Sociology

The trends of criminal statistical data have raised concern over the past four decades. There have been significant changes with the last 40 years. Violence and non violent crime have increased over the past four decades due to certain contributing factors. Fear has mounted on people due to rampant change in criminal statistics. There have been certain policies which have been laid to counter the continuous increase in crime. Violent crimes have increased over the past 40 years. This has been contributed by various factors such as drugs intake and exposure to lead. The murder rates have also increased within the past four decades. There has been connectivity between IQ levels and criminal behavior (John, Marsh, 2004). Low IQ which is contributed by drug intake leads to criminal behavior. Exposure to substance such as lead is viewed as one of the contributing factors to violent crimes. Lead poisoning was handled through the ban of lead products in 1978.

The influence of cognitive development in children is a determinant in the increased violent and non violent crimes. Murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery are some of the crimes which have been widely spelled over the past four decades. Unemployment is also another factor which has contributed to increased crime rates and mostly amongst the youths. Aggravated assault is one of the pronounced violent crimes. Teen unemployment contributes to most violent crimes such as robbery. Another factor which forecasts increased crimes in the future is poverty. Most of the children born by single mothers operate below poverty level which triggers poverty level (Cohen, Wright, 1998). Technology has also paved for increased crime rates. Most violent crimes are perfected with aid of weapons of mass destruction. It is foreseen that the crime rates will continue to increase due to the highlighted factors.

In conclusion, both violent and non-violent crimes have increased over the past four decades. Some of the contributing factors include unemployment, poverty, drug intake and advancement in technology.