Poverty and Crime rates

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Poverty vs. Crime Rates 

“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread” (Mahatma Gandhi). Poverty is being in a state that is extremely poor and basically inhabitable. The correlation between poverty rates and crime rates has been examined through many different perspectives and by many different people. The majority of people believe that crime rates are higher in more developed countries and lower crime rates in undeveloped countries. Personally, I believe the opposite that crime rates are higher in undeveloped countries and lower in developed countries. There are many factors that affect high crime rates in a deprived country. The factors that affect high crime rates the most are that people in a poor society can not afford what they wish, the crime rates are higher in poor countries because people are not well educated and lastly, the government of a developing country is not as strict compared to the government of a developed country. Therefore the crime rates are higher in an undeveloped country.

         There are many factors that affect crime rates the major one is poverty. Crime rates are higher in an undeveloped country rather than a developed country since people would tend to steal what they cannot afford. The first factor that would cause a person of a poor country to steal something is if they cannot afford what they want. For example, in Africa many people cannot even afford their personal and physical necessities. The small community of Africa cannot afford enough food to fill up their stomach for a single night and will therefore have to rob food for themselves and their family. . Another reason why people in a poor country would commit more crimes is since they cannot afford the luxuries that they desire. Even though luxuries are not a component of survival they still play an important role in self confidence. For example, Car theft is much more higher in South Africa compared to North America since the people in South Africa cannot afford the luxuries of Mercedes or Porsche and would therefore steal the expensive luxuries that they want to be equal to everyone else. Next, the people of lower income feel excluded from society since they feel that they do not “fit in” with the rest of the community. For example, if one is wearing bum company footwear and the rest of the people in the community are wearing Nike company footwear then the person whom is wearing the bum company footwear would feel excluded from the rest of the society. This would cause the person of lower income to steal the expensive footwear just so they don't feel excluded and higher their self esteem. Another reason why people who cannot afford what they want is due to the impact of jealousy on the lower income community’s mind. For example, Kristopher Gutierrez beat one of his best friends after realizing that he had a relationship with his girlfriend Kristopher is charged for aggravated assault1.  This shows that jealous rage can cause one to commit any crime for revenge.

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        Crime rates are higher in countries with more poverty since people do not have proper education. Firstly, the education system in poor countries is more weak therefore people in those poor countries are not well educated and do not know what’s wrong and what’s right. For example, statistics show that 121 million children worldwide are out of education2. This shows that children whom are becoming uneducated by dropping out of school at such a young age are not able to realize what’s wrong and what’s right. These 121 children would not be able to pursue their future career and ...

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