Why so Much Crime is Committed in Urban Areas
Crime in urban areas has been on the increase since the 1950s, why?
What has happened to cause crime to become almost an accepted part of
inner city life? There are plenty of crime figures available for
every city in the world, but reading numbers from a list does not
explain why more crimes are being committed, to try to understand we
have to look at what has changed in urban communities and how these
changes have affected the people that live there.
Most urban areas have always been predominately working class with
low-grade housing and low wages, where communities had enjoyed a
strong bond as people worked together in factories and mills, whole
generations grew up working in the same place as their parents and
friends. As the economy of the country changed, so did the available
work which meant more and more families, were forced to move to other
areas looking for work. This caused a lot of urban areas to turn into
zones of transmission, where people would move into a poor area
looking for work, and those that were successful would work hard and
then move on to a better area with better housing. Unfortunately,
this meant that the less successful families stayed within one area
causing an ever-growing state of physical deterioration.
With growing poverty and communities full of people that did not know
each other, it led to a state of social disorganisation where the
normal types of informal control to limit deviant behaviour could not
be established. This in turn led to the formation of sub cultures,
with youth’s from these areas banding together in the search of some
form...
... middle of paper ...
...stop the increase or possibly even added to
the increase in crime, economical where the changing trends in the
economy of the country has taken industry and wealth from urban areas,
and community because of the constant shift of residents through the
zone of transition led to a state of social disorganisation. It would
be easy to point the finger if there was only one thing that had
changed over time, but the more we study crime, the more theories on
the causes of crime emerge. What we must not do is pick an easy
option and not look at the effects that everything else might have on
crime in urban areas.
Bibliography
Sunday Times Scotland Minister decides denial is the best policy for
fighting crime.
September the 25th 2005
Sunday Times Garda look at building better communities. December 17th
2004
Cohen, L. E., & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44(4), 588–608. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2094589
Residential inequality created by Macrosocial patterns is an important factor of violence and crime in poor inner city neighborhoods. This leads to social isolation of poor blacks and ecological concentration of of blacks and other disadvantaged people. The structural barriers include good schools and universities,employment opportunities, protection by the police, institutions like churches, and more barriers from organized community organizations. The people of these communities have fewer legal opportunities compared to the middle class to achieve success in legal ways and can influence the involvement in crime to find success and
Many factors may have led to the decrease in crime, but there are five very plausible explanatory factors as causal to the crime decline. The first is the demographic change, specifically referring to the changing composition of the population (Rosenfeld, 2011). Crime is a young mans game, and the aging of the baby boom generation is an important factor behind the drop, because older populations generally commit fewer crimes (Rosenfeld, 2011).
Crime exists everywhere. It is exists in our country, in the big cities, the small towns, schools, and even in homes. Crime is defined as “any action that is a violation of law”. These violations may be pending, but in order to at least lower the crime rate, an understanding of why the crimes are committed must first be sought. There are many theories that are able to explain crimes, but three very important ones are rational choice theory, social disorganization theory and strain theory.
Cohen, L. E. & Felson, M. (1979). “Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activities approach,” American Sociological Review 44:588-608.
What types of crime are considered to be the most costly to a country? Could it be street crime? Vandalism, breaking and entering, carjacking and pick pocketing are all examples of street crime, “a crime committed by average people against other people or organizations, usually in public spaces” (Open Education Sociology Dictionary). Street crime usually involves material possessions of large monetary amounts, costing the global economy an estimated $16.6 billion (Simon) so perhaps this could this be the most expensive type of crime. However, according to the 2014 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, corporate crime and fraud costs the global economy more than $3.7 trillion (ACFE). Investopedia defines corporate fraud, or
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.
According to a study regarding relationships between crime rates and police efficiency, the average efficiency for the timeframe studied is 84%. The study considered three theories when reviewing the relationship. The first was the Strain Theory, which deals with societal structures exerting pressure to commit property crimes to acquire symbols of wealth. The second is the Social Disorganization Theory, which links crime with neighborhoods or geographical areas. This theory does not account for individual differences or similarities. Finally, the Economic Theory of Crime, which focuses on criminal activity as a rational choice where criminals receive benefits from the activity. Reduce the benefit and prevention of the criminal activity may occur. A person engages in criminal activity because the reward or monetary income outweighs the probability of arrest and conviction. Density in population, unemployment rate also contribute toward the effect of crime and police efficiency. According to the authors, the focus needs to be on addressing the at-risk youth (Javier Parra Dominquez, 2013). For Overland Park, I would surmise, the economic theory of crime is the primary motivation. The vast majority of our criminal
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...
Is it a coincidence that highly urbanized areas are full of crime and always statistically higher than small towns and rural areas? A child that is being brought up in a metropolitan area that is full of violent crimes is flooded in a sense and has nothing to do but to breath in some of the negative influences that go on around him. Therefore, I believe that the most influential scene in a child’s life is the neighborhood that he grows up in. Parents cannot constantly watch over their children, ask about whom they are hanging out with, constantly check where they are, and find out what they are getting themselves into? (Statistics p348)
The murder of my Aunt Nelcina Charles in her home in 1995 was a surprise to us. She tried making a turnaround in her life. After years of drug abuse, Nelcina reached her lowest point. She realized that she needed to make a turn for the better, for her children. Nelcina became more involved in her children's lives and started living a normal life. As the transition began to take hold for the better, Nelcina’s life was abruptly taken from her, the police came, did their regular procedure. Yet the murder remained unsolved, and her children stayed with their grandmother.
In their Social Disorganization Theory, Shaw and McKay concluded that “bad parts of town” could be found in almost every large city. This is because as observed within the ecological model of expansion in the growth of large cities, there was a distinct interplay of factors influencing Social Disorganization in their zones of transition. Shaw can McKay concluded that it was a place that bred crime (the zone of transition) and that crime is much higher in the zone of transition because of the presence of poverty, residential mobility, and ethnic heterogeneity (Course Textbook, CH.7). These zones of transition were generally speaking seen as “ lower class
Smith S.J. (1989) ‘The challenge of urban crime’ Chapter 15 in Herbert D.T. and Smith D.M. (eds.) Social Problems and the City: New Perspectives (2nd Edition)
Instead of enjoying going out on trips to the shops, cinemas or work, people will feel vulnerable and isolated. In areas of high crime people may move away from their neighbourhood causing a decrease in the value of local house prices and new businesses may avoid the area, while existing businesses may be forced to leave the area or close down because of repeated theft or vandalism, which then force residents to shop outside their local
Rational Choice Theory is the belief that man is a reasonable actor who decides means and ends, costs and benefits, and makes rational choices. Routine activity theory provides a simple and powerful insight into the causes of crime problems. At its heart is the idea that in the absence of effective controls, offenders will prey upon attractive targets. Social Control Theory gives an explanation for how behavior conforms to that which is generally expected in society. Social disorganization theory explains the ecological differences in levels of crime based on structural and cultural factors shaping the nature of the social order across communities. This approach alters the sociological studies on which is any of two or more random variables exhibiting correlated variation of urban growth to examine the concentration and stability of rates of criminal behavior. Strain Theory. Conflict theory explains the belief that individuals choose to commit a crime, which many po...