The Effects Of Poverty On Crime

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When the City of Atlanta is mentioned, individuals automatically associate the city with its positive attributes, such as, the beautiful lights, family activities and tourist attractions. The crime that occurs often goes unmentioned; however it is increasingly becoming an issue. Forbes ranked Atlanta as the sixth dangerous city in the US with a violent crime rate of 1,433 per 100,000 residents. The city’s crime rate correlates with its poverty levels and low education rates along with Beccaria’s ideas of punishment being swift, severe and certain. Poverty has a direct effect on crime. You can associate the two topics in several ways beginning with the frame of mind individuals have. Those who are impoverished, often come from single …show more content…

When parents are inattentive to their children because they are working in an effort to provide for their household or simply because of bad parenting, the environment is left to raise the child. It is extremely important to provide positive guidance to adolescences as a deterrent because deviance eventually results to involvement in criminal behaviors. In 2013, property crime and larceny-theft were the highest index of crimes. These two categories show that theft was both a reoccurring crime and major issue in Atlanta. According to a study conducted by Adam Atler of New York University, the feeling of being financially deprived causes individuals to steal. In my opinion, that mentality is very juvenile yet it occurs within the city on the daily basis. People often feel destitute when they compare themselves to others who appear to have more money or material things. The crime statistics also correlate with deviancy of those individuals who were 16 and under and between the ages of 17-21 who were arrested for larceny in the State of Georgia during 2013. The …show more content…

The Classical School of criminology states that punishment should be severe, certain and swift with certainty being the most crucial category. Within cities all over the country, the three strike rules are very prevalent. Individuals can be sentenced to life imprisonment for committing a crime that falls within the guidelines of being a serious felony if it is their third offense. However, the law has no substantial effect on decreasing crime. In the city of Atlanta, 105 rapes occurred which is defined as unlawful sexual intercourse. There was also a significant amount of aggravated assault with 2,965 total offenses in 2013. The three-strike-your-out-laws lack Beccaria’s most important aspect of punishment certainty. An individual knowing that they are permitted to be prosecuted of two crimes before they receive certain punishment does not deter crime; it enables crime to continue to

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