tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2742948471830590613.post6059901203460724608..comments2023-07-28T02:58:31.504-07:00Comments on Every day issues: Poverty Breeds CrimeRandom blog about every day issueshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08804361722887442287noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2742948471830590613.post-42299820078129370812009-01-08T19:21:00.000-08:002009-01-08T19:21:00.000-08:00I think that this is a very interesting discussion...I think that this is a very interesting discussion as to whether or not poverty breeds crime... I agree with curious george in that this relationship is not necessarily causal but rather an association. As suggested by the previous two comments, there are so many other variables to be taken into consideration when examining the relationship, in that one should be asking what factors perpetuate poverty and what factors shape crime and then how are the two intertwined. I think one of the main factors as Alex mentioned in one of his earlier posts was that of the education system. The education system must address the needs of under privileged kids within the society providing them with an alternative to just "dropping out" or completing high school without an option of higher education. Addressing this at least helps to provide an option for those who may have grown up in poverty to move up the social ladder and at least help to reduce the chances of turning to illegal activities in order to "survive". <BR/><BR/>Another factor that also needs to be addressed is that of family values. We need to go back to the traditional form of family life where a community raises a child. I think that this is at the heart of what we have all agreed upon in that there needs to be a more communal society. I will go further to say that even though this is a valid suggestion as to the solution, I think that this in itself presents a problem in that we are asking society to change values....Values are deeply engrained beliefs toward someone or something and are usually shaped by thoughts, concepts and actions that are taught over a lifetime. How do we change this, unless we start from childhood????? I think that these are some of the issues that needs to be explored when we consider the relationship between poverty and crime and how one breeds the other..........Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11863847983175922445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2742948471830590613.post-11965986795708334172009-01-07T19:25:00.000-08:002009-01-07T19:25:00.000-08:00I agree that in order to produce change, we must c...I agree that in order to produce change, we must come together as a whole...but doesn't change begin at the individual level? And before any of us try to help a situation, we must first begin with our own. Certainly poverty breeds crime, but the issue with crime is that it is not a one way street. As Jennifer said, it is much more complex. Crime will not be lowered unless we address all the other variables that come into play, along with poverty, and look at these variables together as the bigger picture. Once we are able to do that, then we can effectively tackle crime rates. <BR/><BR/>Alex, I find it interesting that in ALL of your examples, the perpetrator is a male. This brings me to my next point. One of the variables that I think also affects crime rate is the expectations society has of certain groups of people. If men of lower Socioeconomic status are expected to commit crimes, then the more likely they are to do so. This is because society will treat them in ways that will elicit this type of behavior, and so, society is helping to perpetuate this stereotype. The phenomena of "self-fulfilling prophecy" is at work here. I think that if society stopped perpetuating the stereotype that males in low SES will commit crimes, then perhaps crime rates may be influenced in a positive way. Granted, statistics do show that individuals of low SES are more likely to commit crimes or actually do commit crimes (i am unsure which is correct), BUT, what society needs to understand is that this statistic is not describing a causal relationship. It is not meant to say that one who is of low SES, will commit a crime because of their status...rather, it is merely describing an association; a correlation. And that, is what we need to understand FIRST, if we ever wish to lower crime rates.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2742948471830590613.post-86974945751766728902009-01-07T16:21:00.000-08:002009-01-07T16:21:00.000-08:00I definitely agree that poverty breeds crime and I...I definitely agree that poverty breeds crime and I would like to add more to the topic of crime itself and our society. As I see it, poverty is definitely, in my mind, the number one reason for why most crime occurs, specifically in the case of robbery, theft, or simply stealing money or valuables from someone else. If we want to talk about the issue of organized crime, there are definitely ways to link some of the origins from poverty itself, especially if one attempts to analyze movies such as Scarface, The Godfather, and even American Gangster, which is based on a true story. <BR/>Unfortunately poverty isn't the only issue when we are dealing with crime and personally it is a sad thing to say so because if it was just poverty by itself, then the proposed ideas in order to tackle it I say should be taken very seriously and should be first priority amongst our government and top officials if they wish to drop crime rates significantly.<BR/>But unfortunately again, poverty is just one reason. If we think about individuals, if we think about what our society values, then we end up with even more complex reasons (which include poverty because it is so complex and doesn't have simple solutions or so as some would like to think) to say this is why crime exists. <BR/>In the case of poverty however, everything that has been said in this blog I SAY is 100% true and on point to the letter. There is no question in my mind that if a person feels desperation, if a person feels that all hope is lost because doing things the legal way has not worked, if a person feels helpless and backed up into a corner because of feeling the idea of "poverty" creeping up to get them, then with what these people feel as they say "desperate times call for desperate measures". Our society is not that of a collective group nor a communal one. We are a society made up of individuals, but unfortunately individuals who can have a tendency to think only about the individual and I will say that is not completely the fault of the person him/herself. A society is made of people and people create societies. What is valued can be changed if enough people who know can change it feel the need to do so. Just as there is so much focus on dropping crime rates and eliminating crime, we can also try and prevent the reasons (including facing the issue of poverty) that lead to crime being done in the first place. The choice has to be made from those who are aware of a choice and are aware they have the power to do so.Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00514749125100751477noreply@blogger.com