why do people think that economics might be a contributing factor to crime?

Answer 1

People tend to mistakenly believe that man is basically good. He is not. Man is basically a smart ape unless he is properly raised and civilized. Higher moral values are not natural they have to be taught and learned.

Such people believe a naturally good man will only steal if he has no alternative. This is foolhardy. There are plenty of people who are willing to commit any sort of crime strictly for selfish reasons. There are plenty of wealthy thieves as well as poor or middle class thieves.

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Answer 2

Drugs. The underground economy of the drug trade is enormous in this country. People are stealing, robbing, prostituting, even murdering for illegal drugs, and the money that the sales of these drugs generate. The "war" on drugs is unworkable, yet we pour billions (if not trillions) of dollars into it every year. The answer is, of course, to spend more on it?? Sorry all you conservative right wingers, it just ain't gonna work.

Until we realize that no matter what we do, prohibition can not work in a semi-free society. As long as people are willing to pay for something, other people will be willing to supply that demand. Read the invisible hand theory by Milton Friedman.

If we legalize drugs, let the pharmaceutical companies manufacture them, they will become just like any other prescription drug....no one will be able to afford them....no, no, we can tax them, and completely eliminate the (unfair) income taxes, and land taxes, and increase our spending on social programs...like maybe public transportation, schools, universities???

When the government lies to cover-up the fact that less than 50% of our population actually has a job in this country, the economy (or the hidden recession) definitely is a contributing factor. Until we stop being ignorant to our governments lies, the economy will remain stagnant, and unemployment or whatever they choose to call it will remain at 40-60%.

Answer 3

This is a huge question involving what is crime? how is it judged?who makes the laws etc etc. Crime can be an attitude of mind and/or it can be the only means to an end; but what i do realise is that the laws were made by the privileged in the main, are administered by the more privileged, and tend to safeguard the privileged. In that way economics drives the very essence of law and thus crime. You only have to ask yourself how the attitudes differ to "white-collar" crime and "blue-collar" crime - it is often greeted with a wry smile and a pat on the back if a well-off person manages to defraud the rest of the taxpayers with the help of highly paid accountants, but i've known a teenage boy to get 6 months in a Young offenders institution for stealing a bar of chocolate!(He wasn't a politician's or celebrity's son, unfortunately for him!) And no, im not an ex-offender or under-privileged, but someone who opened their eyes.

Answer 4

I'm going to base my answer on the assumption that you mean economics as the study of incentives.

Criminals, just like every other person, usually make decisions based a cost-benefit analysis (whether they consciously do so or not). Often times, criminals behind bars for extreme crimes such as murder have explained that they didn't really think of the consequences of their actions at the time. They were influenced by drugs, alcohol, or emotion. They made an irrational decision.

Other criminals, such as thiefs, etc. commit crimes using what they determine is rational logic. They know the sentences associated with the illegal activity they are engaged in, but rationalize that the benefits of committing the crime outweight the costs of getting caught, or do not think they will get caught.

Answer 5

It is probably viewed as a vicious circle of poverty.
although that view is pretty unfair to those who are skint who aren't criminals.
I also think that in the materialistic world that we live in people are manipulated by the market forces to want more, more, more and not necessarily have to work to get it.

Answer 6

Illegal ways to make money are lucrative and time efficient. i.e. What you and I make in a year, a criminal can make in a week by stealing, selling drugs or murdering for hire. When you have no money and no means of making it, an illegal 'job' is very tempting.

Answer 7

In anutshell; those with no money steal from that that have.

Answer 8

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