Poverty Effects on Deliquency

Poverty’s Effects on Delinquency

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Poverty’s Effects on Delinquency

The social and economic environment of individuals influences their behavior. The economic status of people determines their social class and the manner in which they get their basic needs. People with steady income get basic things and other luxuries because they can afford them. Poor people have to strain in order to sustain their basic needs (Rekker et al., 2015). Sometimes, they have to go for days without sustaining the basic human needs. It is because they do not have a stable income to provide for their daily requirements. Basic needs are fundamental part of humanity and a person will do everything possible to get them. Nobody can survive without food, clothing and accommodation. An individual might go to an extent of committing a crime in order to survive (May, Keith, Rader, & Dunaway, 2015).

Crime is a social problem both rural and urban societies face. In urban contexts, criminal activities are prevalent. Poverty levels are linked to the high rates of crime in various social contexts. Many urban areas comprise of the high-class communities and the low-class people who live in the cities’ suburbs. The latter class barely struggle to survive. On the other hand, the high-class has everything that would make their lives comfortable. They have property, business premises and many things that the poor cannot afford (Paternoster, Bachman, Bushway, Kerrison, & O’Connell, 2015). Seeing these things and the kind of life rich people lead motivates the poor to commit crime in order to acquire them.

According to Rekker et al. (2015), crime provides an opportunity through which the poor can get material commodities that they are unable to acquire through legal means. Consequently, they are induced to engage in criminal activities such as shoplifting and robbery. The social and economic challenges the impoverished people face daily have severe effects on...