Letter: Causes of crime: a simplistic analysis that puts men in the dock

Sir: Sounds easy, doesn't it - 'The problem with crime is a problem with men'. Anna Coote obviously isn't looking for a solution to the extremely complex subject of crime, she already has one, a nice neat one that can be encapsulated in a headline. She neatly ignores the implications of her own argument - if it really is nurture that links men with crime (and I'm not arguing that it is, but Ms Coote appears to be), perhaps we should take a close look at the strongest and most lasting influence in a child's early life - its mother. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Naturally, this starts to muddy the clear waters that Ms Coote appears to think life is - you really can't say that the problem with crime is a problem with men any more than you can explain how to play the flute by saying that you blow in one end and run your fingers up and down the outside.

Life just ain't that simple.

Regards,

MIKE KLEINSTEUBER

Bristol

16 February