|
Firstly, I apologise if this OP is a little light. This is simply a topic I was ruminating on and was interested in discussing with D&D - if it really belongs in another thread or isn't considered worth having a whole thread over, please let me know. Basically - what do you believe is the primary cause of theft? Or robbery, burglary - any crime that involves taking the possessions/money of others. Is it primarily a crime committed by the desperate, who are poor and struggling and so have resorted to thievery to get by, or are most thieves in a relatively comfortable financial position and simply want more without caring who suffers? Or are there other reasons you can think of? Obviously there will always be examples of both and then some, but I'm talking about the more common cause. I've asked a couple of people about this so far, and both have answered the latter, while I tend to believe the former, and that theft in general would likely drop significantly with superior social safety nets/a basic income/etc. I'm very interested to hear various opinions on this.
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2014 11:49
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 08:50 |
|
|
MeLKoR posted:Do they have an explanation for why when the economy goes to poo poo and there is high unemployment and no safety net property crimes increase and vice versa? Heh, well, the desire for that sort of in-depth discussion is why I made the thread. I'm guessing not, though, and I would like to read some literature on the subject if you have any links - I tried googling but came up short. Some studies would be very useful, even though I've found too many people who don't care about 'academic bullshit' because their 'life experience' has taught them that people are lazy and selfish.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2014 13:37
|
|
|
Jippa posted:Breaking into a random house is pretty high risk and low reward. Financially stable people wouldn't do this. Very good point, though I should clarify that that is just one of the crimes I'm talking about - any kind of stealing would qualify, from purse-snatching to con-artistry to armed robbery to hacking a bank.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2014 13:54
|
|
|
PT6A posted:Are we talking only about theft of physical property, or are we also talking about fraud and/or identity theft? My general feeling is that poor, desperate people are more likely to steal physical things, but the more well-off who just want more will typically go for fraud of some sort. Also, if the well-off want something physical stolen, they will pay a poor person to steal it for them and pay them only a fraction of what the goods are ultimately worth (as you would purchasing any stolen goods in general), thus insulating themselves from most of the consequences. I know that part because my friend's shop was broken into by just such a steal-to-order operation. Good question. I think that would qualify - I pretty much meant any crime designed to give the criminal more money or possessions, whether those possessions are food and medicine because they're desperate or some kind of luxury item that they just want. Fraud or identity theft would count as long as it had that kind of purpose.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2014 14:45
|
|
|
namesake posted:Crime types and levels are actually very interesting because it does quite openly combine morality and economics; what is and is not morally right to do as determined by the structurally powerful of the society (you're allowed to starve but not to steal) and (through inflicted punishment as retribution) a rough guide to how bad they think those things are and then what impact does that have on what everyone actually does to survive. It's also a pretty good proxy for measuring discrimination, both in what things are illegal and how demographic groups are prosecuted (crack and powdered cocaine being the textbook example) but also in measuring crime levels in mixed demographic communities while controlling for poverty to see how the different groups co-exist with the identifiable 'other'. Oh, I thoroughly agree that these crimes are largely caused by issues with how societies works and how we treat each other. My intention was to find whether people here thought stealing due to desperation (caused by the societal issues you brought up) was more common than stealing due to selfishness or vice-versa - I know that the question is larger than that. As I said, I do believe it's something a great many people are forced into, and I tend to roll my eyes when someone tries to paint all thieves as "Evil Criminals Who Want To Take What YOU WORKED SO HARD FOR". That stuff about the lead hypothesis is also intriguing. I should look into that more - at least I saw the Cosmos episode.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2014 15:52
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 08:50 |
|
|
MeLKoR posted:I take it then that being rich makes you a great parent because I don't see many rich kids committing "theft, robbery, burglary". Financial crimes yes but no one has actually argued that Madoff or Martha Stewart committed their crimes because they were poor or that all crimes are a result of poverty. Exactly - my question was which kind people thought was more common. Clearly both kinds happen.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 5, 2014 04:33
|
|