Jub wrote:Economic stress, chiefly the lack of (or perceived lack of) careers and upwards mobility. People don't generally join gangs and sell drugs when they aren't in dire economic straits and these professions tend to breed violence and crime. So ensuring that the lowest classes and poorest sections of cities have enough to go around through job creation or social programs will decrease crime rates.
Crowding is another factor. When you pack people, especially the poor, into the projects it leads to crime. I'm not 100% sure why this causes crime, but you'll notice that population density is a major factor in determining crime rates in US cities.
This is solely my opinion, but based on living in the 2nd/3rd largest city in the US for 15 years:
You can jam rich people in tiny shoeboxes in great density, too, but they don't start shooting each other the way poor folks do in similar densities. Here's why I think there's a difference:
1) Rich people can get the hell away from other people when they need to. Neighbors driving you crazy? Feeling stressed out? Just need some space or to look at something different? Rich people can go on vacation, even if only for a weekend get-away. Poor people can't afford to do that. The closest they can come is maybe going to visit the relatives, likely to be just as overcrowded.
2) Rich people have climate control. Crime rates go up in the summer, especially when it gets hot. Rich people don't have to get hot. In the old days they would leave the city during the heat and go someplace cooler, a summer house or cabin. They could purchase ice. These days, they invariably have air conditioning. Poor people just stay hot, they don't sleep well, they wind up chronically tired, and they get irritable. Likewise, they don't have to suffer the cold in winter. Poor people tend to live in more poorly insulated homes, might skimp on heat to save money, and so forth. If things are really bad they might be without heat in the winter. That, too, is a form of stress.
3) Rich people can pay for exterminators. Poor people are much more likely to be dealing with bug and rodent infestations on an on-going basis. Even if one family can eradicate the pests their home will just be reinfected by the neighbors' supply of vermin. You don't sleep particuarly well if critters are running across your blankets at night.
4) Rich people can afford more convenience/creature comfort. Especially tired after work one night? If you're wealthy you can go out to restaurant or order take-out. If you're really wealthy you can even have your own chef. Poor people still have to cook, or at least prepare food. Well, OK, maybe just open a bag of chips and dip, but that's nowhere near as satisfying as having a well-prepared meal. Rich people have appliances in good repair, poor people either don't have them, or are more likely to have them second-hand, or with jury-rigged repairs, or only half-functioning but kept because of the cost of replacement. Rich people have softer bed linens and towels, nicer furniture that isn't repaired with duct tape or propped up with bits of wood or brick under a busted leg. If something goes wrong in a rich residence - a pipe breaks, a switch stops working, the ceiling leaks, whatever - it gets fixed immediately. Poor people have fewer resources so maybe they can't afford an immediate fix, or can't get the landlord to act on the problem, and often have to put up with a problem or a jury-rigged solution indefinitely. The rich might not have any more space, but it's a lot
nicer space.
5) The neighbors of the rich are different than the neighbors of the poor. Batshit crazy people don't usually live next to rich people, they live in the poor neighborhood. Criminals wind up in the poor neighborhood, especially if they're the violent sort. Rich people don't have to live next to the dregs of society, the grossly dysfunctional, the barking screaming mad people. No... those sorts live in the ghetto, next to the poor folks.
The result is that while the rich might be crowded they still have a materially comfortable environment and considerable control over where they live, and they can always take a break from the city. The poor are less comfortable, have little control (they might be stuck due to housing subsidy rules, or cost of rent, or subjected to an abusive or neglectful landlord), and are not able to take a break.
Which group do you think is more stressed out and more likely to act out?
