It Is Often Believed That Poverty Is The Main Factor For Crime

Poverty and Crime
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Poverty and Crime
Poverty is an economic feature in which an individual or social group is not able to meet the minimum human basic needs for survival. This phenomenon is relative and it is dependent on the overall standard of living in the society. Scholars who have attempted to address this issue have asserted that the failure to meet the basic human needs has led to majority of the young people to give up in everything especially starting a family – this is because they are not sure what tomorrow will be. The unemployment rates in a society is a contributor to poverty and this is pushing people to commit crimes to satisfy their needs. Based on this argument, many believe that poverty is the main factor of crime. However, there is no correlation between poverty and crime and it depends on the type that has been committed.
As mentioned above, the correlation between poverty and crime is not clear and it depends on the type of crime. Consequently, it depends on the circumstances under which the crime is committed (Pare, & Felson, 2014). However, if one considers crimes that are being committed in poverty stricken areas, then the conclusion will be that poor people are likely to commit crimes. This brings out a correlation, but it does not imply that poverty is the causing factor. If the crimes committed are violent crimes, the correlation maybe due to various factors such as unemployment, survival for the fittest, desperation, lack of opportunities among others (Zhao, Feng, & Castillo-Chavez, 2014).
However, in my opinion, it is not only poverty that causes crimes in the society, it largely depends on the family structure, individual goals and objectives, self-control and beliefs amo...