What is the relationship between crime and locality

What is the relationship between crime and locality (area)? Lesson Objectives: Grade A/A* - identify criticisms of the reasons why crime is higher in particular areas. Grade B –explain why crime is higher in particular areas. Grade C –describe the areas in which crime is highest and describe the reasons why.

Key Terms Urban area = An urban region is often referred to as a city or town; that is built up in population Rural area/suburbs =Rural areas (also referred to as "the country" or "the countryside") are large and generally isolated areas of a country, often with a low population

Starter Activity Look at the pictures below: Which has higher crime rates? WHY? A. B.

Crime and locality • Crime rates tend to be higher in inner city areas than in rural areas. • The risk of being a victim of crime is greater if you live in a city rather than the countryside.

Why might a person living in a deprived inner-city area commit crime? What are the sociological explanations? • Feelings of relative deprivation (related to unemployment rates) • More opportunities to commit crime (i. e. the opportunity structure) • Drawn into criminal gangs (peer pressure) • BONUS: How might living in a close-knit rural community (including police officers who know the community) discourage some people from committing criminal acts?

So why is the crime rate higher in urban areas? • The simple fact is that there is more opportunities because there is a larger amount of people and property who can be the targets for crime. • Higher density of people = greater opportunities to commit crimes and be a victim of crime. • More houses, offices, shops, cars and so on means there is more to steal vandalise or attack. • There is more poverty right next to wealth in inner cities, leading to relative deprivation where people seek to have the same things as those around them, sometimes illegally • People are more likely to take the chance of committing crime thinking that there is a low risk of them being recognised or caught - close-knit rural communities make anonymity difficult.

Is crime REALLY higher in inner-city areas? • Which areas do the police usually target? • If the police are targeting inner-city areas, how will this affect the official crime statistics? • Inner-city areas are more heavily policed; therefore more crime is detected, reported and recorded for these areas. Thus the statistics will show high rates of crime for these areas.

5 Marks exam Q 1. Describe one reason why crime is typically highest in inner-city areas and explain why statistics on these areas may be unreliable. 2. Describe one area where the crime rate is high and explain why this may be a result of the way policing is carried out. Remember: Describe first (one paragraph) Explain second (one paragraph)