Poverty looms large in quest for causes

By Andrew Stone and Jan Corbett

"It would be a waste of time hitting someone if you had money."

That comment, from a 15-year-old boy this week, sums up what many instinctively know but cannot prove - poverty fuels violence.

It would be a mistake to think that all poor are violent, or that all violence happens at the lower end of the socio-economic scale.

But there is no escaping the fact that most prisoners (60 per cent) are there for violence, and 76 per cent were on a benefit before their arrest.

When Professor David Ferguson looked at race in relation to violence, as part of the Christchurch Health and Development Study, he found that poverty was more closely correlated with violence than was race.

Ironically, when the Ministry of Justice looked at the link between the economy and crime rates, it found that violence increased as the economy improved.

The theory is that as those hardest hit by recession start to get money in their pockets again, they socialise more and drink more - providing more opportunity for violence.

Sociologist Greg Newbold has been looking at the relationship between unemployment and violence for a forthcoming book, Crime in New Zealand.

Although the graphs do not coincide - unemployment peaked at 10.9 per cent in 1991 while violent crime did not peak until 1995 - Dr Newbold argues strongly for the link.

"Men who are unemployed and frustrated take it out on their families. People who feel society has lost its commitment to them are likely to lose their commitment to society."