Download Causes of Crime

Causes of Crime –
Theories and Approaches
While few people today would argue crime has but one
cause, people still emphasize one factor over another.
And they debate whether one factor is a cause or effect of
another.
For convenience, we will put
them into two groups:
SOCIAL & CULTURAL
Poverty
Unemployment
Racial discrimination
Child abuse
American values
Violence in the media
INDIVIDUAL & SITUATIONAL
Biology
Rational choice
Guns
Alcohol
Drugs
Write these in your notebook and be prepared to discuss . . .
Social and Cultural Factors
“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.”
-- Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), Greek philosopher, Politics
Social problems – such as poverty,
unemployment, racial
discrimination, and child abuse -and cultural influences – such as
American values and television -- are
often mentioned as causes of
crime.
• They do not cause crime in
any direct sense.
• The vast majority of poor
people, for example, remain
law-abiding all their lives.
• But these factors may make it
more likely that some people
turn to crime.
Poverty, Unemployment, and
Racial Discrimination
Many people believe
that poverty contributes
to the high crime rate.
You only have to drive
through a high-poverty
area and look at the
barred windows and
security doors to know
that the people who live
there worry about
crime.
A study showed that
neighborhoods with the
most poverty had the
highest rates of crime.
Neighborhoods with
poverty rates above 40%
had crime rates THREE
TIMES HIGHER than
neighborhoods with
poverty rates under 20%.
o Poverty and
unemployment are
highest in minority
communities,
particularly among
African Americans and
Latinos.
o About one fourth of all
blacks and Latinos live
below the poverty line,
compared to about 10
percent of whites.
o Despair and
hopelessness may also
give rise to crime in
these communities.
Inner-city residents, mostly
minorities, get arrested
and jailed at high rates.
Homicide is the leading
cause of death of black
males between the ages of
15 and 34, and the second
leading cause of Hispanic
males in the same age
group.
While males of the same
age are far less likely to die
of homicide.
Let’s take a look at Jackson –
Jackson Police Department
One of the great causes of
poverty, of course, is lack of
jobs.
What about during the worse
economic depression in U.S. history?
During the Great Depression, when unemployment
reached 25%, crime went down in many cities.
Why?
In 1992, the crime rate was high and so was unemployment.
Throughout the rest of the 1990s, unemployment dropped
rapidly and so did the crime rate.
The decline in crime went against
expectations because more people in
the 18-30 age group entered the
population.
This is the most crime-prone age and
many experts had predicted rising
crime rates!
But wait – the economy boomed in
the 1960s?!?
Some experts attributed
the fall in crime to the
booming economy.
They argue that unlike
the 1960s when the
economy also boomed,
the 21st century
economy provided more
jobs for the poor. ????
When less legal
work is available,
more illegal "work"
takes place.
Some social scientists have
found a direct
relationship between
joblessness and crime and
other social problems.
Dr. Harvey Brenner of
John Hopkins University
found that for every ONE
percent increase in
unemployment, the U.S.
sees:
650 extra homicides
3,300 extra state prison
admissions
920 extra suicides
500 extra deaths from
alcoholism
Child Abuse and Neglect
The family is usually the
greatest single influence on a
person’s life.
In a family, we learn how to
behave, how to treat other
people, and how to view
ourselves.
Children who experience
cruelty or lack of affection can
develop anti-social habits or
serious mental problems.
Some problems may show up
much later, as the child grows.
Many sociologists
believe that parents
who abuse their
children start a cycle
of abuse from
generation to
generation.
Abused children
often grow up to
abuse their children.
In a study reported by
Science magazine,
sociologists found that
neglected children were
one and one-half more
times as likely to
commit violent crime
later in life than nonneglected children.
Abused
children were
twice as likely
to become
violent
criminals.
The study concluded
that the abusive
family was one place
where society should
try to break the
continuing cycle of
violence.
Neglect and abuse
within a family can
lay the roots for a
life of violent crime.
Abused
children are
also six times
more likely to
abuse their own
children.
Almost 3
million
children are
reported as
victims of
abuse or
neglect every
year.
Many cases of
abuse
undoubtedly
never get
reported.
A National Institute of Justice study found that “childhood
abuse increased the odds of future delinquency and adult
criminality overall by 40%.
Some social scientists insist that almost all career criminals,
particularly those involved in crimes of violence, were abused
as children.
Values That Make Crime
More Acceptable
Many people believe
that Americans hold
certain values that
may encourage
criminal conduct.
One such value might
be our love of
material goods.
What do YOU think?
Judging by our mass
media, our society
seems to place a
high value on
owning new things.
The cumulative
message of much
advertising is that
happiness comes
from having things.
What do YOU think?
Wealth and material
possessions translate
into status or
position in society.
Thus people often
want things they
cannot afford to
buy, and some
people may steal and
rob to get what they
want.
Violence is acceptable.
Another value or
belief that some
claim affects
America’s crime rate
is the idea that
violence is
acceptable and even
admirable.
Part of American
folklore is the hero
who fights
criminals.
Our movies and
television programs
often show sheriffs,
police officers, and
cowboys using guns
and violence to
combat the violence
of criminals.
Similarly, such
programs may show
people committing
violent acts.
This does not mean
that individual
Americans favor the
use of violence.
Rather, it means
that Americans may
view violence as a
normal part of life.
Decline of Traditional Family
Values
Finally, some people have
connected our crime
problem to a decline of
traditional family values.
They argue that many of
our social problems,
including crime, stem
from a decline in values
such as being religious,
valuing education, getting
married, and working
hard to get ahead.
Decline of Traditional Family
Values
The loss of these values
and a greater acceptance
of non-traditional
attitudes and behaviors,
some believe, can lead to
greater poverty, social
breakdown, and even
crime.
What do YOU think?
The Media
The APA notes that by seventh grade, the
average American will have watched on
television 8,000 murders, plus another
100,000 acts of violence.
Does watching this much violence make
Americans more prone to violence?
In 1972, the U.S. Surgeon General
announced that “televised violence,
indeed, does have an adverse effect on
certain members of our society.”
In the years that followed, the National
Institute of Mental Health, the
Department of Justice, the American
Academy of Pediatrics, and numerous
scientific studies have backed up the words
of the Surgeon General.
Many social scientists
have concluded that
televised violence can
contribute to antisocial
behavior in children.
This is particularly true
when the children come
from violent homes or
neighborhoods.
It adds to the culture of
violence surrounding
them.
Critics complain that
violence has crept into
all the media -network television,
cable television,
movies, videos, music
lyrics, advertising, the
Internet, and video
games.
They believe that the
media is creating a
culture of violence.
As an example, they
point to “Grand Theft
Auto,” a highly
popular, ultra-violent
series of video games
in which users steal
cars, run over people,
and kill police.
Critics call it a
“murder simulator”
trains young people to
kill.
Defenders of the
media believe that
it is far too simpleminded to blame
violence on the
media.
Millions of people,
they point out,
view violence.
Only a few commit
acts of violence.
Violence in entertainment, as they see it, is being made
a scapegoat for society’s problems.
They contend that television simply reflects the level of
violence in society. It does nothing to cause the
violence.
A study published in Pediatrics lent some support to this viewpoint.
The study found “disturbingly high” levels of violence among 2,000 third to
eighth grade students.
But the study found only a small link between this violence and heavy doses
of television violence.
Instead, the study mainly linked the violence to students witnessing or being
a victim of real-life violence at home, in the community, or at school.
The question of violence in
the arts has now become a
battleground between those
who insist on First
Amendment free-speech
rights and those who insist
the question is really one of
corporate responsibility.