Crime in Developing Countries, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The subject of crime in developing countries is one of the most common issues that has attracted enormous attention. Crime in developing countries pervades all the elements of life ranging from economic issues, political issues and social facet of life. Existing literature on the issue of crime has mainly concentrated on different regions across the world. The prevalence of crime in developing countries is attributed to high level of poverty in the regions. Most developing countries have weak economic structures and experience slow growth rate in the economy. Issues such as unemployment and poor living conditions are very common in developing countries than in most regions.

Causes of crime in developing countries

Many factors have been identified by various studies as the major causes of crime in developing countries. However, it is cognizance to note that combating crime in developing countries is a very difficult task.

Glaeser, (2010) posits that crime in developing countries has become difficult to contain due to lack of strong institutions in the public domain that can be used to combat crime. Studies show that it is very difficult to eliminate crime when the institutions put in place fight and eliminate crime are corrupt, for instance, the police institution in most developing countries is very corrupt and therefore lacks the required mandate to solve issues of crime. It is very easy for one to get away with crime in developing countries than in developed nations. Individuals who can bribe the police can easily escape any criminal charges. DiIulio, (2008) contends that the police in developing countries are very likely to be corrupt due to poor working conditions and low wages. Most police units do have adequate facilities that can be used to enhance their operations. In certain cases the police do have tools that are needed to combat crime.

The major causes of crime in developing countries include the following, social environmental factors, economic factors and family issues.

Economic factors

Economic causes of crime emanate from issues such as lack of adequate resources, lack of education, and lack of employment. Under the economic paradigm, individuals involve themselves in crime in order to get the resources that they are lacking in their lives. If such individuals had good jobs or quality education, they would have known safe and legal ways of acquiring the resources. Most people in developing countries are not able to secure good employment due to poor economic conditions in those countries. Studies conducted by Arellano, (2009) reveal that the GDP in most developing countries falls below the 10.1% which is the best level of economic development as propagated by the World Bank. The rate of investment and production in developing countries is very as compared to developed countries that enjoy higher levels of investment that are suitable for the creation of job opportunities.

Under the economic facet, criminals have been discovered to pursue crime after a proper cost benefit analysis whereby one evaluates the opportunity cost of crime. Unemployed youths in developing countries such as Latin America and most regions of Africa prefer to pursue crime as the source of income since the benefits can be realized within a short period of time. To such youths issues such as punishments are viewed as the risk factors that are associated with the business of crime. Their perception towards crime has made difficult to combat crime in most regions. Lack of employment is also associated with other problems under the economic facet such as poor housing among the people in the developing countries. Employment enables individuals to earn income which in turn enable him or her to access good housing facilities and other important basic requirements (Glaeser, 2010).

Family issues

Studies conducted by Fajnzylber, (2010) propagated the suppositions that family matters greatly contribute the problem of crime in developing countries. The studies reveal that in other families all basic necessities may be available but crime among the family members may persist, for instance juvenile crime in developing countries is blamed on parental upbringing. Children raised in families that experience conflicts are likely to be violent and thus resort to crime.

Lack of parental guidance is also another problem that is associated with juvenile crime among the children and youths in developing countries. Most parents lack the opportunity or the skills to teach their children to responsible and good citizens of a country. In such families there is complete disconnect between the parents and the children due to lack of communication and personal contact. Once the children have lacked the personal contact with parents they can be easily influenced by other children. in most developing countries abuse and neglect of children are very common cases. Abused children are likely to be very violent during their adult stage of life. They may also develop revenge attitude and abuse other members of the society (DiIulio, 2008).

Studies show that family violence in developing countries arise from financial problems which is the major cause of conflicts among family members. Poor families are likely to be involved in violence than rich families who have all the necessities in life. Disagreements are very common among poor families due to limited resources that are not capable of meeting the expected needs.

Social environmental issues

Social factors in the environment are also the most common causes of crime in developing countries. Poor governance system in most of these countries expose the people to social problems such inequality. In most developing countries inequality is very common as most governments tend to favor particular members of the society on the basis of tribe, race or gender. In most African countries, governments tend to favor the tribe where the leader of the country comes from. Such a tribe is regarded superior and is given priority during allocation of natural resources. The tribe where the leader comes from is more likely to get more national resources and assistance from the government than the other tribes. The continuous tribal violence in most African countries is due to inequality based on tribe. Tribal violence is one of the factors that cause political instability in most countries (Fajnzylber, 2010).

Lack of social support to the families by the government also causes crime in most developing countries. Issues such as public health care system are not provided to the families due to inadequate resources. Most governments in developing countries lack adequate resources to offer social amenities such proper health care to the people. Accessing public services in developing countries is very difficult to problems mismanagement of resources and corruption (Arellano, 2009).

According to Ehrlich, (2011) poor leadership and corruption in developing countries are the major causes of crime in those countries. The developing countries are led by leaders who driven by the need to satisfy their own interest at the expense of the people’s interest. The leaders give little or no attention to the issues affecting the people in their countries. Access to public resources is solely determined by the level of connection that one has with the leaders in the country. This has therefore provided more opportunities for the development of crime in such countries.

Conclusion

Finding reliable sources with information on crime in developing countries was very hectic due to the fact that crime has been studied by existing literature in general with particular studies focusing on developing countries. Researchers and authors have written on issues of crime on a general perspective that entails all regions across the world. There is also biasness in research and studies across the world as most issues affecting developing countries are not heavily researched like those affecting the western nations. This therefore opens an opportunity for research into the issues affecting developing countries. It is also not easy to access studies or peer reviewed articles that touch on the problems in developing countries across the world.

References

Glaeser, E. (2010). Crime and social interactions. Quarterly Journal of Economics 111, vol 6, 507}548.

DiIulio, J. (2008). Help wanted: Economists, crime and public policy. Journal of Economic Perspectives 10, 3}24.

Ehrlich, I., (2011). On the relation between education and crime. In: Juster, F.T. (Ed.), Education, Income and Human Behavior. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Fajnzylber, P. (2010). Determinants of Crime Rates in Latin America and the World. World Bank, Washington, DC.

Arellano, M. (2009). Some tests of speci”cation for panel data: Monte Carlo evidence andapplication to employment equations. Reviewof Economic Studies 58, 277} 297