Unemployment and Poverty

• Unemployment and poverty have long been linked to criminal behavior. Income inequality contributes to crime-prone areas giving the under-privileged motivation to commit crimes due to feeling deprived or entitled. This sometimes leads to organized crime and gangs in larger urban areas.
  
  

Inadequate Parenting

• Parenting techniques, or lack there of, tend to play a large role in juveniles who turn to crime. Children with lack of parental supervision are left to their own devices are more likely to be influenced by peers and possibly turn to criminal behavior. Children who lack a healthy relationship with their parents are also more susceptible to crime. This would include children whose parents tolerate crime and violence or are deviants themselves.
  
  

Substance Abuse

• Alcohol and drug abuse certainly contribute to crime, as well. Heavy alcohol users play a role in many domestic violence crimes, as well as other violent crimes. With drug abuse, users may turn to crime to get their daily dose. Of course, as long as there is a demand for illegal drugs, there will be drug dealers and traffickers who tend to engage in other criminal activity.
  
  

Insufficient Policing

• When law enforcement is lacking, criminals come out of the woodwork. This could be due to cuts in government funding or inadequate police. Lack of community involvement also contributes to this factor. Some communities refuse to police their neighborhoods and refuse to get involved, either through fear of retaliation, or simply not caring about social responsibility and control.