The Effect of Economic Factors on Crimes Rate

The methodological policy and method of conducting research is descriptive-analytical according to the nature of the subject, goals and method of gathering information and basically the organization and structure of the research. In the descriptive-analytical method, along with the real and systematic description of the characteristics of a subject and the expression of the available information about it, efforts are made to improve the current conditions and to provide suggested solutions and models in the discussed field. Therefore, the explanation and analysis of the subject is done in order to discover and learn the truth.

It is a method of collecting library information.
1. It is a tool for collecting information through the review of works available in libraries and scientific-research centers, which will accept the necessary verification. Also, in order to enrich the topics, sometimes valid articles are studied by referring to some databases and searching the internet.
2. The data analysis method will be done qualitatively. The method of reasoning is also in the form of evidence.

Between the economy and security, in other words, between economic growth and the occurrence of crimes - which is opposite to security - a mutual and close relationship can be observed, in such a way that the formulation of a desirable and efficient strategy, sustainable growth and development, and national security require the relationship between the economy and It is security B Paying attention to the relationship between economy and security and not recognizing this relationship not only makes sustainable growth and development difficult, but also makes security face serious risks [1].

The occurrence of crime as an undesirable social phenomenon has many economic and social causes, and due to the importance of crime in various countries, extensive studies have been conducted in recent years to identify and explain the causes of its occurrence. The economic conditions of society is without a doubt one of the most important factors affecting the type and amount of crimes, and trying to explain the relationship between poverty and crime based on the relationship between factors, such as: malnutrition, unsanitary housing, overcrowding and illegal activities, has taken place. It can be said that poverty directly or indirectly causes an increase in criminal activities. Therefore, it is argued that in any society, the amount of crime has a direct relationship with the amount of poverty, and an increase in poverty leads to an increase in crime [2]. Inflation lowers people’s purchasing power by increasing the prices of goods and services and reduces their real income. This reduces people’s ability to provide the necessary expenses to gain satisfaction in providing health and hygiene. Also, inflationary pressure can lead to irresponsibility and as a result, cause social deviations.

Economists’ approach to crime is from the benefit-cost value; For this reason, a person commits a crime when its cost is less than its benefits. Also, many other factors such as: poverty, unemployment, inequality in income distribution, industrialization of cities and the phenomenon of urbanization are effective on the occurrence of crime and its effects are also measurable. Have even measured the degree of influence of other social factors, such as: education, preventive punishments, etc., on the occurrence of crime, which is out of our topic, and we do not intend to examine them in this article.

While the school of socialism attaches great importance to the role of economic factors in the occurrence of crime and believes that the root of all crimes should be sought in economic factors, positivism believes that the occurrence of crime is not the exclusive result of one of the humans, social or climatic factors. It is true that when committing any particular crime, one of the factors has an increase and superiority over the other factors; But the combination of all three factors is necessary to commit a crime.

In the form of a sociological point of view, the relationship between different variables of criminal behavior, such as: age, race, gender, and socio-economic status, is important, and it also shows the relationship between an individual and the level of culture, which has a significant relationship with certain types of crime. To give the sociological point of view also emphasizes the factors that are effective in the environment on criminal behavior, such as: time, place, quality of the crime and the type of weapon used [3].

The psychological point of view refers to all the psychological qualities and cognitive characteristics of people, which makes psychologists consider it as an important factor in recognizing and controlling behavior. Psychologists, in analyzing the occurrence of crime, take help from a concept called antisocial personality disorder. The term antisocial personality disorder is used by psychiatrists and most psychologists for criminals who have failed to conform to the norms of society and to the law. They don’t respect and show behaviors that lead to their arrest [4].

In the form of genetic and biological view, a number of people, in terms of anatomy, have a feature that is common among criminals. These physical features can be as follows: abnormal skull, wide nose, big ears, thick and fleshy lips, big jaw, bony and prominent cheeks, etc. The economic point of view, the approach of economists to crime is from the benefit-cost valve; For this reason, a person commits a crime when its cost is less than its benefits. Also, many other factors, such as: poverty, unemployment, inequality in income distribution, industrialization of cities and the phenomenon of urbanization, are effective on the occurrence of crime and its effects have also been measured; Even economists have measured the degree of influence of other social factors such as education, preventive punishments, etc. on the occurrence of crime [5].

Certainly, poverty, economic inequalities, unemployment and inflation are among the most important problems of human society, which has a special place among other economic problems. The problems of poverty, unemployment and inflation are not only limited to their consequences; Rather, but the negative effects of these economic factors also intensify when they become the basis of deviations, and in fact, the mechanism of economic influence on society generally originates from the channel of poverty, unemployment and inflation.

Nettler believes that people’s behavior can be predicted to a large extent by examining environmental and social conditions, and abnormal and abnormal behaviors are considered a social element in criminology discussions and not a biological element [6]. Bonger believes that economic factors are a fundamental factor for all social structures and have significant effects on individual activities, including crime; Especially if this economic factor is the level of poverty, income inequality and economic opportunity costs [7]. In this part, four basic economic factors affecting crime are examined and explained separately; Factors such as poverty, economic injustice, unemployment and urbanization development will be discussed separately.

Poverty

It may be said that poverty is the most important factor in explaining crime; This factor has received serious attention in many studies. Despite the importance of poverty in explaining crime, some studies show that there is a negative relationship between poverty and crime [8]. Some other studies show that there is no relationship between poverty and crime; For example, [9] in his study concludes that crime in areas where rapid and temporary socio-economic changes occur, compared to areas where people are poor but able to meet their basic needs. It is more noticeable. In another research, it was concluded that poverty alone cannot be the cause of crime; Because crime rates do not show much consistency with changes in the number of poor people (McKay et al., 1969). However, there is a lot of evidence about the importance of poverty as an important factor that determines the occurrence of crime. The fundamental justification in explaining the relationship between poverty and crime is that when someone is hungry, he steals food.

In explaining the direct and positive relationship between poverty and crime, [10] believes that the pressure of poverty can lead to irresponsibility and, as a result, cause social deviations. In his opinion, creating economic independence for poor people is the most important to eliminate Taking crime and fighting it. Poverty directly or indirectly increases criminal activities; Therefore, it is argued that in any society, the crime rate has a direct relationship with the poverty rate, and the increase in poverty leads to an increase in crime. Also, empirical studies in America show that poverty has a direct relationship with some crimes such as theft [2]. Most empirical studies confirm the positive relationship between poverty and crime (Baly, 1984) and (Williams, 1983).

Economic Injustice

Economic inequality is another factor affecting crime. Economic injustice is mainly assessed through income inequality. The difference between income inequality and poverty is that income inequality is related to the way wealth is distributed in society, while poverty shows the total amount of wealth based on the number of people whose income is below the poverty line. The results obtained from empirical studies show that empirically, the relationship between crime and economic inequality is not the same and is different according to different economic conditions. [11] concluded that there is a significant relationship between crime rates and the share of people with incomes below half of the median income in American states.

[12] conducted several studies on the relationship between crime rates and inequality for the United States, but did not reach definitive results. While [13] states with certainty that by removing the fixed effects for the central regions of American states, there is no significant relationship between crime and inequality. Aronson (1988) using Frank’s studies, he concludes that in societies with a higher level of inequality, the crime rate will also be high. Jacobs and Blue’s studies also show that in America, firstly, income inequality in general has a significant positive relationship with some crimes such as theft, secondly, the effects of income and economic inequalities on crimes such as murder show inconsistent results. Blue concluded that the main cause of violent crime in America was income inequality, especially if this inequality was combined with factors such as racial differences. Meanwhile, Messner and Williams could not find any significant relationship between economic inequality and the murder rate in their studies.

Unemployment

Unemployment is one of the macro-economic variables and has always been the concern of the policy makers of the countries; This is important in terms of negative socio-economic effects and results of unemployment. Specifically, unemployment has an impact on many social phenomena, especially crime, and it is confirmed in terms of theoretical foundations.

Although based on theoretical foundations, it can be expected that the increase in unemployment will increase the commission of crime [14]. However, empirical studies have not necessarily confirmed this and different results have been observed regarding the effect of unemployment on crime. For example, studies conducted in America show that in addition to the effects of poverty and economic inequalities, unemployment also has a positive and significant relationship with financial crimes such as theft [2]. Also, other studies such as [15] and [16] also indicate a positive and significant effect of unemployment rate on crime rate. Meanwhile, [17] have reported a negative relationship between the unemployment rate and murder and crimes against individuals, respectively, for Canada and the United States. In the research [18], no significant relationship was observed between the unemployment rate and crimes against individuals.

Another researcher, in his studies of the Japanese society, points out that each of them plays an essential role in reducing the incidence of crime. In his study, he comes to the conclusion that firstly, the gap between unemployment and employment in Japan is considered a fundamental issue. Secondly, people’s attention to the problem of unemployment in Japan leads to an increase in the sense of integration of people in the work groups. Finally, people in society search for their identity in their work situation, and finally, this way of thinking makes people value common goals in the group more, and this plays a fundamental role in reducing crimes against people [19].

Urbanization Development

Industrialization and the growth of urbanization should also be considered important factors behind crime; Studies conducted in the United States show that industrialization and the development of urbanization have had a great impact on committing crimes. [20] concluded in their studies that the areas with high crime in the state of Chicago were among the areas where industrialization changes occurred rapidly, and urbanization also grew in these areas. Researchers believe that with the growth of urbanization and industrialization, immigration to these areas has increased, leading to the creation of cultural diversity and different values in society. As a result, these different norms and standards have increased delinquent and criminal activities.

Research shows that migration to cities and the development of urbanization leads to an increase in criminal activities; People decide to commit a crime when they know that the chance of success is greater than the risk of criminal activity, and because in big cities, there are two preconditions of anonymity and greater freedom of action, as a result, people are more likely to commit criminal and delinquent activities. are encouraged; For example, the larger the area where the robbery takes place, the less likely it is that the criminal will be identified.

Industrialization, which is accompanied by an increase in economic prosperity, causes lawlessness to increase in society. For example, Stack (1982) in his studies concludes that with the increase in the production of goods, financial crimes will also increase. In general, it can be argued that with industrialization and the growth of urbanization, followed by migration to big cities, cultures, values and social standards have become more diverse, and this diversity has led to the creation of anomalies and the emergence of anti-values and, as a result, the increase of criminal behavior.

Perhaps it is safe to say that the most important component of social and individual life in our time is the economy; And this economy can affect all parts of our lives. In this article, after a basic and philosophical discussion, we found that the economy is widely related to the rise and fall of the crime rate, and economic issues and components directly or indirectly affect the criminal phenomenon and activity. Criminal acts have an effect. Extensive theoretical and empirical studies show that factors such as poverty, economic inequality, income inequality, unemployment and urbanization development, etc. can lead to breaking the law and criminal behavior and cause serious challenges to a coherent social structure. Therefore, (regardless of specific cases) in general, it can be said that there is a positive and meaningful relationship between economic factors and committing crimes.

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