Therein lies the nub of any desire to convey the benefits of leading what other people see as a better life.

Conforming to the ethics and rules of society may fail to convey any real purpose, especially if society is leaving its population impoverished or in some other way not giving people a fair go.

In such circumstances, some people will believe that the only alternative to survive is to rob and steal.

The benefits of a law-abiding society and concern about others don’t always translate in a situation where social and economic benefits are not seen to be fairly distributed throughout society.

So where does a nation and its people go from here?

Logic might suggest that appealing to people that they are helped by societal benefits is lacking motivational power if individuals are not able to participate fully or share in those benefits.

Such matters as the rule of law, democracy or freedom are wonderful ideas but they are almost impossible to quantify or capture if you go to bed hungry each night or can't get a paid job if you want to raise a family.

Appealing to abstracts, no matter how socially beneficial they are, is rather like the wind. You can mostly see what it does without being able to see the wind itself.

People who understand the benefits of a law-abiding life, and who can see how it works in their favour, may find it difficult to imagine how people in often desperate circumstances view the world.

There is an axiom that asserts how ‘the only true happiness is making other people happy’ and a proverb telling us that 'happiness is not about getting all you want, it’s about enjoying all you have'.

The problem is that these and similar aphorisms sound glib and untruthful if there is no hope or promise of a better life.

The concept of making me happy so you can be happy is almost impossible to convey as is to enjoy all you have when you have nothing but hardship. In fact, such mottos are quite insulting when people are poor and destitute.

Maslow's hierachy of human needs tells us that the imperatives that must be satisfied are food, shelter, water, clothing and sleep.

If these bare necessities for people's survival are absent or minimal, unhappiness will prevail.

Further than that, disadvantaged people are unlikely to take seriously matters such as obeying the rule of law.

This will likely result in them seeking retribution by turning to anti-social activities - stealing,fraud or worse.

If these people are connected in some way (as wantoks or part of a cellphone chat group) and fine they share similar views, tribalism becomes a warm and comforting cloak.

This is the point at which gangs may form to pick pockets at one end of the spectrum or to violently rebel at the other.

Raskols will change their ways only if the needs identified by Maslow are accepted and responded to by people whose job it to run a society fairly and justly.