Crime in Baltimore and its effect in the community
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Added on 2023/04/08
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This essay provides a background review of the topic and synthesizes relevant literature to explore how communities are affected by crime in Baltimore. It discusses the issues of reduced employment opportunities, fewer youth activities, and mental health disorders among residents.
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[Date] Advance Business Writing [Document subtitle] Student Name institutional affiliation(s)
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P a g e|1 Crime in Baltimore and its effect in the community Crime can be defined as an action or an offensive move that defies a country or a state and remains punishable by law( Bogar & Beyer, 2015). Urban neighbourhoods are one of the most frequently associated regions consisting high criminal records, health related issues, unemployment and improper housing facilities. Similar issue has been identified in Baltimore region where local and neighbourhood communities are facing severe problems due to increasing frequency in crime rates. Common issues identified includes reduced employment opportunities, fewer youth activities, issue pertaining to law enforcement along with health and mental disorders among residents(Cantora, Iyer, & Restivo, 2016). This essay will provide a background review of the topic along with synthesising relevant literature to explore how are communities are affected by crime in Baltimore. Since many years, Baltimore has been plagued by huge amount of homicides, with guns playing primary role in it. The law and city enforcement officials have ascribed so much of illegal drug economy to gun violence and availability of explosives for criminal usage (Webster, Whitehill, Vernick, & Curriero, 2013). However, as per current reviews, Government has remained incapable of managing everything that clearly shows social disturbances among communities in surrounding regions of Baltimore(Cantora, Iyer, & Restivo, 2016).In fact, a research conducted by Curry, Latkin & Rothwell (2008) in US, United Kingdom and Canada reveals how neighbourhood issues like exposure to violent crime including vacant houses affects mental health of people. Neighbourhood conditions has been associated with chronic stressors thereby producing psychological distress and anxiety among community people. The authors even put forward questions like whether chronic stressors can produce psychological distress or do these conditions effects individual perceptions regarding environment, thus leading them towards hopelessness?
P a g e|2 Cantora, Iyer & Restivo (2016) identifies drivers of crime in Baltimore region along with finding out effects of it over communities. The authors emphasise upon long-standing theory which proves that employment enhances social legislations to conventional laws thereby serving informal social mechanisms. According to the literature, individuals having stable employment do not engage themselves in criminal behaviour as compared to unemployed ones. The impact of unemployment has severe effects on communities that has been documented notably by many authors and as the labour market changed during early 90’s, many low-skilled labours moved from urban cities thus resulting in poor living standards in various regions like Baltimore( Showell, Jenning, Johnson, Perin, & Thornton, 2019). Even, the political response given to urban crime issue has always remained uncoordinated and erratic. According tothe article, the federal government have vigorously swayed war on drugs and passed a law mandating long prison stay for committing various offenses. Although such steps reduced crime rate, but was unable to secure urban environment where citizens could feel safe(Curry, Latkin, & Rothwell , 2008)r. According to Showell, Jenning, Johnson, Perin & Thornton (2019), there are many kinds of crime affecting communities and research made by the authors suggest children remains most effected while getting exposed to violence. They face severe post-traumatic stress conditions due to crime and violence and face disruptions in their regular activities or school routine. Additionally, the authors also state that seeing an adult being affected by crime or by an attack just like the case of Baltimore may affect children of various ages. Authors suggest that neighbourhood socioeconomic and crime can be hypothesised for influencing obesity risk in potential work routine or physical activities also. These emerging issues are even supported by relevant data legitimating that neighbourhood conditions affects children activities. According to the report, not less than 20 percent of pre-schoolers ageing between 2-5 years remains over weighted or highly obese including health related
P a g e|3 complications like hypertensions, cardiovascular disease and diabetes in regions where crime remains persistent(Wilson , et al., 2016). These mechanisms furtherbecome responsible for sustaining and producing socio-economic and racial or ethnic based obesity disparities including individual risk factors and neighbourhood conditions like safety and exposure to crime. Wilson, et al. (2016) also confirms the above statement after examining neighbourhood crime relationship with paranoid symptoms among youth. However, it can be noted that study related to actual exposure to crime and other specific neighbourhood factors like gang activity, law enforcement patrolling and school climate can also tense actual reasons behind human psychosis(Curry, Latkin, & Rothwell , 2008). Another research conducted by Troy & Grove (2008) examines inter-connectedness between proximity to parks, property value and crime to find whether this inter- connectedness are collaborative or not. Study made by the authors suggest that effects of park proximity and crime influences home values while high-crime parks must not be taken as positive amenity by communities. Although urban parks may be considered as positive amenity, some places might prove to be a liability for neighbourhood regions especially in crime proximity places where rape rates and area-weighted robberies encompasses the parks. Study conducted states that dense forests are also associated with crime risk perceptions as it provides criminals with places to hide( Troy & Grove, 2008). Therefore, not only national parks, but dense vegetationprovides shield for criminal activities thereby helping criminals target selected individuals or locality, examine stolen goods or dispose unwanted things. Another study reveals that urban vegetation can actually reduce crime. A study of apartments in various places of US finds that greener the surroundings of apartments are, lower are the rates in crime. However, the study also pinpoints that greenery includes grassy greens and few canopy trees only which had low criminal records suggesting vegetation can likely
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P a g e|4 increase crime rate when it provides opportunities for hiding, especially in undergrowth area like Baltimore( Bogar & Beyer, 2015). After going through various articles pertaining crime effects especially in Baltimore regions, it can be said that despite many communities have been subjected for implementing evidence-based reduction interventions in crime, no program could address the underlying cause of neighbourhood distress and root to criminal activities. Many issues pertaining to crime and violence have been observed in Baltimore that requires detailed research on the topic to put an effort for reducing crime and increase community standards that could likely stabilise individual lives that can improve collective efficacy. On concluding note, it can be suggested that community-wide structural violence stoppage intervention like increased police presence and strict law and enforcement along with close neighbourhood watch including installation of surveillance cameras may reduce crime in Baltimore. These interventions will not only serve as barrier for criminals, but also reduce crimes levels along with likelihood of being victimised.
P a g e|5 References Bogar, S., & Beyer, K. M. (2015). Green Space, Violence, and Crime:A Systematic Review. Trauma Violence & Abuse, 17(02), 1-12. Cantora, A., Iyer, S., & Restivo, L. (2016). Understanding Drivers of Crime in East Baltimore: Resident Perceptions of Why Crime Persists.Am J Crim Just, 41, 686-709. Curry, A., Latkin, C., & Rothwell , M. D. (2008). Pathways to depression: The impact of neighborhood violent crime on inner-city residents in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Social Science & Medicine, 67, 23-30. Showell, N. N., Jenning, J. M., Johnson, K. A., Perin, J., & Thornton, R. L. (2019). Where Children Live: Examining Whether Neighborhood Crime and Poverty Is Associated With Overweight and Obesity Among Low-Income Preschool-Aged Primary Care Patients.Frontiers in Pediatrics, 06(433), 1-8. Troy, A., & Grove, J. M. (2008). Property values, parks, and crime: A hedonic analysis in Baltimore, MD.Landscape and Urban Planning, 87, 233-245. Webster, D. W., Whitehill, J. M., Vernick, J. S., & Curriero, F. C. (2013). Effects of Baltimore’s Safe Streets Program on Gun Violence: A Replication of Chicago’s CeaseFire Program.J Urban Health, 90(01), 27-40. Wilson , C., Smith, M. E., Thompson, E., Demro, C., Kline, E., Bussell, K., . . . Schiffman, J. (2016). Context matters: The impact of neighborhood crime and paranoid symptoms on psychosis risk assessment.Schizophrenia Research, 171, 56-61.