CRIME

IMPACT OF ECONOMIC CRISIS ON CRIME

{Name of the Writer]

Impact of Economic Crisis on Crime

Introduction

The initiative taken by the United Nations Global Pulse has warned several leaders of the world to be extra careful regarding the increased crime, violent outbreaks and social tensions with in the communities. This was done many populations in the world hit financial crisis . This advice was based on the fact that in times of crisis, the size and the state of the crimes increase extensively. It was also advised that if the members of the United Nations wanted to meet this challenge they must make sure to make accurate, timely and relevant cross-national information on trends and levels of crime.

It has been witnessed throughout history that economic crisis can extensively effect society as well as security. This paper concentrates on the issues faced by the people of Europe, including the Great Britain because of the economic crisis. From 1975 up to 2000, Europe has witnessed an increase of 97% in the crime rate. Because crime, 35% population in 12 European countries have portrayed they are actually frightened of going out after the sun has set (The Burden of Crime in Europe, 2005). In Europe, almost half the population has installed an anti-theft device at their homes and offices. This has even increased the business of the security providing companies. Noticeable politicians in various European countries have placed the reduction of crime at the top as the central policy.

One of the major reasons for the increase in crime is the rate of unemployment. As it goes up, the chances of being employed especially in the labor market reduces significantly. Analyses based on city level or state level data may suffer from reverse causality as crime may impact the local unemployment rate (Cullen and Levitt 1999). The economic crisis may also impact crime through mass migration, substantial decrease in the purchasing power of the people, increased taxes as well as decrease subsidies or government spending, mental depression, violence at home, emotional stress, increased inflation and lack of education.

Discussion

Economic crisis leads to a lot of issues which in turn leads to crime, thus economic crisis leads people to commit crime. One in every 5 Europeans thinks that there is crime with in their neighborhood according to the EUROSTAT survey results of 2009. The economic crisis anywhere leads to significant increase in the inequality in the incomes of the people. This forces more people to change their direction towards the crime world. Over the past decade, it had been witnessed that the European countries have excelled and gotten richer. However, this has also created a significant increase in the inequality of income. In Europe, the GDP has grown over 1.3% in 2003 rising up to 2.9% by 2009 (EUROSTAT, 2009, n.d). During the economic crisis of 2008, this percentage figure shrunk down to 0.4%.

It was also noticed mostly all over Europe that during the boom period, the people in general witnessed an increase in ...