NCJ Number
74930
Journal
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Volume: 432 Dated: (July 1977) Pages: 42-51
Date Published
1977
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Written from the perspective of a London-educated African United Nations official who is serving in the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Section, this paper outlines some of the relationships between crime and socioeconomic development in Africa.
Abstract
The linkage between socioeconomic development and crime is not immediately apparent. However, when development is considered to be a dynamic process of change, a close correlation between development and deviant behavior emerges. As Africa moves away from traditional institutions and ways of life, new concepts of social organization, human behavior, and authority replace former societal values. Many individuals see these changes as an opportunity to discard all social restraints upon individual conduct. The rapidity of these changes further compounds the problems it creates. Industrialization accompanied by population redistribution, dissipation of the traditional forms of social control, social mobility, and technological progress, especially in mass communication, are some of the development factors that increase opportunities for deviant behavior. Poor housing, disruption of family life, unemployment, rapid population growth, and the special labor needs of some enterprises are also conducive to delinquency and crime. Systematic planning and programming efforts are needed to correct or eliminate the socioeconomic imbalances that adversely affect a country's development. The author favors what he defines as the United Nations approach, which provides long-term advisory services to developing nations, especially on crime prevention policies tailored to the social, economic, and cultural realities of the countries concerned. (Based on a modified author abstract)