister's family, and got five years in prison. The conditions were so brutal he tried to escape multiple times, with each extending his sentence. When he's paroled at last after ''nineteen'' years, he finds it impossible to find work as a felon. He is so suspicious and hardened than even when someone ''does'' try to assist him (a [[GoodShepherd kindly priest]]) Valjean instead steals his silver. The priest, instead of sending him back to prison when he's caught, instead covers for him, giving Valjean a second chance. Once removed from this state, he becomes a successful businessman and town mayor, but only by breaking parole. Thus he's pursued by {{Inspector Javert}}, who only cares that he broke the law, which leads Valjean into further crime to escape. It's also echoed by Fantine, who's dismissed from her job when it's found out she's an unwed mother, and forced into prostitution to survive. She's arrested for striking a man harassing her, catches a fever and dies. Javert on the other hand firmly believes this is wrong, but rather crime isn't the result of environment ''or'' heredity (especially the latter he's keen to disprove, as both his parents were criminals). When it's finally proven to him that Valjean is a good man, he can't stand the revelation, [[DrivenToSuicide killing himself]].