Examining the Roots of Crime and Violence in the Global South

Abstract

Crime and Violence: Urban Violence from Global South Crime, violence and social conflict in the global south are among the most insightful topics in this course. It is a broad topic that analyses the triggers of crime and violence within some areas in the Global South. It is exciting to note that though America continues reporting lower crime rates, the Latin American area stands as the most violent area across the globe. Other places within the Global South, like Mexico and Brazil, are also at significant risk in terms of peace as they significantly register a higher crime rate than other parts within the North. To this effect, one can argue "crime, violence and social conflict in the global South" as a topic that can help analyze and offer insights into significant forces that drive the crime culture within the Global South, making other areas safer than the Chicago, Latin America, Brazil and Mexico to mention a few. While paying close attention to the crime and violence in the Global South, one can argue that some strong forces must justify their occurrence within these areas regardless of the general decline of the crime rate, especially in the United States. Urbanization is among the primary triggers that foster crime rates in the Global South following the rising rate of persons living in urban areas that the GDP per capita cannot contain. Rapid urbanization, especially in Latin America, causes overpopulation within the urban areas, and such congestion with inadequate resources to sustain the rising population can do more evil than good. Because of unregulated urbanization, many live in or around cities in Latin America. However, since urbanization does not make people wealthy, many unregulated victims live in poorly built houses and makeshift dwellings, which one can classify as marginalized areas overlooked by authorities. What then comes out of such a population and an area? When idle people become concentrated in an area, they tend to form or embrace a culture that can sustain their livelihood. Crime becomes a potential option following the high cost of living in the United States and the Global South. After all, what else can a demanding life ask for if not an easier way of addressing its demands? Besides urbanization, the topic also helps analyze the effects of unemployment in the Global South. Unemployment threatens economic growth as it hampers the development of the wealthy living within the poor. Another bitter fact about unemployment is that it derails the development of an area, especially if the ratio of the employed is a fraction of the larger unemployed population. While paying close attention to the unemployment rate in the Global South, it is evident that a considerable percentage of the young generation remains the primary victim leading them to source other means of making life bearable. Inequality is very real in America, especially in areas like employment, health, and education, among other essential areas that define a good quality of life for any human. However, though race plays a significant role in defining such inequalities, it seems to hit harder in Latin America, where thousands of young men remain jobless, not accounting for the gendered inequality that leaves many women out of employment. The unemployment rate stands at 30% regionally in Latin America. Unfortunately, even with such high numbers of unemployment, the few employed experience low-quality employment implying that the rate of income remains significantly low compared to other employees in safer areas. What does this mean?...