Although it is true that all criminals are not poor and the poor are not all criminals, it is the likelihood of people living in poverty to commit crimes that brings up the correlation.
The causes and effects of poverty are the determining factors that make poverty often resort to crime. The fact that most white collared crime goes un investigated and unprotected is probably one reason why more crime is associated with poverty.
However by starting there is an connection what we are really saying is that poor people are intrinsically criminal which are also suggests that they are inherently poor as well.
The truth is that all of us share equal probability of doing evil. What is that keeps us from doing evil? Is it our inherent goodness? Is it the lack of reason? Does it have to do with our situations? Perhaps if we were not enjoying the best of life, and we were desperately needful we would be driven to committing crime.
A family on the streets can't survive too long on a diet of morals and it is hunger that drives poverty to seek solace in crime. The gap between the richest and poorest in our society contributes to this as well. Another debilitating thing about poverty is that it breeds more poverty.
The poor suffer not just economically but they also suffer from lack of opportunities lack education and lack of health care. They are prey to more violence. The incidence of crime is known to rise especially in times of unemployment. Those who might never consider crime might take to it as means to survive.
So even though it is very clear that our criminal justice system is broken and many within the system have lost confidence in it, we keep chasing the same solutions. More punishment for longer terms seems to be our only response. Who do we persist we have sufficiently isolated the poor who are not like us and sufficiently demanded them that we have become indifferent to their plight. It is a matter of insensitivity and arrogance. It is our arrogance . We are more concerned about our status our houses, our cars and our vacations than we are about taking care of each other. This social curtailing of the poor is the major cause of producing more and more crimes in the society.
Our unwillingness in inability to educate ourselves about poverty and do some thing about it is astounding. Our failure in this regard, may ultimately be very destructive to our democracy. There is already a perception in this country that giving up a few constitutional rights is a fair exchange for personal safety....
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