Final answer:
Strains leading to crime include pressures from social structures within society that may influence individuals' decisions. Strain Theory and Social Disorganization Theory are central in understanding how conditions like poverty, unemployment, and community disorganization can elevate crime rates. Media portrayal can also affect the public perception of crime, creating a heightened sense of fear.
Step-by-step explanation:
Types of Strain Leading to Crime
Strain theories in criminology suggest that social structures within society may pressure citizens to commit crimes. Robert Merton's Strain Theory, a prominent perspective within these theories, posits that societal pressures and the inability to achieve culturally defined goals through legitimate means can lead to crime. Additionally, the Social Disorganization Theory argues that a lack of cohesion in a community due to variables such as poverty, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility weakens the community's ability to maintain social control, leading to higher crime rates.
Income inequality, poor schools, and unemployment are viewed as conditions that reduce the individual's opportunity costs of crime, rendering criminal options more viable. Caroline Krafft points out that socioeconomic factors such as poverty, limited educational opportunities, and unemployment play a significant role in contributing to crime by affecting opportunity costs. Similarly, neighborhoods experiencing factors such as high density, jobless rates, and residential instability tend to demonstrate an elevated crime rate, which is further exacerbated by the presence of certain businesses or institutions, like payday lenders.
The perception of crime may also be influenced by media, which can lead to a heightened sense of fear and inaccurately high estimates of the crime rate, as studies have shown. Therefore, while individual choices play a role, numerous factors contribute to the propensity of committing a crime, which are heavily influenced by economic, social, and cultural environments.