Causes of Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Causes of Crime - Essay Example The situation is resoundingly similar in other countries of Africa as well as in Latin America. To measure crime several indicators such as homicide prevalence, reported injury rates, as well as the size of county's security apparatus. As a matter of fact, crime rates have been on the rise in many parts of the world and the causes are as varied as the countries themselves. While prominence has been given to some crimes such as Terrorism, this contributes to only a very small percentage of the total crimes committed in any part of the world. It is perhaps due to the much media attention attached to terrorism that has amplified the reporting on the crime hence making it look uglier and more prominent than other types such as theft, robbery. In terms of causes, there are many causes of crime and most are determined by the nature of crime. For instance, terrorism can be attributed to religious zeal as well as the endeavor to free a group of people from some perceived oppression. Crime di sproportionately causes civil strife as well as the suffering of many including children and women. This sad but real state of affairs calls for efforts geared towards first understanding the causes of crime and secondly undertaking the necessary steps to deal with the causes. There is a dimension, in fact a positive correlation between crime and underdevelopment. Underdevelopment in this case does not mean the absence of technology but it is used to imply the slow progress of a people due to impediments such as insecurity lack of empowerment as well as well as lack of support from the government. Other effects include the loss of or diminishing of GDP which in turn leads to the under provision of basic services, such education and health care. According to World Health Organization's, as at 2002 homicide was approximated to be affecting almost 100 people in every 100,000 people in the population in a study of the Region of the Americas. Spatial dimension of crime. Crime prevalence in urban areas is different from those in rural settings. While crime in most urban settings tends to be associated with social problems such as high poverty rates and high rate of family break ups in non highly urbanized areas, it can be attributed to purely low income rates. Other ways in which crime is manifested includes: homicides, robberies, kidnappings, muggings, assaults, domestic violence, sexual violence, violence against children and the elderly, as well as terrorist activities. Socio economic dimension. The social economic aspect has a bearing on how different people experience crime. He further adds that, age of offenders can be useful in providing explanations for patterns of crime. It has been observed, that, low income earners are more prone to crimes such as homicides as well as physical injuries. On the other hand high income earners are more likely to suffer from crimes such as property related crime In a study in Colombia, it was observed that the poor were more likely to suffer from domestic related crime as opposed to high income earners who mainly faced property crime ,this was mainly attributed to the fact that (Gaviria and Velez ,2001). Homicide deaths have been criticized for failing to take in to account deaths or injuries related to car accidents as analysts treat it still crime related while it may not be the case. Crime is defined as an act committed by a person that is punishable by law