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Theories, Hypothesis, Literature Review and Annotated Bibliography:

How does Income relate to crime?

The intricate ways in which a community can easily fall victim to crime, gangs and guns

 

 

 

 

 

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Especially important for this research project will be literature that provides further insight into one or more of the following variables, either individually or jointly, with the aim at finding out if respect for authority has anything to do with the area in which one lives, one’s income, level of education and overall criminal tendencies. We also would like to investigate the link between income and police presence. Thus, the variables are as follows: first, this research paper will investigate the relationship or significance between income and respect for authority. Then, as a multivariate analysis, this paper will also investigate the effect of income on access to education, as well as the link between one or more of these variables with criminal tendencies. Moreover, this research paper will have findings on the relationship between access to education and criminal tendencies in order to understand the effects of all variable on each and every other variable. With this in mind, the goal of this paper is to further understand how society can improve, regardless of income status, and make it a better world for the next generation.

 

Questions to be answered in the research project include: Does income determine access to education? Does access to education determine criminal tendencies? Does income determine police presence? Does police presence determine criminal tendencies? Are criminal tendencies related significantly to access to education?  More importantly, does access to education, criminal tendencies and police presence determine income? The independent variable is this study is income and the dependent variables are: access to education, police presence, criminal tendencies and overall respect for authority. Their relationship will be tested individually and collectively with many inferences made along the way based on literature reviews, statistics, and surveys. The overall goal of this paper is to remove race from the stigma of crime and center on the police presence to better the quality of lives of all residents of Toronto and Canada.

 

The hypotheses to be tested are:

 

H1: Low-income communities such as Jane-Finch are more likely to have more crime prominence; higher-income communities such as Vaughan, Ontario are less likely to have crime prominence.

 

H2: Low-income communities in Toronto are less likely to have police presence; higher-income communities in Toronto such as Vaughan, Ontario are more likely to have police presence, or surveillance.

 

H3: Low-income community residents in Toronto are less likely to attend university before 30 years of age; higher-income community residents such as those in Vaughan, Ontario are more likely to attend university before 30 years of age.

 

Inferences to be studied: Income determines criminal tendency. Criminal tendency is correlated to access to education. Income is related to access to education, therefore. Lastly, income determines police presence, which determines criminal tendency and therefore, determines respect for authority.

 

The current section, literature review, will be very straightforward. It discusses the effects of poverty on communities and its link to community policing. Tales of low-income neighbourhoods filled with gangs, guns and drugs are not completely mythical. Many low-income communities in Toronto are currently filled with crime. This infers that the quality of life experienced in these communities must be not be at the standard that a developed country promises, especially an advanced one at that, like Canada. In fact, residents’ quality of life in these areas is very much tampered with and the threat of crime is a very vivid one. Thus, this research project is dedicated to clearing the waters, finding out what aspects of low-income communities are affecting their crime rates in order to help solve the puzzle and help improve the quality of life of all Canadians.

 

This research piece dedicates its review to literature that does not use bias to make an argument. All of the research presented here comes from authors that have done their research, that were peer-reviewed or are government affiliated. The information can be used for good, for the betterment of these affected communities, hence why this writer chose them. Nothing in this research should be equivocated with racism, prejudice or discrimination, as its only goal is to show that more police presence is required is various communities across the GTA. Low-income communities have less access to education and less respect for authority, and feel more fear of authority than anything else (more on this later in this paper). Policy recommendations are given at the end of the research paper to be culminated in December 2014.

 

This researcher used a variety of literature to study the topic at hand. It used articles starting from 1992 until 2014 in order to see patterns, analyze the changes and see what kind of projections can be made for the future. There are two areas of the G.T.A. discussed in this paper, the City of Vaughan and the region of North York respectively. The City of Vaughan was chosen because it represents a higher-than-average-income in the G.T.A. The city of Vaughan has been growing steadily for the last twenty years and it all started with the plea of community members in need of innovation in their city. The average salary is about $70,000 per year and each household holds at least two working members (Stats Canada, 2011). Therefore, the average salary in a home in Vaughan is $140,000 per year. Now, in the North York region of Toronto, the residents are low-income with an average salary of $35,000 and usually one household member working throughout the year (Stats Canada, 2011). There is more poverty, more single-parent homes, more low-income positions, less access to education, and as a result, it makes for a great comparison location. The point as abovementioned is to present the issue to come up with a solution.

 

According to Inspector Julian Fantino of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Department, in 1989, “Blacks in Jane-Finch community accounted for a disproportionately high percentage of certain street crime in that area (Story and Byers, 1989). Thus, in 1989 one was able to link income and race with crime tendencies together, at least if one counted on this statement as truth. However, this writer cannot believe that this link is strong enough without adding the concept of police presence and access to education to create a solid, verifiable and valid conclusion. In other words, since this statement brought nothing but racism to our minds, without considering police presence and access to education for the ‘Blacks’ that Mr. Fantino spoke of, there isn’t much of a link at all. Much like Reid (1989) noted, to speak of crime in relation to race is simply “racist…inherently racist and detrimental to relations between police and racial or ethnic communities” (p. 28). Furthermore, the relationship made here by Constable Fantino is erroneous since immigration must be taken into account when speaking of income and access to education in this country. To back up this point, the Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Board banned the

 

Collection or publication of statistics relative to the race, colour, or creed of individuals, because they reinforce stereotypes, correlate ethnic groups with crime and are contrary to fundamental values in society (Smith and Ruryk, 1989; Byers and Cloete, 1989).

 

In contrast, in 1992, about four years after the Police Statement on race and its subsequent banning, Bohdan Zelenyi wrote an article named Local Archival Repositories that specifically described the City of Vaughan as apathetic, lacking of innovation and in need of progress. Zelenyi (1992) pled with the Municipal government to intervene and aid its professionals (in Vaughan) to feel more useful. It pled with the government for provisions of more opportunities for employment, for real estate and for a better living (a high-income living). After all, Vaughan was already established as having a population of professionals, young workers that were more than willing to work. The city needed more activity, more commerce, more real estate, more police presence, and more innovation. Its “professionals and practitioners” needed more encouragement (p. 35).  The author was somewhat disappointed with the economic activity of the city and wrote that the circumstances were actually “unfortunate” (p. 35).

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, despite the efforts made in 1984 to ban ethnic-specific, or racist, correlations between crime and groups in society, the region of North York continued to be targeted for being made up of a majority of immigrants from different races and for having the most crime in the city (among other areas also in North York include Rexdale, Jungle – Yorkdale -, Lanes – Jane and Sheppard- and, of course, Jane and Finch). It seems as though while Vaughan was asking for attention, the North York area was receiving a different type of attention. Race was becoming a factor in the early 90s, especially as a big immigration hub that it was. Therefore, race was playing a significant role in how people were viewed, and judged. Most race-crime statistics became noted as valid and reliable data. The social stigma of crime then fell upon newly immigrated residents.  In 1994, Philip Johnston wrote an article named Academic Approaches to Crime-Race Statistics do not Justify their Collection. This article reasoned that crime statistics had changed much from the early 1900s, and that race was becoming a common factor in analyzing newer crime rates although in 1989, it was explicitly banned (Smith & Ruryk, 1989). Johnston was concerned that race was playing a big role in how society viewed crime, nevertheless, criminal activities, and its tendencies became issues of race, race became issues of ‘area’ or income, and income became a determining factor in access to education and police presence in either region of the city. So much so, concerned Johnston noted, “little attention has been given to explain the emergence of race-crime statistics as a social problem” (1994, p. 166). But, that it was and emerged even more aggressively as a social problem, this Johnston argues, damaged the quality of life of many people in Toronto.

 

Therefore, there are specific differences between each region, the North York area and Vaughan, in specific. According to the program SafeGrowth, neighbourhood watch had to be implemented in regions where crime was more vivid because of a lack of police presence (Saville, 2009). Guns and class became a thing to study, much like race and guns. Canadians felt scared to interact with people of other cultures because of the stigma that the news had created about these areas. At the same time, individuals living in crime-infested areas were aware of these stigmas, as James (2009) mentions, and started to dedicate their time to “urban education” instead of academic, as it was not easily accessible for them (urban education can also be called ‘street smarts’). In an earlier article, author James, C. (2005) explored the Jane and Finch area and subsequently concluded that the immigrants that come to live in this area are not part of the criminal stigma, yet they very much pay the repercussions of having little to no police presence in the area. Murphy (1988) described the police presence as almost obsolete when it came to crime-infested areas because the 80s represented a time where all the police cared for was placing two-and-two together, by doing so they linked race and crime. This bravery caused suffering in the crime-infested areas because it left community members without the much needed protection from the police.

 

This led to much victimization of those that were not involved in criminal activities but resided in the same areas as the ‘criminals’. This is sufficient enough to infer that because race was linked with income and crime, other areas with less diverse communities and less immigrants, then, had less crime. This would be the wrong inference to make, and this writer cannot conclude that.  However, people who were living in statistically crime-infected areas where most often handled as criminals even if there was no record of them ever being one. The people living in these corners who had no intention of committing crimes, then, became victims of the police targeting and, themselves, were left with feelings of resentment against those that are supposed to be protecting the streets, the police. According to Kennedy and Forde (1990), routine check-ups by the police violated human rights for residents in these communities, the simple act of being of a different race from the majority made the person a suspect (p. 152).

 

On the other side of the city, in Vaughan, we have youths trying to better their city by participating in events, community outreach programs, bettering their education, being protected by the police and, under their parents’ income, attending university. According to Perri (2007), the city of Vaughan saw great progress and the youth were very much involved in allowing the city to grow. The Youth Participation Cabinet of Vaughan aided in the planning and designing of the city’s main core activities such as commerce, education, transportation and so on (a fact published in the Children, Youth and the Environments Academic publishing company) (p. 581). Perri (2007) noted that the encouragement was so much so for the youth, that the city began to shine and the police began to care more for the city (i.e., more presence) (p. 581). 

 

What is needed, then, is more police presence in areas where the police is not wanted. The police must begin to establish a friendly, and not racist, relationship between them and communities they serve. This is the only way to change what is happening, and has been happening for a while now, in areas where immigrants reside, without a choice of their own, where the youth are attempting to grow as Canadians with ethics and standards, but where the police is not entering because of fear and rejection from other community members. A small portion of the community is making it all worse for the rest of the citizens who just want to live in peace, pay less rent and serve their community best. The crime can only be diminished if more police presence is felt. This is not to say that fear must be brought to the community, there is already enough fear with gunshot sounds happening at every corner. The presence of the police needs to be efficient, keeping up with their duties as public servants and keeping the dignity of those they serve.  

 

Annotated Bibliography

 

Mook, L., Quarter, J., & Richmond, B. J. (2007). What counts: Social accounting for nonprofits and cooperatives. Sigel Press.

 

This book presents dialogue by Margarita Mendez, Executive Director of the Jane and Finch Community and Family Centre. The dialogue is confined to speaking of the community services Mendez and her team offers and their effects on the community being served. The services are social in nature and thus a narrative of how the community is improved is provided in the book. This book will serve in the purpose of showing that the JF community is in need of social services because of a lack in resources from other venues such as the police, government, the residents, and more. This book will be used to show that there is a need for social services in the JF community.

 

August, M. (2008). Social mix and Canadian public housing redevelopment: experiences in Toronto. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 17(1), 82-100.

 

This article will help in further defining some of the needs in the JF community. It will be used to show that there is a lack of police presence and social services in the community of JF.

 

Saville, G. (2009). SafeGrowth: Moving forward in neighbourhood development. Built Environment, 35(3), 386-402.

 

This article will be used to show the activity by 31 Division, Police quarters in the JF community, and how the crime rate has spread throughout the years and the community.

 

O’Grady, W., Parnaby, P. F., & Schikschneit, J. (2010). Guns, Gangs, and the Underclass: A Constructionist Analysis of Gun Violence in a Toronto High School 1. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice/La Revue canadienne de criminologie et de justice pénale, 52(1), 55-77.

 

Another great article that will show the crime rates in the JF community and how it affects its residents. It will also show the police presence variable, respect for authority, access to education and more.

 

James*, C. E. (2004). Urban education: an approach to community‐based education. Intercultural Education, 15(1), 15-32.

 

This article explores the idea that the JF community is being educated but differently from the rest of the population. While those in Maple may be attending York University, this article shows that the residents of JF, especially the youth, are gaining more ‘street’ knowledge, an education that those in maple will probably not receive unless they reside or ‘hang-out’ in the JF community, or other low-income communities. Urban education is the specific type of learning that is recited in this article and it will be used to show that access to education differs by income in the city of Toronto.

 

James, C. E. (2005). Constructing aspirations: The significance of community in the schooling lives of children of immigrants. Learning, teaching, and community, 217-234.

 

Because the JF community often serves as an immigration hub, the area is filled with new residents coming from different areas of the world. As a result, their education is somewhat limited once they come to Canada, not only because of the language barrier but also because of the income limitations.

 

Murphy, C. (1988). Community problems, problem communities, and community policing in Toronto. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 25(4), 392-410.

 

This article is old but it will provide us with a view of how JF was during the 80s and what scholars were worried about then. By using this article, we can then compare it to a newer article and see what changes have occurred, if it is for the best or worse and so on. A comparative analysis is what this article facilitates and this is why it will be used in the bigger research project to gain further insight into the police presence in Toronto during the late 80s, 90s, as well as the early 2000s until today.

                                                      

Johnston, J. P. (1994). Academic approaches to race-crime statistics do not justify their collection. Canadian J. Criminology, 36, 166.

 

A little later, about 6 years later, this article was published to show how crime statistics differed from the 1988 article mentioned above. So, this article helps in contributing to our knowledge bank by giving us more statistics about crime in the JF area in the early 90s. This article will be used to see the trajectory of crime and its rates, but it will also try to verify these rates.  

 

Felson, M., & Boba, R. L. (Eds.). (2010). Crime and everyday life. Sage.

A great book that will give us further insight into crime and its rates in the entire country of Canada.

 

Kennedy, L. W., & Forde, D. R. (1990). ROUTINE ACTIVITIES AND CRIME: AN ANALYSIS OF VICTIMIZATION IN CANADA*. Criminology, 28(1), 137-152.

 

This article will show us the trajectory of crime around the entire country to compare it to JF and W communities in Ontario.

 

Raphael, D., Renwick, R., Brown, I., Steinmetz, B., Sehdev, H., & Phillips, S. (2001). Making the links between community structure and individual well-being: community quality of life in Riverdale, Toronto, Canada. Health & Place, 7(3), 179-196.

 

This article is going to help the writer compare the crime rates from the JF, W with the Riverdale community in Toronto, another low-income community in the city.

 

Perri, M. (2007). Vaughan youth cabinet: Youth participation in community planning and design. Children Youth and Environments, 17(2), 581-593.

 

This is an article that shows youth participation in the Vaughan area of Toronto (W) and can relate to the presence of police and the access to education in that zone. Therefore, it will be used in our research project to make comparisons and find similarities.

Grassano, J. B., & Ryan, T. A. (2010). Sex Trafficking in Canada: Limited Efforts in Law Enforcement. Sex Trafficking: A Global Perspective, 159-164.

 

This article will give us some insight as to the type of white-collar crime that is happening in the remote, higher income areas of Toronto and beyond.

 

Cukier, W., Barkel, E., Vaughan, T., & Gekas, G. (2012). Quality assurance in Canadian police services. The TQM Journal, 24(4), 295-309.

 

This article will help us determine priority levels for the police from region to region in the city of Toronto and beyond.

 

Langlois, P. (2006). A GIS Approach for Evaluating Municipal Planning Capability: Residential Built Form in Markham and Vaughan, Ontario.

 

Just like we discussed housing in the impoverished areas, this article will help us determine how housing moves and is facilitated in the higher income areas of Toronto.

 

Bala, N., Carrington, P., & Roberts, J. (2010). Youth justice reform in Canada: reducing use of courts and custody without increasing youth crime. A New Response to Youth Crime, 318-40.

 

A great article to show the crime rates and the efforts to slow them down in the higher income areas of Toronto (w).

 

Zelenyj, B. (1992). Local Archival Repositories: The Case of the City of Vaughan Archives. Archivaria, 1(35).

 

A great archive for those that need information, this archive provides information about the city of Vaughan in terms of crime rate, police calls, and more.

 

Police, S. A. (2010). Community Survey. Adelaide, Australia.

 

I will be suing this survey in the research project to make sure I have all of the information from the police that I need about Vaughan, Ontario.

 

Vingilis, E., McLeod, A. I., Stoduto, G., Seeley, J., & Mann, R. E. (2007). Impact of extended drinking hours in Ontario on motor-vehicle collision and non-motor-vehicle collision injuries. Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs, 68(6), 905.

 

This is another source that will provide much insight as to what happens in Vaughan at night, when no one is looking, are the police present? Is there less or more crime than in the JF area? This article will help us answer these questions.

 

St John, E. P., Chung, C. G., Musoba, G. D., Simmons, A. B., Wooden, O. S., & Mendez, J. P. (2004). Expanding College Access: The Impact of State Finance Strategies. Research Report. Lumina Foundation for Education.

 

This article will help us see if education is spread, if it is available for all people living in Canada equally.

 

Clark, I. D., Moran, G., Skolnik, M. L., & Trick, D. (2009). Academic transformation: The forces reshaping higher education in Ontario.

 

Another great article that will speak of access to education in both JF and Vaughan, Ontario. It will help us determine where there is more access and if it has anything to do with the overall factor of respect for authority.

 

Harper, S. R., Patton, L. D., & Wooden, O. S. (2009). Access and equity for African American students in higher education: A critical race historical analysis of policy efforts. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(4), 389-414.

 

Because JF consists of immigrants, it is important to see the different types of races entering the education system in Ontario to see if those from JF are also benefiting.

 

Boyle, M. H., Georgiades, K., Racine, Y., & Mustard, C. (2007). Neighborhood and family influences on educational attainment: Results from the Ontario Child Health Study Follow‐up 2001. Child Development, 78(1), 168-189.

 

A longitudinal study that will help this writer in determining if there is a relationship between income and access to education.

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

August, M. (2008). Social mix and Canadian public housing redevelopment:

experiences in Toronto. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 17(1), 82-100.

 

Bala, N., Carrington, P., & Roberts, J. (2010). Youth justice reform in Canada:

reducing use of courts and custody without increasing youth crime. A New Response to Youth Crime, 318-40.

 

Boyle, M. H., Georgiades, K., Racine, Y., & Mustard, C. (2007).

Neighborhood and family influences on educational attainment: Results from the Ontario Child Health Study Follow‐up 2001. Child Development, 78(1), 168-189.

 

Cukier, W., Barkel, E., Vaughan, T., & Gekas, G. (2012). Quality assurance in

            Canadian police services. The TQM Journal, 24(4), 295-309.

 

Clark, I. D., Moran, G., Skolnik, M. L., & Trick, D. (2009). Academic

            transformation: The forces reshaping higher education in Ontario.

 

Grassano, J. B., & Ryan, T. A. (2010). Sex Trafficking in Canada: Limited Efforts

            in Law Enforcement. Sex Trafficking: A Global Perspective, 159-164.

 

Harper, S. R., Patton, L. D., & Wooden, O. S. (2009). Access and equity for

African American students in higher education: A critical race historical analysis of policy efforts. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(4), 389-414.

 

James*, C. E. (2004). Urban education: an approach to community‐based

education. Intercultural Education, 15(1), 15-32.

 

James, C. E. (2005). Constructing aspirations: The significance of community in

the schooling lives of children of immigrants. Learning, teaching, and community, 217-234.