ECONOMICS OF CRIME

Economics of Crime

Economics of Crime

Introduction

Worldwide, violence is becoming an urgent challenge and major issue in economic, social, health and government. Crime and violence adversely affect economic development and social, reinforcing social exclusion and poverty, and undermine public safety and reduce the state's ability to govern effectively. According to data, the homicide rate in U.K grew more than 44 percent during the period 1984-1994. Of all reported homicides, 28.7 per percent were attributed to young men between 10 and 19 years of age. While economic conditions vary so much between countries and within them, a number of internal and external factors that can be commonly associated with high levels of violence and crime in those involved many young people in the region.

The economic crisis experienced by several countries in the region, mainly caused by the reckless implementation of macroeconomic policies and adjustment, have seriously weakened the state's ability to invest in services essential commodities, especially education and health. Although rates primary school enrollment has increased consistently over the recent years, rates of grade repetition and failure rates remain high, raising concerns about the overall quality of primary education. Enrolment rates in secondary schools remain worryingly low, jeopardizing the ability of young people to acquire human capital necessary to find suitable employment in the market sector formal. The vulnerability of youth poverty and exclusion are well illustrated by the number of teenagers who work to supplement income family.

Young people, particularly those living in families with low incomes and marginal neighborhoods, experience trauma and stress related to poor living conditions and overcrowding, domestic violence, lack of education quality of labor market exclusion, lack of areas and equipment recreation, police violence and discrimination in many cases. The need relative socio-economic and other complex problems tend to be concentrated at the base of the social pyramid, which leads to a high number of crimes committed by the poor and marginalized people against individuals equally impoverished. The unemployment and underemployment, particularly among youth are high throughout the region, and the current model of economic development can not seem to generate enough employment opportunities in the formal labor market.

Market crime model

Economic models of crime posit that sentencing severity should be positively correlated with the social value of the victim and negatively correlated with the social value of the offender (Becker, 2008, p169). However, when considering a society composed of groups separated along racial and ethnic lines, it is possible that preferences held by the group in the social majority will affect judicial outcomes, given that members of the majority group typically hold key decision making positions within the judicial system. If members of the majority place a lower social value on certain minorities, they may be less inclined to inflict harsher punishments on those who victimize those groups.

According to the minority group threat hypothesis, the majority group attempts to exert social control over minority groups who threaten their majority status. As the size of one minority group rises relative to the size ...