Report on Factors Affecting Crime Rates in Peel Region and Toronto

This report examines the various factors influencing crime rates in Peel Region and Toronto, highlighting the significance of socioeconomic conditions, psychological factors, and the spatial distribution of criminal activities. It employs both qualitative and quantitative analysis to explore the impact of individual characteristics, socioeconomic status, and neighborhood dynamics on crime statistics. The study also touches upon control theory as a perspective to analyze crime rate focusing on individuals rather than groups. Furthermore, the report addresses racial undertones in crime, the challenges in crime statistics analysis, and the importance of community-oriented policing. Desklib provides access to similar reports and study tools for students.

Running head: FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
Factors Affecting Crimes in Peel Region and Toronto
Name of the Student
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Author Note

1FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
Abstract
Any illegal act in the eyes of law is considered a crime. There are various types and
forms of crime that can be distinguished based on the intensity of the criminal, severity of the
crime among others. However, the main focus of this paper are the various factors affecting the
crime rate in Toronto and Peel region. The level of crime in these regions is considerably high.
Past research and study has established that socioeconomic factors, certain neighborhoods or
groups, use of mind altering substances such as alcohol or drugs, age, gender, and a few other
factors can all have an impact on the crime rate statistics. Also, change in crime is discussed
from the perspective of control theory. Nonetheless, it is possible to deal with these issues with
proper allocation of resources to police force and focusing on community oriented policing using
proactive approach and positive reinforcement of justice.

2FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
Introduction
The very purpose of the existence of human society was to ensure the protection of the
rights and freedom of the people. This included protecting the life and property of the individuals
also. However, a severe discrepancy was observed in the context of human society where a few
people had control over the resources of the society whereas the majority of the common people
had to live under the mercy of the minority ruling class (Robinson & Robinson, 2017). Such a
situation arose because of the capitalist nature of the society where the pursuance of the
resources by everyone was made a fair game. As a consequence, those people in the society with
considerable power and authority could exercise a greater control over the resources. On the
other hand, those who did not possess such capabilities, had to work for the previous group in
order to earn their basic means of subsistence. With such divisions in society, the frustration
level of the people started to rise. They common people started to look for other opportunities
which would help them to earn money at a faster rate. As a consequence, they fell in to the trap
of engaging in certain undesirable activities such as robbery and murders and kidnapping and
other criminal activities. Such socio-economic conditions are the primary reason for the
occurrence of any criminal activity. They are illegal in nature because of the potential harm they
possess to other human beings. Besides the financial reasons for the occurrence of such crimes,
other reason that lead to outbreak of criminal activities are psychological factors. The psyche of
the individual engaging in criminal activity is essential to understand because often times it is
noticed that people engage in criminal activities not because of any financial reason but rather
due to the their inherent characteristics. They simply want to engage in such activities (Briones-
Robinson, Powers & Socia, 2016). Usually such criminals can be found in the outskirts of the
rich neighborhood and in the inner most regions of the cities where the living expenses are

3FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
comparatively low. Any illegal act in the eyes of law is considered a crime. There are various
types and forms of crime that can be distinguished based on the intensity of the criminal, severity
of the crime among others. Past research has established that criminal activities are not evenly
dispersed and are found to be condensed in certain areas of the city or the municipality (Wang et
al, 2019). It is essential to understand that criminal activities not only affect the immediate victim
but has an impact on the society as a whole, because there can be loss of life, finances, resources,
livelihood, moveable and immovable property etc. Also, not every loss can be fulfilled but those
that can be require assistance from government and society; meaning the resources that could be
used for further development of the city or the people living there is directed towards helping
victims in high crime rate areas. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that affect the
crime rate, in order to develop a strategy to deal with this issue in a more productive and efficient
manner (Herek, 2017). This research paper seeks to analyze the various factors which affects the
crimes occurring in the regions of Toronto and Peel Region and the reasons due to which such
criminal activities occur.
Method of Data Collection and Data Analysis
For the purposes of carrying out the research, criminal activity in Peel region and Toronto
both qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis have been employed. Qualitative Analysis
refers to the subjective examination of the variables discussed in the research (Clemence, Doise
and Lorenzi-Cioldi 2014). The research focuses more on the subjective aspect of the situation
that is under focus. The main intention of qualitative analysis is to gain an in-depth insight into
the situation under study, rather than simply observing it (Bryman 2016). This helps the readers
to nlayze the data without having any objective data or outlook attached to the data collected.
Quantitative study, on the other hand, focus more on the numerical aspect of the research (Miles,

4FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
Huberman and Saldana 2014). There is a tendency to calculate the existing data based on some
sort of methodology. An advantage associated with quantitative analysis is that it allows the
readers to analyze the data without any subjective biases attached to it. The use of both
qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis helps to cover the situation under research in a
thorough manner.
Theory of Criminal Activity
Crimes occur due to a variety of reason and these reasons are entirely subjective in
nature. As a consequence, it is important to judge a criminal activity based on the situation and
the location. For instance, the consumption of alcohol is allowed in the western countries of the
world. However, if such an activity occurs in any of the Islamic countries of the world, then it
will be seen as a violation of the legal laws of the concerned country (Beccaria, 2016). This
shows that what is allowed in one part of the world, may not be allowed in another part of the
world and the circumstances vary from place to place. Certain activities, on the other hand, are
illegal in all the parts of the world, such as activities of kidnapping, extortion, robbery and
murder. All these activities are of criminal nature as they cause severe harm and injury to the
people of the society and are a violation of the customs and traditions which define a society.
They are seen to be socially undesirable activities and as a result, society calls for the
condemnation of such activities. The laws and regulations of the different countries that provides
punishments for such criminal activities, however, differ from one region to that of another. For
instance, in some countries, the punishment for a robbery might be six months of imprisonment
while in another country it might be the loss of the right hand (Husak, 2018). As a result, it is
essential to understand the nature of such criminal activities and the reason behind their
occurrence.

5FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
There are certain theories which tries to analyze the nature of criminal activities that
seeks to explain the cause of crimes. There can be broadly categorized in to biological theories
and sociological theories.
The perspective to analyze crime rate using the control theory is very interesting as it
focuses on individuals rather than groups. Therefore, it takes away from the idea of certain ethnic
groups being more volatile and violent than others. It appears to almost contradict the concept of
predicting crime rate based on grouping but at the same time opens up the platform for more
research where all the topics can be combined and studied. For example, it would be interesting
for future research to focus on some of the triggers such as addiction, ethnicity among others and
to find if there is any correlation with certain individualistic personalities that can help predict
the chance of future criminal activities, as it can help police to be more proactive with their
approach.
Literature Review
A host of literature exist on the issue of crimes and criminology. Almost all the places in
the world are affected by crimes which are carried out by people who are either disgruntled with
the working of the current social system or are mentally imbalanced and hence undertake such
activities. The analysis of such secondary sources such as articles, journals and books help to
understand the issue of crimes in a better manner. The literature review will also look in to the
various factors that influence people to commit crimes, especially the socio-economic factors
and the psychological factors. The various nature of crimes such as kidnapping and sexual
assault shall also be looked in to through the medium of literature review.

6FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
Crime Statistics
Crime statistics can be tedious to analyze at times because of the multiple factors
affecting it, such as socioeconomic status, individual characteristics of offenders, type and
severity of crime etc. (Wang et al, 2019). “Most crime analysis is based on counts of crimes, but
not all crimes are equivalent” (Mathew, 2018). Even though both theft and kidnapping fall under
crime, but the effect they have on individuals and society are vastly different in terms of
monetary and psychological consequences. For instance, if a theft or kidnapping occurs in the
household of a middle income person, then it becomes extremely difficult to meet the demands
of the criminal since they are not in a position to pay a hefty amount of ransom. They have
enough money to fulfill their daily obligations and whatever little they save are kept with the
purpose of meeting the future demands (Mathew, 2018). This is not the case if such a crime
occurs in the household of a rich person. Such a household is more than capable enough to pay
what has been demanded. However, whenever criminals engage in such activities, they are not
concerned much with the status of a person, if the person is richer than them. They fail to take in
to cognizance what the implications might be for their victims, either financially and
psychologically and they are only concerned with the fulfillment of their own objectives.
Moreover, the severity of the crimes should also be taken in to account which has a significant
impact on the victims involved (Mathew, 2018). Therefore, while looking at the crime rate, it is
essential to analyze the severity along with the count.

7FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
Source: Statistical Canada
Another important aspect to note is that “the risk of crime is not uniformly distributed
across a population. There are certain groups which are statistically immune to suffering crime
but there are also groups which suffer chronic victimization” (Prieto Curiel et al, 2018). As
discussed earlier, this could be because of the socio economic status of those groups or the
consequence of being in a susceptible neighborhood (Wang et al, 2019).Wang et al (2019)
studied these aspects by using spatial (distance to crime) and quantitative methods (linear
regression model).

8FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
Racial undertone to the nature of crimes
Taking a clue from the factor of an individual’s social and economic positioning in
triggering the potentiality of the commitment of crimes, the discussion shall now be focusing
upon the aspect of the crimes committed on the ethnic minorities and also by the ethnic
minorities of the country and specifically in the Peel region. The region has a vibrant community
of immigrants and statistical data shows that almost 52 percentage of the total population of the
Peel Region are immigrants making the white population a minority (Dominelli, 2017). Several
ethnicities from different parts of the world reside in the region, and alone the Indians make up to
35.5 percentage of the total population. Apart from the Indians on can witness other ethnic
minorities from other Asian countries and from Africa. Japanese form 0.2 percentage, South
Koreans form 0.8 percentage, Chinese form 7.5 percentage, South East Asians form 2.7
percentage, West Asians form 5.0 percentage, Latin Americans form 3.6 percentage and the
Black Africans form 15.3 percentage of the total population of the Peel Region of Canada
(Dominelli, 2017). These statistical data shows that the Peel Region is extremely diverse a
region. However, despite the region being a diverse one and having the whites as minority, the
crimes committed on the non white ethnic minorities is quite high and really a pressing issue in
the region and also in the whole nation as well by virtue of the fact that the region has one of the
highest instances of racial violences in the nation. The following thread if discussion shall be
discussing about what are the nuances of Peel Region having one of the high crime rates on
racial lines in the entire country (Dominelli, 2017).
With the recent influx of huge number of immigrants from the Islamic world that the
incidence of islamophobic crimes have increased manifold times in the Peel Region of Canada.
A sense of alienation and a sense of displacement has begun to dominate the mindset of the

9FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
white people of the region. The recent waves of the rise of neo Nazism in the country has also
gained quite a substantial amount of foothold in the Peel Region (Perry & Scrivens, 2016).
Sociologists are of the opinion that the white masses have been frenzied by the idea that the non
white ethnicities are trying to take away their dominance on the region, taking away their jobs,
destroying the culture of Canada and also deriving much of the benefits which were supposed to
be of the Canadians. Several bands of men have been formed who wear black uniforms and they
claim to protect their country against what they consider to be a cultural invasion. Naturally, a
steep rise in the racist crimes have also increased spearheaded by bands of male white
supremacists across the Peel Region (Perry & Scrivens, 2016).
Attacks on the basis of one’s appearance and the language one speaks has also turned out
to be one of the reasons behind the perpetration of crimes in the Peel Region. The rising number
of crimes against people having brown and black skin are categorically targeted. They are treated
as imposters and the ones who are potentially the perpetrators of crime and nuisance in the
country. The rising instances of people having a non white appearance coming under the radar of
suspicion and illtreatment is becoming a matter of concern in the Peel Region where the ethnic
minorities do not feel safe (Van Ngo, 2017). Often cases of people speaking in Arabic or even
uttering “Allahu-Akbar” in public come under serious attacks. Though racial discrimination is
legally a crime in Canada and can incur serious penalty on the ones perpetrating it, such racially
charged crimes are rampant. Unfortunately most of the cases go unreported and the victim is left
traumatized and helpless. The crimes perpetrated on such persons are usually physical in nature
and often perpetrated by a group of individuals on a single person (Van Ngo, 2017). The men of
colour are surprisingly more susceptible to endure physical violence than the women, however,
there have been cases whereby even women of colour have had to endure racially charged

10FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
physical violence in public. Thus the racial undertone to violence also has a gendered undertone
to it, and it is evident from the instance provided (Van Ngo, 2017).
Hijab cladded women, and especially the ones wearing a niqab and a flowing abaya are
soft targets of racially charged physical violence in the Peel Region. More of than not such
women at public facilities like the metro, shopping malls, restaurants or parks incur a lot of
unhealthy and unwarranted stares by the people around. Some women, and especially after the
Syrian crisis and the mass immigration of refugees from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, have
experienced an increasing spate of violence (Reasons et al., 2016). Pulling off of the hijab,
forcing to strip off in the streets to prove that she is not a terrorist and that she is not carrying any
weapon or bomb with her have become a common affair in the region. The nature of racially
charged crimes perpetrated on muslim women, especially the ones wearing hijab is a result of
prejudice and bias against them that they are potentially up to no good and are there to spread
nuisance in the country (Reasons et al., 2016).
Canada has a sizeable population of sikh people. Despite not being muslims, they,
especially and categorically the sikh men become soft targets of islamophobic attacks. That is
owing to the fact that they bear a close resemblance to the muslim men in terms of their dressing
and grooming sense. The Sikhs as per their religious obligations are not supposed to either shave
or trim their bear of scalp hair, which makes the sikh men have long beards and they tie a turban
on their head (van Kirk & Hodge, 2016). They also wear long flowy tunics called kurta and
trousers called pyjama. They are mistaken as muslims and there is a common feeling in the
masses that sikh men are grotesque and they bear a close resemblance to Osama Bin Laden. The
sikh men experiencing islamiphobic attacks is however not a very old phenomenon and has
recently attracted much hype in the sphre of political and societal concern. The fact that the sikh

11FACTORS AFFECTING CRIMES IN PEEL REGION AND TORONTO
men become the scapegoat of islamophobic attacks show that the muslim people, both men and
women are in grave danger and can incur attacks any moment in the country (Stupi, Chiricos &
Gertz, 2016). The reason can simply be attributed to the bias and prejudice against the muslims
of the nation. With regard to the cultural practices of the Sikhs, they are worshippers of Guru
Nanak, they are not muslims, even if they get mistaken to be one. To assume as anyone having a
beard and wearing a turban is a muslim is wrig and moreover, to attack someone just on the
belief that someone is a muslim is wrong (Stupi, Chiricos & Gertz, 2016).
That went as far as the crimes on ethnic minorities of the Peel Region was concerned.tbe
discussion shall now be concerned about the crimes committed by the ethnic minorities and the
reasons which drive them to commit such crimes. One of the most important crimes that are
committed by the people of colour, especially the overwhelming majority of black men claiming
complicity in such crimes, is that of burglary and thievery (Dominelli, 2017). The crime statistics
show that an overwhelming majority of black men are the perpetrators of such crimes in the Peel
Region. The crime statistics related to the issue of burglary and thievery in Peel Region is not
very different from the national standard taken as a whole (Côté-Lussier, 2016). The reason
behind it being the social and economic marginalization that the black men are increasingly
taking to criminal tactics for the sake of meeting their livelihood. The black folks have developed
a sense within themselves that they shall never get justice at the hands of the white people and if
they have to survive they must do it the hard way by resorting to crime since they white people
shall never them access to a level ground for competition. The social conditions which are hostile
to them, they are left with no other option but to take to criminal methods for claiming a share in
the resources of the country (Dominelli, 2017).