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Maybe economic factors? I know that many of the southern states are at the top of the lists in poverty and welfare benefits.. I would think that would have quite an impact on crime.
And the weather, too- I don't know many people who would go out in the middle of a snowstorm to buy a gallon of milk, much less scope out cars to steal.
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Drugs, particularly crystal meth, seem to have cut a swath through this region, particularly in the small-town and rural areas of the south. I think that this has definitely had an impact.
There are longstanding cultural issues between north and south which still persist to this day. The south has always had a more of "culture of honor" so personal slights, real or imagined, are more likely to escalate into physical confrontation/violence. In the old days this often resulted in duels (pistols at ten paces), nowadays, the violence is less ritualized. This may also partially explain the high levels of violence in the African-American community which was largely southern based for 300 years.
Obviously other factors: poverty, lack of educational opportunities, etc also contribute.
Okay. I'll say the politically incorrect thing here. I think you have to look at the demographic mix, most of all. In the South, the population is typically between 25-33% black. NOW BEFORE THE INDIGNATION BRIGADE MARCHES IN AND STARTS CONDEMNING ME, I make an important distinction between inner city blacks and the growing black middle class.
But, in the inner cities, the basic breakdown of families is just endemic. When 70% of black children are born outside of marriage, and only 50% of black children live in a two-parent household, then you're just begging for problems when those kids reach their teenaged years. The result? A black kid is 20 times more likely to be arrested than his white counterpart in the suburbs. Part of that might be fairly attributed to racism in law enforcement, but most of it has to do with the the breakdown of the black family.
Okay. I'll say the politically incorrect thing here. I think you have to look at the demographic mix, most of all. In the South, the population is typically between 25-33% black. NOW BEFORE THE INDIGNATION BRIGADE MARCHES IN AND STARTS CONDEMNING ME, I make an important distinction between inner city blacks and the growing black middle class.
But, in the inner cities, the basic breakdown of families is just endemic. When 70% of black children are born outside of marriage, and only 50% of black children live in a two-parent household, then you're just begging for problems when those kids reach their teenaged years. The result? A black kid is 20 times more likely to be arrested than his white counterpart in the suburbs. Part of that might be fairly attributed to racism in law enforcement, but most of it has to do with the the breakdown of the black family.
It's easy to point to race, but I would submit the bigger culprit is poverty. The distinction you make between "inner city" and "middle class" blacks is really a socioeconomic distinction. But here's the thing, the crime rate differential between these two black cohorts (inner city and middle class) is not very different from the crime rate differential between poor white or poor hispanic cohorts and their "more educated and more affluent" counterparts. That being said, I do think blacks make up the largest population of Americans living in poverty so it should not be suprising that there is a lot of crime being committed in poor black neighborhoods. But you really cannot attribute it to race because you will find PLENTY of crime in poor white and poor hispanic neighborhoods.
BTW, on the north vs south point, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore (all northern cities) have more than their fair share of crime.
There are longstanding cultural issues between north and south which still persist to this day. The south has always had a more of "culture of honor" so personal slights, real or imagined, are more likely to escalate into physical confrontation/violence. In the old days this often resulted in duels (pistols at ten paces), nowadays, the violence is less ritualized. This may also partially explain the high levels of violence in the African-American community which was largely southern based for 300 years.
Indeed. I have several books on this southern "culture of honor".
Middle class southerners when questioned about their reactions to certain situations are far more likely to reply with a violent scenario than middle class northerners.
The thing I find ironic about this question, is that there are lots of northern cities know for crime, but not really any southern cities. In the north, you have notoriously bad areas of Detroit, Philly, Baltimore, etc.
In the south, I actually had to pause and think to see if I knew of any cities known for crime. Atlanta to an extent, maybe, but that's it.
The thing I find ironic about this question, is that there are lots of northern cities know for crime, but not really any southern cities. In the north, you have notoriously bad areas of Detroit, Philly, Baltimore, etc.
In the south, I actually had to pause and think to see if I knew of any cities known for crime. Atlanta to an extent, maybe, but that's it.
On average, Southern cities have much higher rates of crime than northern cities. On an absolute level, the crime is less, but that's because Southern cities are smaller, on average.
Look up the per capita murder rates of American cities and you'll find most of the highest are Southern. Off the top of my head, based on recollection, in the top cities for murder rates you'll find:
New Orleans,
Memphis,
Birmingham,
Richmond,
and Washington DC.
I know. I didn't say that southern cities didn't have crime, just that they aren't known for crime like a lot of their northern counterparts.
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