In fact in the recession itself crime figures actually fell, but now comes news of rising retail crime. The value has retail crime has risen to £1.4 billion a year. This is a mixture of shop lifting and fraud.
So when discussing the costs of unemployment can we still claim the link to the crime rate? Well possibly not. Petty crimes by individuals appear not to have risen, but crimes by gangs of shoplifters and other fraudsters (which requires far greater organisation and planning) has risen.
There's a funny amount of prejudice here. We assume that because people are poor they become crooks? God help society.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is logical to see why the statement might be said, surely there is a smorgasbord of better options when talking about the costs of unemployment, such as a forced increase of government expenditure (thus forcing a budget deficit), decrease in production due to smaller workforce, and decreased consumption due to a fall in income.
Also, out of curiosity - if theft and fraud is that prominent (£1.4 billion, as stated), is that considered to be lost from consumption? Or is it technically a leakage, as the firm is no longer getting as much money than if somebody had paid for the product? Also are stolen goods still considered when calculating GDP and such?
If it's organised shoplifting (modern gangsters?) that's going up, maybe that's a supply-side failure - we aren't educating people well enough to tell them stealing is wrong...
Interesting point on if theft is a leakage. There may be a loss of value as the goods are resold, but they have still been produced and people paid, so its just a different route!
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that there really isn't a very strong link between crime and unemployment. Nowadays people are content to steal (as demonstrated by the recent riots) and extort rather than walking down to the jobcentre and finding a job for themselves. It's really down to our own society. The article says that organised crime rates are increasing. Isn't this just because more and more people are turning to gang culture, which of course often involves committing crimes in order to 'prove yourself'
ReplyDeleteThe article shows an interesting point on the criminals, they are now being able to bypass the security measures put in place but the shops, this can't just a take a few minutes but may take some time to figure out, and thats why i do think there is a link about crime and unemployment, its not concerning poor people necessarily, but unemployment stifles people, reduced their belief, im not saying that this is always the case, but with it being mainly concerned with youths, some people feel that its the best option, the gang violence is also another issue, there has been ever-increasing events related to gangs, just look at the Footlocker incident on Boxing Day. Our society sometimes seems to forget about this whole concept, not everyone has a job and can maintain themselves, and with this people start to stop believing themselves and don't think about work, i mean if employed poeple get bored from time to time, just imagine the others, its a major issue, especially in the youth sector, that if not tackled, will lead to a bleak future.
ReplyDeleteI still agree with the general statement that an increased number of people unemployed will result in an increased crime rate, as the effect of no longer having a steady source of income is not just financially damaging but also psychologically damaging on the person.
ReplyDeleteBut the reason for the increase in retail crime in particular, personally, is due to people's lack of prioritising, selfishness and crave for unaffordable luxuries. Teenagers ask for £1000 laptops for Christmas, families re-mortgage their house to afford a LCD flat screen, and 14 year olds have £45 monthly phone contracts. I know this is a very exaggerative and general, but the point I am trying to make is that we have become a country overly obsessed with expensive things which are not necessary. And this concept applies to both adults and teenagers.
So when the dreadful unexpected time comes, and the flow of household income comes to a halt, and they cannot buy the usual luxuries, the whole country responds in uproar, as demonstrated in last year's August riots. Yes, people are angry because they have lost their job, because their benefits have been cut, and because university fees have risen, but this shouldn't mean that they go out rioting, become fraudsters, start idling in gangs or start stealing from shops. But this is the case, unfortunately. Youngsters are 'bored' , broke and are left feeling underachieved, hence the rise in gangs, and retail crime.
So I do still feel there is still a huge correlation between the increase in unemployment and the rise in crime rate.
Personally i believe there is a definite correlation between unemployment and the crime rate. However i do not believe we should generalise the fact that high unemployment will always lead to an increase in the crime rate as everyone's reasons, motivations to partake in crime are different and not just due to unemployment. For example, researchers have calculated that the 20 percent fall in the wages of non-college-educated men over the entire period can account for a 10.8 percent increase in property crime and a 21.6 percent increase in violent crime.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless it is very understandable as to why people may feel to generalise this. Taking impoverished nations into account and the setbacks and disadvantages that comes with such poverty, it is easy to see why there is a huge correlation between crime and unemployment. This does not necessarily mean that poverty automatically leads to crime as this would make the world's poorest nations, the most crime-ridden - which is not the case.