Statistical information is the most relevant tool of identifying the real causes of crime. Metropolitan areas including New York are the areas, where crime hotspots are integrally linked to social instabilities and social problems of disadvantaged population. As a result, human beliefs about crime are also connected with social issues. New York is the area of vast opportunities, yet it is also the area of social inequalities, which frequently turn into crime hotspots. According to the official statistics, the percentage of unemployed people in New York was equal to 4. 8 percent in 2006, which is close to an average level of unemployment in the U. S (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007).
However, the detailed structure of unemployment suggests that Black men and Hispanic women are the most likely to become criminals, due to the highest rates of unemployment among this type of population (5. 9 and 8. 9 percent accordingly – U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007). These issues become even more serious as we leave metropolitan centers and reach the suburbs. The number of uninsured people outside New York metropolitan areas is 6% higher than in large cities (U. S. Census Bureau, 2007).
This means that socially disadvantaged population potentially increases crime rates and creates crime hotspots outside the metropolitan centers. This is why the beliefs of New York population about the causes of crimes are traditionally connected with the employment, education, and other social issues. Metropolitan population invariably believes that social disparities and socially unequal opportunities are the roots of crime in large cities as New York. “Women with less than a high school diploma earned $323 per week in 2002, compared with $809 for those with a college degree” (U. S. Department of Labor).
The logical line with the social issues at one end, and the crime at the other, consists of several essential elements, including social instability, the inability to study, lower earnings’ rates and the desire to replenish the lack of financial resources through committing a crime. As a result, criminal behavior changes and increases as we move outward from the metropolitan center, and is directly caused by social issues, which become more serious and vivid outside New York metropolitan areas.
