Crime and Poverty - Research Paper Example

?Crime and Poverty Introduction Crime and poverty constitute the most common social phenomenon that is present in virtually any social setting. Crime is an unaccepted social activity that entails doing things or activities that are against the expectation of society. There are several forms of crimes. This paper would focus on crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, burglary, pick pocketing and many others. Poverty is a condition that occurs when a household is unable to meet the minimum level of income used to support a household. Understanding the relationship between the crime and poverty is important to the key government officials and the policy makers. This is because it would enable the policy makers come up with the best strategies of mitigating poverty. This statement is true in the sense that most policies developed that relate to crime normally overlook the contribution that poverty has on the crime levels. Consequently, the study found out that poverty is a major underlying factor behind the criminal activities that are plaguing the world currently. A number of studies related to crime and poverty have been conducted but most of them normally focus on these social phenomenons individually. Few researches have tried to find out the link between the two. However, none of the researches is comprehensive and intensive enough to explain the relationship between crime and poverty. This work is therefore focused in answering the question as to whether poverty leads to crime. The paper would explore some of the reasons that support or oppose this question. The paper would aim at answering a hypothesis that states that there is no significant relationship between the poverty and crime. It would also aims at answering an alternative hypothesis that states that poverty creates a volatile and favorable environment for poverty. A number of studies that have been conducted support the fact that poverty has a bigger part to play as far as poverty is concerned. This part of the paper would discuss some of the ways through which poverty is implicated to crime. The paper would analyze those articles and journals that explain the part played by the poverty in creating favorable condition that fuel criminal activities (Turner 439). The genesis of the crime Before reviewing some sources related to poverty and crime, it is important to determine the evolution and genesis of the crime. As mentioned above, poverty is a social phenomenon. This means that it is socially constructed. According to Obeidallah & Brooks-Gunn, the cases of crime have been rising drastically since the advent of agrarian revolution (1475). Crime is an activity that occurs when a person uses unaccepted means to solicit resources, money or to benefit him or herself. Poverty limits one from getting basic needs hence encouraging crime Inability to meet the basic needs is one of the major factors fuelling crime. A person who does not have means of making life comfortable or sustaining life would opt into engaging him or herself in activities that would enable him or her to acquire the basic needs. However, these activities are usually not socially accepted. They are classified as crime. Poverty is the main factor that limits people from using the legal means to acquire their daily bread. It does this by limiting the access to resources such as money that can be used to pay fees, access good schools and finish education. According to Hannon & DeFina, education is a means through which a person can get money and other resources necessary in offsetting the daily expenses that relate to life matters (53). However, because of poverty, some people would find it difficult to pursue their education to the expected level. The chances of such people getting employed become limited. Consequently, such people would have to opt into those activities that are not socially and legally accepted, crime. In a study conducted in Dubuque to find out the trends and perceptions of crime in conjunction with poverty, it was found out that Section 8 housing projects that are smaller, garden style, have defensible space, and are located in less resource poor neighborhoods, have not been found to be linked to crime or crime diffusion. The study also positively correlates the households that have high level of poverty, unemployment and female headed household with high violent crimes. This study also found out that that housing quality had a positive effect on satisfaction with the local physical environment, which had an impact on perceptions of safety, as well as a direct effect (Northern Illinois University 573). A parallel study was done to find out the community attitudes and perceptions of safety. The responses from the study were tabulated. They were then weighted to remove biases pertaining to age of the participants. The weighted results were as shown in the table below. 1993 census Survey respondents (unweighted) Weighted age age 18-30 years 24.4% 6.6% 24.3% 31-50 years 36.7% 26.1% 36.7% 51-70 years 23.3% 39.2% 23.3% 71 years and older 15.6% 28.1% 15.6% race Caucasian/white 97.0% 97.4% 98.4% African American/ black 1.0% 1.2% 1.4% Native American 0.2% 0.4% 0.2% Asian American 0.7% 0.6% 1.1% Latino 1.4% 0.4% 0.2% Multiracial 0.7% 0.2% 0.1% Home ownership Own current housing 67.5% 83.2% 80.2% Rent current housing 32.5% 13.8% 14.8% Overall N 44, 049 502 502 The results of the weighted and unweighted responses were then plotted in graphs. The graph below shows how the ages of the respondents differ. Poverty and human trafficking A study conducted by Shannon reveals that the poverty provides favorable environment in which human trafficking can take place (18). The study reveals astonishing findings related to the enormous human trafficking trade in Japan. According to the study over 70,000 Filipinas are ferried daily to Tokyo in Japan. Shannon asserted that Japan accommodates more than 10,000commercial sex centers (21). According to this study, women who come from poor backgrounds are the main victims of human trafficking. The people involved visit these women in their remote areas. The women are introduced to promoter or agency by trusted friend or family member (Obeidallah & Brooks-Gunn 1455). This is because such women are desperate and are in need of resources and/ or money. They easily yield to the kind of information they get. They are showered with lucrative promises that they would encounter in abroad. Their travelling arrangements are also gathered by their agency. In the end, the kind of poverty they are enduring would force these women to accept the offer. Precisely, poverty is the main cause underlying the human trafficking. Just as discussed, it is easy to trick the poor people through promises. Secondly, poverty is also related to ignorance. These two social elements are the main components promoting the development of favorable environment through which crime can take place (Coulton 73). Poverty and violent crimes Another study carried out by Hannon &v DeFina to find out whether poverty differs between African American and white neighborhoods found out that economic deprivation plays a significant role in precipitating violent crimes. The study wanted to compare whether the poverty among the white and black is responsible for the violent crime. The findings show that poverty’s criminogenic effect is not affected by the race. This is because the results show that there is no significant difference in the crime rate among the blacks and whites (Jenson 196). Poverty and delinquency Mandell, in the article ‘Crime of Poverty’ made a significant effort into describing the relationship between the poverty and the crime. Mandell asserted that most of the crimes committed occur as a result of poverty. He argues that criminal justice system should go hand in hand with the welfare system. In supporting this argument, Mandell asserted that the two systems are dependent on each other and that resolving the crime through the criminal justice system is only bound to bring about short term positive results (Hannon & DeFina 53). However, if the welfare system is incorporated into the criminal justice system, then the results are bound to be long term. Mandell claimed that merging the two would bring about conformity to unstable job market of temporary low paid employment. The study gave an example of the delinquency as a form of crime that is particularly related to the poverty. The study reveals that improving the economic opportunity among the youth would help in reducing the delinquency associated with youth. He states that crimes such as drug trafficking are at the center of array of serious social issues in poor communities. The author associate most cases of drug trafficking to the low-income communities (Chun-Chung Chow & Johnson 27). He said that despite the fact that the government is taking a number of measures to mitigate the negative impacts of the drugs such as addiction, the drug trade remains the main source of casual employment remains the main source of employment for the low-education men and women. In another study that aims at explaining poverty, business cycle conditions and property crimes, Herzog found out that increase in poverty is positively associated with diminished legal earnings of low income individuals. They also found out that increase in poverty increases the self defense responses of the upper-income crime target. This makes these individuals vulnerable to crime targets (193). The study found a positive correlation between poverty and crime rates. It showed that that those individuals who are extremely disadvantaged experience slightly higher violent crime rates than those who are less disadvantaged. One possible reason may be that the extremely disadvantaged individuals are forced to engage themselves in activities that are not socially accepted. Jobless individuals are forced to engage themselves in modes of crimes such as burglary, pick pocketing and drug trafficking as a means of earning their livelihood (Sabbadini 41). Poverty and human capital A study that was conducted in America show that individuals living in poverty face an increased risk of adverse social outcomes such as criminal activities. The study indicated that higher levels of poverty which occurs as a result of higher unemployment are bound to bring about higher levels of property crime they concluded that the conditions associated with poverty can limit the ability of individuals to develop the skills, abilities, knowledge, and habits necessary to fully participate in labor force (Umoh 79). This is because the conditions associated with poverty negatively affect various aspects of human capital such as the education, work experience, training and health of the labor force. The end result of this is that it will limit the individual’s ability to remain healthy and develop skills. It also hinders the potential of an individual to contribute talent, ideas to the economy. This will slow down the economic growth. Stagnating economic growth form a strong basis for criminal activities. Poverty as a product of economic deprivation U.S. Government Accountability Office (3) defines poverty as a term used to describe the inability of people to meet their basic needs. It also revealed that in US, poverty is normally measured during the time of census. It is achieved by calculating the number of people living below an established level of income. The minimum level of income used during determination of poverty line is that amount of income that is deemed minimally adequate to support a household (U.S. Government Accountability Office 4). It is the responsibility of the census Bureau to find out a poverty threshold amount each year. The study found out that poor people do not have the ability of meeting their basic needs such as health care, education and food. This predisposes people to adverse outcomes, such as poor health and low educational attainment. This will result in reduced participation in the labor market. It positively relates the poverty, economic deprivation and crimes. The study concluded by stating that the solution the social issues such as crimes can be achieved through economic development (U.S. Government Accountability Office 6). Conclusion From the foregoing discussion, it is clear that poverty play an important role in creating an environment that fuels crime activities. However, the discussion implies that there is no direct relationship between poverty and crime. This means that poverty fuel crime by limiting man from accessing resources that are necessary in development of an ideal life. One interesting idea that should be noted as far as poverty and crime is that crime is a short cut of meeting ones basic needs. It is closely related to lazy and poor people who cannot work hard through the normal legal and socially accepted process. This implies that the best way of mitigating the crime rate is by helping people navigate through their education so that they can acquire better ways of dealing with life challenges as well as better means of earning their livelihood. The discussion also implies that criminal justice system should not be handled independently because it does not provide long term solution to the crime rates. Conversely, combining the criminal justice system and the welfare system would bring a relatively long term solution to the rising crime rates Works cited Chun-Chung Chow, Julian; Johnson, Michelle. The Status of Low-Income Neighborhoods in the Post-Welfare Reform Environment: Mapping the Relationship Between Poverty and Place.. Journal of Health & Social Policy, 2005, 21(1), p1-32. Coulton, Carl. The place of community in social work practice research: Conceptual and methodological developments. Social Work Research, 29, 73. 2005. Print. Shannon Devine. Poverty Fuels Trafficking to Japan. Herizons, 2007, Vol. 20 Issue 3, p18-22. Hannon, Lance & DeFina, Robert. Violent Crime in African American and White Neighborhoods: Is Poverty's Detrimental Effect Race-Specific? Journal of Poverty, 2005, 9 (3), p49-67, DOI: 10.1300/J134v09n03. Herzog, Sergio.The Relationship Between Economic Hardship And Crime: The Case Of Israel And The Palestinians. Sociological Perspectives, 2005, 48 (2), p189-211 Jenson, Jeffrey. Neighborhood and Community Effects on Individual Behavior and Social Functioning. Social Work Research, 2007, 31(4), p195-197. Print. Northern Illinois University. 2010 Dubuque Crime and Poverty Study Summary Report. New York, NY: Sage publishers. Obeidallah Brennan & Brooks-Gunn Earls. Links between pubertal timing and neighborhood contexts: hnplications for girls' violent behavior. JdMrna/ of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43, 1460-1468. 2004. Print. Sabbadini, Linda. The Development of Official Social Statistics in Italy with a Life Quality Approach. Social Indicators Research, 2011, 102 (1), p39-46, 8p Turner, Charles. The Perils of Federalism: Race, Poverty, and the Politics of Crime Control. Urban Affairs Review, 2010, 45 (3), p438-441 U.S. Government Accountability Office. Poverty in America : Consequences for Individuals and the Economy. Washington, D.C. 20548 Umoh, Umoh T. Environmental Education and Poverty Reduction in Africa. Journal of African Business, 2010, 11(1), p70-86, 17p, 2 Charts; DOI: 10.1080/15228911003608561. Read More