Poverty and a Lack of Education are Fueling Juvenile Crime A 6 page essay arguing that juvenile crime is directly related to poverty and poor education.

Poverty and a Lack of Education are Fueling Juvenile Crime

In the early 1960's, the epidemic of juvenile crime began to take shape. The problem of juvenile crime is becoming an increasingly pressing matter in America. Anyone who watches the news on television or reads the newspapers is well aware of the urgency and intensity of America's juvenile crime problem. Effectively establishing the causes of juvenile crime may help to deter it in the future. A proper solution cannot be executed until the root causes and reasons are exposed. There are undoubtedly many factors contributing to juvenile crime, but the focus should be on those which contribute the most.

The two factors which come most readily to mind are the extremes of poverty and poor education. Juveniles from poor communities are not even interested in becoming educated because there are not any decent paying jobs for them anyway. By not going to school, these juveniles are not are not developing the proper mental framework with which they can make good choices in life.

Poverty signage

Poverty

List of criminal gangs in Los Angeles, California

The growing numbers of poor communities does not help the situation. It is old news that crime follows poverty. Americans should be concerned that juvenile crime is being fueled by a lack of education and poverty.

Poverty has three basic definitions which are absolute poverty, relative poverty and exclusionary poverty. An absence of the most basic resources such as food, shelter, and clothing constitutes absolute poverty. Relative poverty refers to those people who are poor when compared to the wealthier members of the society. Exclusionary poverty includes people without access to healthcare, proper nutrition, transportation, and opportunities for participating in community life. The references to poverty in this argument include individuals from all three categories (Ryerse).

The biggest differences between the upper-class and lower-class communities is the...