Why so Much Crime is Committed in Urban Areas

Why so Much Crime is Committed in Urban Areas

Crime in urban areas has been on the increase since the 1950s, why?

What has happened to cause crime to become almost an accepted part of

inner city life? There are plenty of crime figures available for

every city in the world, but reading numbers from a list does not

explain why more crimes are being committed, to try to understand we

have to look at what has changed in urban communities and how these

changes have affected the people that live there.

Most urban areas have always been predominately working class with

low-grade housing and low wages, where communities had enjoyed a

strong bond as people worked together in factories and mills, whole

generations grew up working in the same place as their parents and

friends. As the economy of the country changed, so did the available

work which meant more and more families, were forced to move to other

areas looking for work. This caused a lot of urban areas to turn into

zones of transmission, where people would move into a poor area

looking for work, and those that were successful would work hard and

then move on to a better area with better housing. Unfortunately,

this meant that the less successful families stayed within one area

causing an ever-growing state of physical deterioration.

With growing poverty and communities full of people that did not know

each other, it led to a state of social disorganisation where the

normal types of informal control to limit deviant behaviour could not

be established. This in turn led to the formation of sub cultures,

with youth’s from these areas banding together in the search of some

form...

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...stop the increase or possibly even added to

the increase in crime, economical where the changing trends in the

economy of the country has taken industry and wealth from urban areas,

and community because of the constant shift of residents through the

zone of transition led to a state of social disorganisation. It would

be easy to point the finger if there was only one thing that had

changed over time, but the more we study crime, the more theories on

the causes of crime emerge. What we must not do is pick an easy

option and not look at the effects that everything else might have on

crime in urban areas.

Bibliography

Sunday Times Scotland Minister decides denial is the best policy for

fighting crime.

September the 25th 2005

Sunday Times Garda look at building better communities. December 17th

2004