Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
rise in crime rates was associated with several major sets of changes that affected
societies and big cities in the developed world from the 1970s.
12.2.1
Reasons for Crime Growth from the 1970s
Historically the amount of crime, especially violent crime, has been disproportion-
ally associated with societies that have unequal distributions of wealth, as meta-
analyses of scores of studies have shown (Hsieh and Pugh
1993
; Wilkinson
2004
),
meaning that countries with the most
inequalities
have higher crime rates, which
are often concentrated in particular areas of cities. Many people in these unequal
societies have few opportunities for employment or advancement, trust each other
less and have limited community relations, leading to low levels of support or social
capital among people, or even moral influence to resist crime. Yet the inequalities
in western cities were reduced substantially by the progressive social policies of the
late nineteenth century to late twentieth century so one might have expected crime
rates to decline. From the 1970s the loss of blue collar employment in inner cities
due to deindustrialization and mechanization led to their decay, creating derelic-
tion in these areas and alienation by some from the population at large. In addition,
neo-liberal policies in many countries reduced interest in increasing the amount of
remedial help to the disadvantaged and those prone to crime.
Although these
social disorganization
ideas explain some of the increase in
crime, the trigger for the substantial growth of crime was the corrosive effects of
the accelerated use of
illegal drugs
, especially crack cocaine from mid 1980s, with
supply often controlled by violent international gangs, leading many addicts to car-
ry out crimes to obtain money to buy these addictive products. This is especially
the case in the U.S.A. where half the prisoners in jail have been charged with drug
offences. In addition, the increasing availability and use of
guns,
especially assault
rifles in some societies, as well as a more widespread use of knives, has amplified
the level of violence associated with many crimes.
The growth in the
young adult population
was another important factor, for crime
rates, especially those associated with violence, are far higher in the young adult
male population which increased in the two decades from the late 1960s. For ex-
ample, young offenders (under 20 years of age) commit half of the violent crime in
the U.K. and it has been reported that 10 % of adolescents who exhibit violent acts
commit 70 % of the violent acts (Fonagy
2004
, p. 181, 193), figures that are typical
of many countries. Risk-taking, peer pressure for mischief and proving themselves,
has always been present in the group. With some individuals these characteristics
have turned into an oppositional culture that condoned criminal behaviour, not sim-
ply because of poverty and decreasing employment opportunities in inner cities due
to deindustrialisation, but to the attraction of finding success and status—however
temporary—through membership in gangs and in the drug trade.
Fifth, the spike in crime was probably also associated with the growth of a more
atomistic society
, with fewer positive social connections between people in local
areas, creating higher levels of anonymity and less willingness to help others, which
