Poverty and Crime

Term Paper # 99172

Criminology
Sociology > Theory

Poverty and Crime

This paper examines the positive correlation between violent crime and poverty levels.

1,082 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper explains the social structure theory that shows how crime is more likely in societies that possess weaker social institutions. The paper discusses several research studies that demonstrate how poverty creates the social conditions in which violent crime becomes more likely.

From the Paper:

"First of all, what is social structure theory? Social structure theory is a way of understanding human behavior and the influence of authority in human societies. Social structure theorists, as one might image, place greatest emphasis on the structure of society when attempting to understand human behavior. Social structure theory argues that behaviors are affected and controlled by a confluence of influence from social institutions and groups with power (Summerfield, 2006). In other words, individual behaviors are dependent upon the construction of society and its institutions."

Sample of Sources Used:

Ackerman, W.V. (1998, August). Socioeconomic correlates of increasing crime rates in smaller communities. Professional Geographer, 50(3), pp. 372-387.
Poverty, not race, tied to high crime in urban communities. (1997, March 15). New York Amsterdam News, 88(11), p. 6.
Stretesky, P.B., Schuck, A.M., and Hogan, M.J. (2004, December). Space matters: an analysis of poverty, poverty clustering, and violent crime. Justice Quarterly, 21(4), pp. 817-841.
Summerfield, M. (2006). Social structure theory and crime. Associated Content. Retrieved August 1, 2006, from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/16267/social_structure_theory_and_crime.html