Relationship Between Crime And Education

In summary, the consensus within the correlation between crime and education is as follows; a higher level of educational attainment is more likely to diminish an individual’s likelihood or need to become criminally active. This criminogenic factor deters a person from committing crimes due to the amount of time consumed by schooling, the notion that time spent away from work will decrease one’s profit within the workforce, and the general idea that school provides an individual with better decision-making capabilities.
The Effect of Education on Crime Education has three primary categories in which concerns its effect on crime. Firstly, the impact of high school graduation on rates of crime; secondly, the effect of higher levels of schooling …show more content…
Grogger (1998) states that, on average, criminals are less educated than non-criminals. The preceding considerations suggest that graduating from high school may provide some disincentive to committing crimes. Further support for this claim comes from the United States Department of Justice, in which it is stated that sixty-eight percent of prison inmates have not received high school diplomas. Hence, over half of those incarcerated at the time were known high school dropouts, furthering the notion that most adult individuals lacking a high school education are more inclined to act out criminally. However, this is not the only supporting piece of data; according to J.L Blackmon, those who drop out of high school are three and one-half times more likely to be arrested, and it is over eight times more feasible that these individuals will end up in jail or prison. Attending high school programs, whether as a teenager or after prison, decreases the time a person spends on the street. Thus, creating a correlation between the amount of time spent on the streets and in school versus the reduction in criminal behaviour, or vice versa, the increased time spent on the streets and the less time spent in school’s correlation with the rise in …show more content…
Consider the following, a higher degree of education is said to increase a person’s sense of personal control, therefore, with better control an individual is then provided with better control over their lives, resulting in a decrease in criminal behaviour. Other arguments for the reduced of criminal conduct in individuals with higher levels of education are presented in Ford’s study of criminal behaviour and higher sources of education in young adults. The study found that individuals that showed greater interest in their academic success tended to report lower levels of adult criminal tendencies, that going to college presents young adults with a better chance of ending criminal tendencies, and that being devoted to education is a large disincentive when it comes to adult criminal offending. The study at hand and preceding information furthers the proof that criminal activity is in fact influenced by advanced educational