The first pitfall is that soft factors such as culture are very hard to quantify and thus difficult to pin down in the type of quantitative research currently in vogue in the field of social sciences. There will have to be more qualitative research done, including interviews, questionairres, and polls conducted in order to get a handle on the factors which transform poverty into crime. The second pitfall is that culturally-focused explanations often echo the racial prejudices which drove the Social Darwinist explanations of poverty and crime during the late 19th and early 20th century sociology and criminology.

Conclusion

The relationship between poverty and crime is only beginning to be fleshed out in a manner which will produce useful policy recommendations. Fortunately, these recommendations will be grounded in quantitative research, especially data regarding crime rates and social welfare expenditures. However, it is important that research into poverty and crime does...
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