Poverty and Income Inequality

• Poverty can be seen globally with people looking for work and homelessness in most cities.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Generally speaking, poverty and income inequality have been attributed as a cause for many crimes, as those living in impoverished situations oftentimes turn to crime in order to provide food and clothing for their families. The larger the differential between the higher and lower income earners, the more crime is present. For instance, murder rates are three times higher in countries with more inequalities between high and low earners. Along with the aforementioned, studies by Harvard and Berkeley reported that income inequality and poverty contributed to higher rates of incarceration also.
  
  

Child Abuse

• Child abuse is a crime, though the tragedy may continue with those children perpetrating the same abuse on their own children.Creatas Images/Creatas/Getty Images
  
  An estimated 800,000 children in the U.S. are victims of abuse and/or neglect each year. When children are abused, they are that much more likely to become abusive as adults. Exposure to abuse in the formative years of one's life has been known to cause physical, mental and emotional harm that can last into adulthood, sometimes for the remainder of their lives, which leads to crime in some cases.
  
  

Drug Use

• Drugs come in many forms. Users, especially addicts, do anything they deem necessary to get their next fix.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Drug use can be a crime in most cases, the drugs themselves being illegal. For highly addictive drugs like cocaine, heroin, amphetamines and even marijuana to an extent, it is a crime to use, carry and sell in most places. The type of behaviors drug users' exhibit while on drugs also contributes to crime, some even generating violence in the user. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has reported that illicit drug users are 16 times more likely to be arrested and booked for larceny or theft than nonusers. These users are also 14 times as likely to be arrested and booked for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and nine times as likely to be arrested and booked for assault.
  
  

Teen Pregnancy

• Teen pregnancy can create a lot of problems for the mother, father and their respective families.BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images
  
  Teens who become sexually active early in their lives are taking part in high-risk behaviors, which could mean they are taking part in other types of risky behavior as well, including illegal drug use, crime and violence. Three-quarters of male teens with criminal pasts are sexually experienced, for instance, and young men involved in a pregnancy in Massachusetts were involved in more school fights than their abstaining counterparts. Children born to unwed, teen mothers are at an increased risk for criminal involvement, as well as experiencing violence and abuse -- both risk factors for crime.