Criminological Theories Of The Relationship Between Poverty And Crime

In the world of poverty, those who are of a lower socioeconomic status or class are more likely to be labeled as the offenders of a crime, compared to the middle and high class citizens. It is a clear motive that economic deprivation or poverty can motivate individuals to commit crime or create the circumstances that serve as a breeding ground for crime. The topic of poverty being correlated with crime can be supported by the modern day criminological theories that have been created over the years. This does not mean there is a direct relationship between those factors or a cause and effect relationship, as not all low income citizens are the ones committing crimes. Theorists will often put into consideration other variables that can have a …show more content…
If one can’t obtain their goals or feel achieved due to their lack of resources, it can have direct effect to their emotions and actions. According to the author, William R. Beardslee, poverty has the following effect, “Poverty is a critical risk factor for many of the mental, emotional, and behavioral (M-E-B) disorders of children and youth” (Beardslee 272). Having these kind of issues makes anyone more susceptible to committing an act of crime. Beardslee states, “In the United States, over 20% of children under the age of 18 are officially “poor”: This means they live in households with incomes below the federal poverty line” (272). Given these breath taking numbers for just children alone in the United States, it goes to show how much this country is suffering economic wise. So many factors play into why people may think that these low income folks are more likely to commit crime. Education is one example of this, with no money to be provided for needed education, one may lack the ability to know right from wrong possibly causing more crime. If this issue was addressed in a criminological science aspect, it could be better explained by two essential components called theory and methodology. Author Stephen E. Brown betters explains these components when saying, “Theory represents an effort to explain or make sense of the world, thus revolving around the “why” of crime, criminalization, and similar concerns. Methodology …show more content…
Bandura explains this theory as being an observation of behavior or conformity, for why one may act out in the certain manners that they do. If a child is brought up in a poor neighborhood where crime rates are high and see criminal behavior every day of his life, there is potential for this child to adapt to these ways. This process can be known as reinforcement or even behavior modeling. This is supported by Aker when stated, “The process of initiating, continuing, or modifying conforming and behavior in the family or family surrogate is a social learning process in which interaction in the family exposes the children to normative values, behavior models, and vicarious and direct reinforcement” (11). Although Aker is one of the brightest theorists out there, this is just a theory and has yet to be proven fully if it is an actual cause of crime. Aker says, “Social learning theory is by no means obscure or unknown. Yet, it is also among the most frequently misstated, misinterpreted, and misapplied in literature” (5). All of the research done for this theory and the testing, have yet to be analyzed in an integrated, comprehensive way (7). Aker’s theory may be thorough and give a well-drawn up explanation to why crime may occur in the acts of