Societal structure, criminality and the self-fulfilling prophecy
It has been acknowledged that societal structure influences criminality. What I mean by this is socio-economic status, deprived neighbourhoods, and a sociological theory known as "the self-fulfilling prophecy" all have an impact on criminality. The idea that societal structure influences criminal behaviour stems from sociology, which is the study of society and the elements that contribute to it.
Understanding criminality and why crimes occur from a sociological perspective can be beneficial to society overall.
Socio-economic status
The continuous cycle we hear regarding poverty leading to criminality has left a negative impact on those who come from low-income households. The data shown below reinforces this concept and therefore shows a direct link between poverty and criminality.
The data shown below shows crimes recorded by neighbourhood income deprivation in London (March 2020 - February 2021)
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan in one of his speeches mentioned, there is a strong link between deprivation, poverty and highlighted three-quarters of the boroughs in London have the highest levels of offending and is in fact in the top 10 most deprived areas. The question we should be asking is how do we resolve this? Looking at the root cause of this can be clarified by looking into the sociological aspects of criminality.
According to statistics, the most deprived communities in London had 80 percent higher crime rates.
The social disorganisation theory
This is a sociological theory that suggests a person’s residential area is more important than a person’s character in terms of criminality and deviance. The negative connotation and stigma that a specific area has influences criminality. When looking into why specific areas are more prone to criminality, this theory helps to understand it from a sociological perspective. The stigma surrounding an individual’s socio-economic status and the association it has with criminality generates a self-fulling prophecy.
This idea is used by sociologists and many others to explain criminality in underprivileged places, demonstrating how deprivation is linked to criminality. This can be reduced by giving support and opportunities to people who reside in these places.
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
When researching criminality from an academic standpoint, the self-fulfilling prophecy is beneficial as it helps us comprehend how and what leads to crime through concepts and theories. As a result, highlighting the significance of sociology in understanding criminality from a different perspective.
A self-fulfilling prophecy is a sociological term used to describe a prediction that causes itself to become true. This could explain why those that are stigmatised and labelled as ‘poor’ because of their socio-economic status and the constant reminder that poverty links to criminality in turn, makes the individual feel hopeless. As a result, turn to deviance and criminality by fulfilling the label.
What more can be done to help reduce criminality:
Reduce the stigmatisation of deprived areas, increase support and opportunities for communities that are most deprived and enforce hope and encouragement to the younger generation.
Tackle the concept of self-fulfilling prophecy, by eliminating labelling this could be implemented through the education system, helping those affected by this, encouraging them through education and achieving goals.
What have the Government done to help
The Government has introduced a programme called ‘ The Prison Leavers Innovation Challenge (PLIC) to break the cycle of reoffending as well as the stigma and label attached to prison leavers.
This programme is operated by harnessing innovation from the tech sector to develop new technological tools and solutions that will help prison leavers stay on the straight and narrow, reducing the harms associated with crime. Companies are selected and receive funding to run this programme and implement it in their organisation. The Government scheme is a step forward to reducing the stigma and label that is associated with prison leavers.
