Correlation Between Low Income And Violent Crime Rate Essay

The correlation between social class and crime has been a source of controversy among criminologists. Many of the early criminological concepts and theories were originated on the unquestioned belief that the lower class population is more accountable for criminal behavior than are those who are economically advanced. However, even though today this supposition is not as universally accepted, it still devises many proponents. This paper inspects the connection between social class and criminality and considers the prospect that the assumption that the poor are more criminally responsible than those in higher social classes may not be a valid one, yet it has had existent consequences for those who are targeted by the society and the police as a whole.

In this article, as the title suggests, it explains the use of social class differences to explain racial differences in crime. Among earlier arguments are the subculture of violence and subculture of poverty theories, which argue that African Americans tend to have pro-crime norms and values. The article's author, Robert D. Crutchfield, goes in depth with recent and more advanced theories to explain the link between poverty, crime, and race, while criticizing the subcultural theories. These new theories tell a different view from that of the subcultural theories with evidence showing that economic disadvantage and the way how society is structured accounts for the link between poverty, crime, and race. From these evidence, ethnographers conclude

The purpose of this study is to determine if low income is a factor in crime rate. Low income can be a factor in crime rate as determined by various results that were tested by different researchers. The idea of the survey is to study and get an idea of the prevalence of income and crime rate at Marymount University. The main point of these survey is to determine whether low income families compare to middle or high class have more of a potential to commit various crimes.

Another factor that might have led to the increase in crime is the increase in the population of the poor. Generally, the poor tend to be susceptible to crime more than the well-established considering their low levels of income and lack of employment. Their increase in the county will definitely lead to an increase in the crime rate (Braga, 2006).

been accompanied by increasing number of total crimes as well as all crimes per million households. Moreover, despite increase in domestic federal spending in 1987 dollars increased from 150 billion in 1960 to 720 billion in 1992, crime rate--crimes per 10,000 population--in the United States increased from 189 in 1960 to 566 in 1992. From about 1975, a sharp increase in incarceration from about 100 per 100,000 population around 1975 in the United States led to more than 400, a historically unprecedented level, by 1995.(Chennareddy 136).

Disparity in crime regularly occurs due to absence or breakdowns of community societies that should encourage inter-communal relationships between people. The social relationships can exist in families, educational organizations, churches, and/or the government (Miller, 2012). Rapidly increasing population due to immigration has losses in the form of moderately low-income earners who either lack qualifications for good jobs or do not have proper migration papers. These social groups are pressured by their environment into criminal behavior (Miller, 2012). Social disorganization indicates a lack of family institutions to promote social

Thus, making these factors vital to examine when looking at violent crime. Social economic factors place structural issues on those in poverty, creating more barriers and thus more opportunities for crime to occur. As Blum states “Criminologist frequently affirm that gender, race, and social class affect criminal involvement; on average, men commit more crime than women, blacks commit more crime than whites, and higher poverty areas have higher crime rates than suburban areas” (2008). Thus, making social economic status an important factor in violent crime. Lynch argues that you must look at class when looking at crime, because if not you are neglecting real-word productions of crime (2015). Asserting that class/poverty and crime influence one another. Furthermore, this is not necessarily a predictor of violent crime, but rather a structural factor that makes more individuals likely to commit violent offense. In addition to this there are many different factors that contribute to low economic status such as underemployment, education, single family house-holds, and disabilities (cite). These factors are often left out of theories that discuss poverty and

Poverty has long been a consistent characteristic in crime. Numerous theories like Social Disorganization, Labeling Theory, and Strain Theory have been created to try to explain the connection between poverty and crime. As these theories demonstrate , the devastating external factors that poverty causes contribute to crime. Yet, the connection between poverty and crime continues to deliver new data, adding to the way criminologist analyze crime. These studies develop new methods including governmental programs , investments in certain areas or change in tax codes for tackling poverty emerge. Therefore, it is pivotal to continue studying the connection between poverty and crime to properly a large of factor of crime from its roots.

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.

Today’s news and Media outlets have helped to paint a portrait of crime in America. This picture leads our nation to believe that crime is only committed by people from a low socioeconomic upbringing. This is not an uncommon train of thought due to the numerous studies and samplings showing just this hypothesis. Average Americans see television shows and movies portraying people from lower socioeconomic areas as criminal, specifically young men who are minorities. The idea of this is based on a reflection of our Justice system here in the United States. The United Stated justice system has been twisted throughout the years by favoritism shown towards people of the Middle and Upper class. I myself came from a family where just feeding the kids was hard to accomplish. No matter what or income or housing conditions my mother’s chief concern was the well-being and education of her children. She did not use her socioeconomic status as a crutch and fall into a life of crime. My mother made sure what little money she made went to a better education for her children and that we knew the difference in right and wrong. Whenever everyone else in our community was on some type of drug or commit some type of crime my mother refrained from these activities. Theories such as the Strain Theory would have people believe that negative socioeconomic factors are the reason that people commit crimes, also that because people are poor they see an inability to achieve their goals which

There is a misconception that wealthy cities do not have the same types of crimes as lower or middle-class areas. Society believes that the affluent residents can deter crime with their highly patrolled areas and their advanced security systems to keep them safe from criminals and drug addicts that may be wandering on the street. In addition, society believes that the upper class’ wealth deters them from committing crimes. They see that there is no reason for them to commit a crime with all the money they have because they can just buy whatever they desire. Although in some aspects it may be true, some cannot help the thrill and excitement that comes with the package of committing crimes. Others get involved in crimes because of social or

The relationship between poverty and crime can be viewed as a link, but it can also be viewed as a cycle. Lower class individuals are more likely to commit crimes (McLaughlin, 2) so a child who grows up with little money is more likely to have a crime on their record making it more difficult for them to attain quality employment. For this reason they stay poor and their kids are now more likely to commit crimes and stay poor as adults. The disproportionate number of single parent homes in low income areas and the potential lack of control the parent may have on the child could add to the fact that low income youth are four times more likely to commit violent crimes (McLaughlin, 2). A simple explanation for why there is more crime amongst low income individuals is there is a greater need for them to steal because they may lack basic necessities and their only option is theft. A theory I found very interesting was the lack of money can put great stress on a household which can have adverse effects on the children and make them more likely to commit crimes. Although the homes of serial killers are not necessarily poor they are often broken and the effects this has on the killers are very

The interrelation between income inequality and crime rate has been long debated and correlation between these two social factors is under close observation in most of the corners of the world.

According to the FBI, “the 2012 rate of violent crime known to law enforcement within metropolitan areas was 409.4 per 100,000 persons. The rate of violent crime per 100,000 persons in cities outside metropolitan areas was 380.4, and for non-metropolitan counties it was 177.0.” These FBI statistics show the difference in the amount of crime between the poor who live in metropolitan areas, and the better off individuals who live outside of the metropolitan areas. There is more than double the amount of violent crime for people in metropolitan areas than people in non-metropolitan counties. This makes it harder for people in poverty to have equal success when they have to watch their back at all times and the rich are almost completely removed from violent crime. According to Ward (2015),The relationship between poverty and crime is visible because they are”geographically concentrated” which means that they can both be found in the exact same places.This means that the connection between poverty and crime is not a coincidence. Due to a lack of resources, some people turn to crime as a way to provide for themselves and their families. The temptation of obtaining power this way is not present among people who do not grow up in poverty. Instead, they have an abundance of

In this study, we will attempt to examine the relationship, if any, between criminal activity and the unemployment rate. My hypothesis is that higher unemployment leads to higher crime rates. Our belief stems from the fact that the cities in the United States with the highest crime rates all have a poverty level higher than the U.S. average of 15.1%.2 For Example, Detroit had the highest reported violent crime rate of 2,072/100,000 people, with almost 40% of their population living below the poverty level.3