Social Forces Causing Crime on College Campus

1Running head: SOCIAL FORCES CAUSING CRIME ON COLLEGE CAMPUS
SOCIAL FORCES CAUSING CRIME ON COLLEGE CAMPUS
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Author Note

2SOCIAL FORCES CAUSING CRIME ON COLLEGE CAMPUS
Crime has become a common problem on the college campuses. As reported on the
television and newspapers, crime and violence has become major issues warranting research. The
increasing number of campus crimes in the recent years includes theft, forcible sex offences and
aggravated assaults (NCES, 2019). The essay will focus on the social forces underlying these
crimes committed on campus. Factors such as deviance, cultural transmission, differential
association, exclusion from social groups, and social inequality contribute largely to campus
crime rates.
Modern day problems such as drug abuse and violence at home and parental disputes
often compel the students to take to crimes in response to the assaults or crimes committed to
them, mostly in rebellion against parental authority. The lack of constructive dialogue between
teachers and students also contribute to campus crimes. Adolescents mostly seek guidance from
their professors. But they tend to be afraid being tagged as the “teacher’s pet” and teased and
harassed regarding the same. There is also lack of awareness and tolerance for gender issues on
campus, which is a major cause of campus bullying and violence (NCVRW Resource Guide,
2015). It is also to be noted that crimes committed on and well as off the campuses of colleges on
students are mostly by seniors and adults, not peers (NCVRW Resource Guide, 2015). The
media and the internet are amongst some of the other key contributing factors to the crimes and
violent assaults on college campuses. Social media has become a major platform for cyber
bullying (Zalaquett & Chatters, 2014). The students who become victims to these bullies are also
teased, taunted and harassed on the campus grounds. It is disheartening that mere boredom, the
need to “fit in” and escape from stress and pressure can cause students to turn to criminal acts
like alcohol and substance abuse (NIDA, 2014); (Lipari & Jean-Francois, 2016).

3SOCIAL FORCES CAUSING CRIME ON COLLEGE CAMPUS
Deviance is the behavior of individuals who violate some social norms, whether it is
related to personal appearance or conduct. Robert Merton had observed that those who engage in
deviant behavior share similar goals and values as those who conform to the societal norms.
However, there exists a stark difference in their means of pursuing and achieving their goals. The
theory is known as the Anomie Theory of Deviance (Messner& Rosenfeld, 2017). Deviant
behavior can be attributed as the cause of the some major campus crimes such as drug and
alcohol abuse and forcible sex offences. Edwin Sutherland had believed that criminal behavior is
often learned by people through association with those who indulge in criminal activities and
even laud them. This approach is known Differential Association (Link, 2014). The new and
innocent students, at times foreigners, are often forced to obey some campus rules, and they are
unaware whether those are legal or are considered as good or bad in that society (Hirschi, 2017).
They are also often forced to take drugs and alcohol and are made to indulge in such crimes and
criminal activities as theft and bullying and harassment of those that they are forced to (Hirschi,
2017).
Social inequality is also a key contributing factor to college campus crimes. It is often
rumored or is trending that those of the upper class are more powerful and therefore have more
power over the others. A large stratum accepts and follows this outlook, known as the “power
elite” (Chapman, 2013). In campus, it is very important for the students as their social life
revolves around following and obeying instructions from the elite students of the campus
(Hirschi, 2017). This forces the innocent students to become delinquents and indulge in crime
and sometimes, even violence (Hirschi, 2017). Some other interactionists believe that the
increase in crime rates and deviance on college campuses is attributed to the absence and
breakdown of communal relationships and such social institutions as family, local government,