POVERTY” wrote Aristole is the “parent of crime”, however can one believe this be right? Certainly, there is evidence to show that poverty and crime are correlated. And that those who have a lower income, committing crimes seems like a plausible idea. However one cannot say one is the cause of the other. Furthermore research (Sariaslan, A 1989) from the Karolina institute, in Stockholm, just published in the British journal of Psychiatry casts doubt on this ideology- at least with the causation of individuals committing violent crimes or indulging themselves in recreational drugs. One does not believe poverty can be a causation of crime.
In most scandinavian nations the government collects personal data from their civilians. From this Sariaslan
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This was done for an average of three-and-a-half years. To no-ones surprise, it was concluded that teenagers that grew up in families whose earnings were considered below average were seven times more likely to commit violent offences. And twice as likely to be convicted for drug offences as a oppose to teenagers whose families earnings were a considerably higher than average. However, the team did find that when they looked at families who grew more affluent over time, the younger offspring—those born into relative luxury—were just as likely to misbehave when they were teenagers similarly to their elder siblings. As a result, family income was not a determining factor in committing crime. This suggests two, not mutually exclusive, possibilities. One, being that a family’s culture, once established, stays within the family—that you can, take “children out of the hood, but not the hood out of them”. An example of this, is that children tend to copy the actions of their elder siblings whom they admire, which is plausible. The other possibility, is that “genes are fully responsible for criminal activity” (Joseph,J, 2001, Journal of mind and behaviour) thus meaning that criminal activities will follow those who have “particular genes” no matter what hierarchy level they live …show more content…
This again, shows that “poverty does not cause crime, it’s the mentality of others(Prager,D, 2005)” as Prager argues. This statement alone is worth remembering when an American claims that violent crime in America is caused by poverty. The poor who commit murder, rape, and robbery are not only not starving, they have far more material possessions than the word “poverty” suggests. Among all poor households:over 99 percent have a refrigerator, television, and stove or oven; eighty-one percent have a microwave; seventy-five percent have air conditioning; sixty-seven percent have a second television; sixty-four percent have a clothes washer; thirty-eight have a personal computer.( Roda, C & Weinstein, D 2008). As for homelessness, one-half of 1 percent living under the poverty line have lost their homes and live in shelters. Seventy-five percent of the poor have a car or some sort of accessible transport. Online ten percent live in mobile homes or trailers, half live in detached single-family houses or townhouses, and forty percent live in apartments. Forty- two percent of all “poor” households own their home, average of which is a three-bedroom house with one and a half baths, garage, and a porch. (Residential Energy Consumption Survey,
However, the question whether such an effect is universal remains unanswered. In a study by Kierkus & Hewitt, (2009) they examined the link between non-traditional family structures and delinquency based on several variables such as gender, race, age, SES, family size and place of residence. They made an interesting finding that age and family size impacts the relationship between family structures, crime, and delinquency (Kierkus & Hewitt, 2009). More specifically, the old adolescents and those from larger families were at a significant risk for participating in juvenile
And with that comes a life of anguish and the only thing they can do is turn to “crime.” To them the benefits of committing a crime outweigh the consequences. Hanna Rosin, author of “American Murder Mystery,” also agrees: “as part of a nationwide experiment to free the poor from the destructive effects of concentrated poverty.” Rosin sees how destructive living in poverty can be for people. Rosin isn’t the only one who thinks poverty is destructive, she quotes HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros: “’ these enclaves of poverty,’ where ‘drug dealers control the stairwells, where children can’t go outside to play, where mothers put their
One of the biggest issues in America today is crime. It is a large problem that continues to erode our country economically as well as morally. Because of the vastness of the problem, many have speculated what the cause for crime may be in hopes that a solution will be found. Many believe that a bad family life, location of residence, and poverty hold a few of the answers to why an individual becomes involved in criminal activity.
When the social, educational, financial and health needs of a person are not satisfied through the family then they may be inclined towards criminal activities. There are some other family related factors that affect the behavior of children and they might go for criminal activities. Some of these factors include adaptation of bad parenting practices and styles, neglecting the child, child abuse and trend of criminal behavior in the family which is then learned by the child. It also includes a family history with mental illness, teenage pregnancy, substance use, school dropout and interpersonal conflicts among the family members (Cassel & Bernstein, 2007).
The fact that poverty is self-perpetuating is a documented fact. Criminal and delinquent activity may also be an accepted part of the total picture for deprived kids. It's h...
This theory however as some have argued has emerged from social disorganisation theory, which sees the causes of crime as a matter of macro level disadvantage. Macro level disadvantage are the following: low socioeconomic status, ethnic or racial heterogeneity, these things they believe are the reasons for crime due to the knock on effect these factors have on the community network and schools. Consequently, if th...
One of the main ideas that cover the link between crime and the role of the family was that single parenthood is a risk factor. It was suggested that father absence in childhood was a cause of crime but this may not be as relevant in today’s society as divorce is much more common and it may have been more about the social exclusion the children experienced from the outside world because of their parents divorce (ref). Both Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber (1986) along with Farrington (1991) researched into the affect of the number of siblings in the family on the likelihood of committing crime. Both pieces of research found that if the family contained more children, money was short creating chaos and mischief was generally less detectable (ref). Altogether this can lead to children not being able to distinguish good behaviour from bad due to lack of punishment/operant conditioning which may carry on to them performing the same behaviours (such as using violence to get their way) in the outside world, making them more likely to commit crime. Another way OC affects the likelihood of committing violent crime is if violent behaviour was observed within the family in childhood. For instance many studies have been conducted into this topic and findings generally conclude that if children witness or experience violent physical or sexual abuse within the family it is
Crime is an extremely prominent part of American society. Recorded activity within the US saw 10,329,135 (1,246,248 violent crimes and 9,082,887 property crimes) crimes perpetrated with 62.5% of all violent crimes pertained to aggravated assault and 68.2% of all property crimes were considered larceny-theft in 2010. (FBI.2011) Despite the large number of crimes the United States also has the largest number of incarcerated citizens per capita in the world with nearly a quarter of the world’s prisoners coming from the United States’ 5% of the world population. This is due to much harder punishments in the US than those that are given a shorter longer period of incarceration or merely fined in other countries.(Liptak 2008) Due to the prevalence of crime in the US, economists have used models to explain the behavior and ramifications of government actions and the motivations behind crime and its effect on society that psychologists and sociologists are usually unable to address.
Crime and criminalization are dependent on social inequality Social inequality there are four major forms of inequality, class gender race and age, all of which influence crime. In looking at social classes and relationship to crime, studies have shown that citizens of the lower class are more likely to commit crimes of property and violence than upper-class citizens: who generally commit political and economic crimes. In 2007 the National Crime Victimization Survey showed that families with an income of $15000 or less had a greater chance of being victimized; recalling that lower classes commit a majority of those crimes. We can conclude that crime generally happens within classes.
They also explore the myths about the connection between genetic factors and criminal behavior. The first myth they looked at was “Identifying the Role of Genetics in Criminal Behavior Implies That There Is a “Crime Gene.”” This myth is dismissed because of the unlikelihood that that a single gene is responsible for criminal behavior. The second myth they look at is “Attributing Crime to Genetic Factors is Deterministic.” This myth is also easily dismissed because of the fact that just because someone has a predisposition to a certain behavior doesn’t mean that the person will take on that behavior.
You can’t turn on the television, or read the paper without hearing about violence in our cities and world. In a report from “Stand Up for Kids” in Chicago, they analyze the relationship between low wages, income inequality, and the epidemic of violence in Chicago’s low income neighborhoods. This report found that in 2012 there were nearly 7,700 gun-related crimes reported in the city. The city of Chicago has the third highest overall metropolitan poverty rate in the nation. Nearly one quarter of all Chicago residents live below the federal poverty threshold according to this report. ("Chicago Not Only Leads the Nation in Gun Violence Rates, but Also in Measures of Urban Poverty." Stand Up Chicago, 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.) Decades of research have demonstrated that there is a statistically significant link between low wages, income inequality and crime. The analysis presented in this report shows that when a city’s economic conditions improve, the violent crime rates go down.( "Chicago Not Only Leads the Nation in Gun Violence Rates, but Also in Measures of Urban Poverty." Stand Up Chicago, 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.) Parents and children are turning to violent acts to provide for their family needs. Policy makers and the government need to address the issues of persistent poverty and income inequality such as raising the minimum wage to a living wage and create satisfying jobs for the
Can you believe that 60% of rural children in the United States are living in poverty? Poverty is one out of many problems that America faces today. So, where does this all start? It starts with education. Education plays a huge role in this problem because most of America is not fully educated. They cannot get jobs to support their families, like farming and such. So, what about the families in poverty that live in metropolitan areas? They are faced with more problems than people in rural communities. They turn to crime because it is the only way they can provide their household and family. By examining the causes, rural crimes, health issues and statistics of poverty, crime does foster poverty.
...why youth engage in criminal activity Research suggests delinquent peers are a proximate cause than family/parental; family/parental may only be a slight cause of involvement in crime. Some research suggests that criminal propensities can be inherited through genes. Unfortunately, the media portrayals of crime aren’t a true representative of the actual crime trends, or accurately reflecting the level of crime perpetrated by youth. There are many different variables that could cause youth to engage in criminal activity, some of these major variables have been discussed throughout this essay.
TANNENBAUN, B, (2007),Profs link criminal behaviour to genetics [online] , Available at: http://thedp.com/index.php/article/2007/11/profs_link_criminal_behavior_to_genetics [accessed 16th October 2011].
I argue that poverty is the main cause of the increasing crimes in the society. It is quite evident that the aspect of crime and poverty normally go hand in hand. It is not possible to deal with crime without having to deal with some of the root causes which mostly are the aspects of poverty. Poverty can be basically referred to as the condition of choice and in most cases is the burden of the people that lack the benefits that the majority people have (Short, 1997). Normally, it is possible to hide wealth but it is never possible to hide a condition of poverty. There are two arguments regarding whether poverty is the aspect responsible for crime and whether crime can cause poverty. The families that go without the basic necessities in most cases could resort to theft. Therefore, I strongly hold that even though crime could have many causes, poverty is the largest of its causes.