Urban Poverty And Crime In America

Urban Poverty and Crime in America

Introduction

Crime in the United States has been on the rise for a large period of time and especially in the last decade. Levels of poverty in the regions that have been affected by crime are also on the rise. The government of the United States spends about one trillion dollars per year in dealing with criminal activities. The urban areas that are mostly affected by criminal activities are the areas where people earn low income and most of the residents of these regions are poor. The probability that most people who live in high-crime urban areas will become criminals is higher than that of areas with fewer criminals because the chance that a person who has committed crime in the high-crime urban areas will be arrested is very low. In these areas where almost everybody is very poor, the quality of education given to the children is of low quality. As a result, these children will not be able to compete fairly with children who are accessing quality education. Eventually, they won’t join good secondary schools and thus they will still end up in these areas. The individuals who reside in these areas will not access quality jobs as a result of their origin and friends. Also, good role models cannot be traced in these areas. The combination of all these factors clearly shows that the probability of an increase in crime in these areas is very high. The concentration of very many poor people within one region can only lead to evils such as crime.

Peer Group Characteristics

Peer group characteristics define the concentration of people within one region where these people have the same characteristics and life experiences (Robert, 2001). The people who live in the high-crime urban areas are the people who are very poor and can do any thing for a living. As a matter of fact, those who surround you in your neighborhood have great influences in your life. Your behaviors are more likely to be influenced by their own behaviors. Research done has shown that people who have been brought up in criminal circumstances are more likely to become criminals.

Urban Poverty and Crime in America

Poor Education

The quality of education that people who live in the high-crime concentrated urban areas is very low. This is as a result of lack of income to take them to better schools (Robert, 2001). When these students attend schools where quality of education is low, their performance will be equally low compared to that of the students from high quality schools. This means that the opportunities out there for these children are limited because an individuals proceeding depends on the performance in their previous classes. The lives that the child in these areas live is poor in itself (Chris, 2000). The children will at times go to school without food and not very sure if they will eat something before the end if the day. This deters their concentration in class and these children might end getting nothing that will be said in these classes since their concentration is very low.

Teachers who teach the young people in the high-crime urban areas are more likely to be frustrated by the performance of their students (Robert, 2001). When the teacher puts so much effort in class and the performance of the students still remain very low, the teacher might end up giving up since no one would like top do some fruitless work. The end result of all the factors is the poor performance of students whereby they end up in their homes with nothing to show. These people will have nothing to do for a living and the probability that they will end up being criminals is very high.

Low Quality of Jobs

In the 1980s, people from the poor urban areas were forced to have their wages cut down by large amounts of money. Anyone who happened to raise an alarm was sent home. The result was unemployment and underemployment. Since these people had no other option than to remain in these places, they continued being oppressed leading to even more poverty amongst them (Robert, 2001). Those who lost their jobs ended up in the informal sectors which paid poorly and the rest in violence and criminal activities.

Urban Poverty and Crime in America

The friends to a person are very important when it comes to securing a good job in today’s world. Jobs today are not being advertised but the individuals in the large companies are being requested to bring their friends for the available job. Since these people are living in high-crime populated environments, the only people that one can make friends with are the criminals (Greg, 2008). These are people who cannot take you anywhere but can only convince you how stealing is good. The origin of an individual also matter a lot when it comes to the issue of a job. When you come from a criminal related region, people will always associate you with the vice that exists in that region. These conditions will make your chances of securing a job even harder. For those who are fortunate enough to secure a job, they get the poorest jobs around and they get these jobs because other people are not willing to take up the jobs (Bruce, 2003). The returns for these jobs are very low and the amount that they get might not even be enough for the family use.

Government Attention

In most countries, the attention of the government is diverted towards the rich in the society. For example, construction of roads in the urban areas takes place in the direction of estates which are occupied by the rich in the community. In America, poor infrastructure that was inadequate was assigned to the people who lived in the slums. Many people were required to share one house and perform all their duties within that one house (Robert, 2001). This is very unfair especially when it is known that poor people end up bearing so many children as a result of the lives that they experience. The small regions that the poor, uneducated people got densely populated within a short period of time.

Lack of job s for the high population results to very many idle people with no source of income. This in itself is a catalyst to crime since these people no sources of income. The government has been involved in so many other issues that the needs of the poor have no one to address. The very basic needs such as water for drinking and sanitation which are very necessary haven’t been availed for use by the poor person. It is rather unfortunate to watch the government sit down and watch the ones with the least suffering the most (Ted, 2000). The poor in the urban areas are vulnerable to disasters than any other people in the urban areas. When these individuals see the government neglecting them, they engage in illegal issues as a matter of revenge and end up becoming the worst criminals. Whenever issues of evictions have come, the first victims are the poor in the society. These people are not even given notices to shift but they wakeup to find their structures being demolished.

Urban Poverty and Crime in America

Conclusion

Poverty, crime, and violence go hand in hand not only in the America but also in other countries where the issue is not given much attention. The concentration of many poor people in one region contributes a lot to the development of many other individuals to criminals. The lives of the people who live in areas of high-crime concentration are so harsh that these people are willing to do anything to earn a living. This leads to the high probability that many people will grow to be criminals. Almost all people in these regions are extremely poor. The quality of education given to the children is of low quality. As a result, these children will not be able to compete fairly with children who are accessing quality education. Eventually, they won’t join good secondary schools and thus they will still end up in these areas. The individuals who reside in these areas will not access quality jobs as a result of their origin and friends. Also, good role models cannot be traced in these areas. The combination of all these factors clearly shows that the probability of an increase in crime in these areas is very high. The concentration of very many poor people within one region can only lead to evils such as crime. The kinds of jobs that the people who live in the high-crime regions can obtain are the non-formal jobs that pay poorly such that the returns are not even enough to cater for the needs of their families. Government attention has been diverted on lines that do not touch on the poor people.

References

Robert, L. A. (2001). Crime and violence as development issues in Latin America and the Caribbean. London; McMillan Publishers, 13-15.

Ted, R. G. (2000). Violence in America: protest, rebellion, and Reforms. Oxford; Oxford University Press, 54-56.

Bruce, W. (2003). Punishment and Inequality in America. Princeton; Princeton University Press, 39-42.

Urban Poverty and Crime in America

Greg, J. D. (2008). Urban poverty and juvenile crime. Retrieved from http://www.northwestern. edu/ipr/jcpr/workingpapers/wpfiles/duncan.ludwig.revise4-25.PDF

on 17-09-09.

Chris, C. (2000). Policing Urban Poverty. Palgrave McMillan.