Poverty, Crime, and Societal Impact: An English Essay Analysis

This essay delves into the complex relationship between poverty and crime, arguing that poverty is a significant factor contributing to criminal behavior. It begins by defining poverty and then explores its influence on various factors that lead to crime, such as lack of education, unemployment, desperation, and the need for survival. The essay uses examples like the high crime rates in impoverished cities like Caracas, Venezuela, to illustrate this point. It further discusses the impact of peer pressure, parental influence, and the desire for material goods as contributing elements. The author acknowledges that rich people also commit crimes but emphasizes that the motivations often differ, with the poor driven by survival needs. The essay concludes by reiterating the argument that poverty is a major underlying factor in many crimes, supported by references to relevant studies and research.

English Essay
Is poverty a main factor behind most
crimes?

Is Poverty a main factor behind most Crimes?
Poverty is referred to a situation in which a person did not have enough money to meet
his/her basic needs such as food, shelter or clothing. In my opinion, poverty encourages
people to sin more than compared to others which make it a key factor behind most crimes.
Poverty contributes to various other factors which encourage people to commit a crime such
as lack of education, unemployment, desperation, lack of opportunity, stress, and others.
Many studies have proved that in developing countries the crime rate is high because people
have to commit a crime in order to fulfil their basic survival requirements (Ngutu, 2014). For
example, Caracas, Venezuela is the most violent city in the world and poverty is a
contributing factor which increases the crime rate in the city. In the list of 50 most violent
cities in the world, most of the cities are poor and developing in which people are left with no
choice but to commit a crime in order to fulfil their basic survival needs (Bender and Macias,
2016).
Lack of education and high illiteracy rate in countries is one of the basic parameters which
lead a person to commit a crime. In school, children are taught how to behave in a good
manner and what is right or wrong. Therefore, people who drop out of school due to a weak
financial situation or who cannot afford to go to school are more likely to commit crime than
others since they are not educated about the moral behaviour. Parents and friends have
substantial influence a person’s choices in life or his/her belief. A young person who has
criminal parents or friends is more likely to commit crime because of the peer pressure.
Therefore, children of poor people who commit crime are more likely to choose the same
path for themselves as well due to peer pressure or survival needs (Bharadwaj, 2014). There
is no doubt that rich people commit a crime as well, but, usually, they commit a crime in
order to get more money or power whereas poor people commit a crime for survival needs.
Poverty has a substantial influence on people’s senses as well. For example, a person who is
starving because he did not have any money for food is more likely to commit theft than
compared to others. Similarly, desire for material goods also encourages people to commit
property crime because they steal objects which they cannot afford to purchase. The pressure
of failure also leads to people doing drugs or substance abuse. People who are addicted to
drugs resort to crime in order to pay for their habit. In this case, people who are not criminals
but cannot afford the drugs are more likely to commit a crime as well (Bean, 2014). In

conclusion, there are various factors which encourage or force a person to commit a crime,
but most of them are resulted due to poverty such as illiteracy, not fulfilment of basic needs,
unemployment, desperation and others. Therefore, I agree with the statement that poverty is a
main factor behind most crimes.

References
Bean, P. (2014) Drugs and crime. Abington-on-Thames: Routledge.
Bender, J. and Macias, A. (2016) The most violent cities in the world: Latin America
dominates list with 41 countries in top 50. [Online] Independent. Available at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/the-most-violent-cities-in-the-world-latin-
america-dominates-list-with-41-countries-in-top-50-a6995186.html [Accessed 27 February
2018].
Bharadwaj, A. (2014) Is poverty the mother of crime? Empirical evidence of the impact of
socioeconomic factors on crime in India. Atlantic Review of Economics, 1, p.1.
Ngutu, J.A. (2014) The Influence of poverty on crime among the Abanyole of Emuhaya
district, Western Kenya. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 19(4), pp.108-142.