Friday, March 9, 2012

What Makes the Difference?

OK, so here is my latest rant, and it's a little sensitive.  I have had the opportunity over the last couple of years to observe community behavior related to the families of two men who have committed similar crimes.  Both families have lived in and been involved in the community for years.  One family is older - children in their teens/twenties; the other has children much younger.  One family was very much "mainstream", while the other could be called "different".  One wife has a job outside the home, the other does not.  In both cases, the arrest was a shock to the community and to the people who (thought they) knew the family.  In both cases, the men had either been questioned and investigated or had been caught committing their special crime several years prior to their arrest, so one would assume that the wives were aware of what was going on.

So here's my question:  What makes one wife and family more sympathetic than the other?  What causes the community to basically shut out one of these families and draw together to help the other?

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