High Crime Rates and Poverty in America

“Every society has the criminals that it deserves,” said Havelock Ellis, a physician and social reformer. In other words, violence is a social phenomenon that will inevitably exist if any community exists. Where there is a community, there are bound to be disagreements, problems and conflict, and rebels who break societal norms. However, a certain boundary is also required for society to function and flourish. Unfortunately, in today’s modern day, it seems as if this limit of violence is nonexistent, especially in lower-income neighborhoods. If you turn on the news or go on social media, there is a high chance that you will hear about another heartbreaking death. If it is not a police officer killing a person of color, then it is a robbery or theft. This social, economic, and political dilemma is a direct result of poverty and the gap between the rich and poor. With access to higher protection equipment and safer environments, neighborhoods with higher income do not have much to worry about. In this rhetorical analysis essay, four sources from different genres will be discussed and explored to establish the surge of crime rates and secondly, the role that different income levels have in this crisis.

In the first source that I will discuss, the increase in crime rates, on both a national and smaller scale, is demonstrated. Jake Horton explores this surge in violence rates in different states in his BCC News article, entitled “US Crime: Is America seeing a surge in violence?” In this newspaper article, Horton’s establishes an educational and colloquial tone rather than sophisticated and complex. The article’s title poses a question, implying that Horton is using a conversational tone, as it allows the readers to engage with his points. Throughout his article, Horton repeats accessible words like “increase” and “incidents,” which reveals that Horton’s intended purpose and audience is to educate a

general and wide range of readers about the rising crime rates in America. In the beginning, Horton explains that he will take “a look at the violent crime trends across the US.” His quick and easy approach to the topic suggests that his article aims to briefly inform daily news readers. Additionally, Jake Horton writes for BBC News, indicating that his audience reaches out to an international level. Instead of using an argumentative tone and including a counterargument and rebuttal, Horton simply provides the audience with straightforward statistical information to validate the topic of his article. For instance, he compares recent FBI data with past years, and notes that “across the US, there were 25% more murders recorded in 2020 than the previous year.” Horton refrains from using the first-person narrative and sticks to adding statistics to emphasize the visible increase of crimes. He also gives background information about the varying definitions of what crime may mean to people, which indicates that his audience is targeted towards people with less contextualization and education. By incorporating these rhetorical elements in his article, Jake Horton effectively informs his audience about the growing violence in America.

Similarly, the goal to inform people about the rising crime rates is also achieved by a New York Intelligence magazine called “America Saw a Historic Rise in Murders in 2020. Why?” The author, Jesse Singal, mentions that the high crime rates in 2020 was a result of “the stresses of a pandemic and the intensity of the protests that followed the killing of George Floyd.” While making his point, Singal also builds a conversational yet professional tone by adding phrases like “think about…” and “you might think, …” Subsequently, Singal allows the audience to engage and connect with his article and his perspective, allowing his message to get across more effectively. Compared to the “US Crime: Is America seeing a surge in violence?” (Source 1) this magazine article is lengthy, and a higher level of diction is utilized, implying that the article is not targeted to a broad range of people. Singal verifies the increase of violence, by stating “…in New York City, by December 20, 2020, there had been a 40 percent increase over the 2019 numbers.” More specifically, the use of statistics and data hints that the targeted audience involves students and professionals, who might be collecting data or research. Overall, Singal’s engaging and professional tone, combined with the reliable data, demonstrates how a balanced use of rhetorical elements can allow the author to achieve their purpose.

The next source that I will be discussing is a United States government website, titled “Household Poverty and Nonfatal Violence Victimization, 2008-2012.” This official report was published in November 2014, which looks more closely at the “relationship between households that were above or below the federal poverty level and nonfatal violent victimization.” This website of the Bureau of Justice Statistics belongs to an official government organization, and it aims to inform the general public with accredited information and reliable statistics about the impact of poverty on crime rates, similar to the newspaper article, “US Crime: Is America seeing a surge in violence?” Written by multiple authors, the website highlights that “Persons in poor households at or below the Federal Poverty Level… (39.8 per 1,000) had more than double the rate of violent victimization as persons in high-income households (16.9 per 1,000).” The authors use numerical data to emphasize the vast difference of crime rates throughout different households. The website’s tone is official and academic as words like “presents” and “examines” are used and it includes a press

release and full report, which implies that their targeted audience consists of researchers, government officials, and students. “Household Poverty and Nonfatal Violence Victimization, 2008-2012″ states that the data is retrieved from “National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)…” which, once again, establishes that the writers aim to inform and target people who would use this data for their research, school, or their own purposes.

The scholarly article, called “Neighborhoods and Violent Crime,” is another educational and informative source that not only provides data about the poverty and crime rates from a geographic perspective, but also analyzes this data. The article makes it clear that crime rates are directly linked to the financial situation and other characteristics of the neighborhood, stating “Poverty, segregation, and inequality are related to neighborhoods’ access to resources and ability to solve problems, including problems that foster crime.” By incorporating statements like these and other statistics, the author establishes an assertive and factual tone and is successful at informing the audience about the correlation between the attributes of a neighborhood and the rate of crimes in that area. The statistics and graphs provided in the article also reveal that the article’s purpose is to share the results and analysis of the data to the intended audience. This audience was targeted at researchers, scholars, and students of this field as signified by the formal tone, the multiple citations, the longer length of the article, and the complex vocabulary. Furthermore, “Neighborhoods and Violent Crime” also discusses how children who grow up in these violent environments can maintain this cycle of crime in extreme poverty communities. The article also targets and warns parents and adults that “exposure to gun violence can desensitize children, increasing the likelihood that they act violently in the future.” Therefore, in order to prevent such violent cycles from continuing, adults and children must participate in community organizations, accessible programs, and policies that eliminate economic, social, and academic inequalities.

A commonality that was shared in all four sources was that the author’s purpose is to inform their audience. Throughout all four sources, the rhetorical devices were effectively used to reach and inform their intended audience about the increase in violence and the role that poverty plays on these crime rates. However, the way in which the author informed and presented their information to the audience varied according to the genre of the source. For instance, while the news article (Source 1) was short and used simple words for a general group of readers, the longer scholarly article (Source 4) contained complex words, indicating that the intended audience are scholars and students who have background knowledge in this field. By observing the different genres and the writer’s approach, we can learn more about the author’s targeted audience, the purpose and message. Thus, it is clear that we can educate and inform people by using rhetorical elements like tone, genre, and purpose.

Works Cited

1. Horton, Jake. “US crime: Is America seeing a surge in violence?” n.d. BCC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/57581270
2. Harrell, E., Langton, L., Berzofsky, M., & Smiley-McDonald, H. Household Poverty and Nonfatal Violent Victimization, 2008-2012. (2014, November). Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm/content/content/data/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5137.
3. Neighborhoods and violent Crime: Hud user. Neighborhoods and Violent Crime. HUD (Housing and Urban Development).
4. Singal, J. America saw a Historic rise in murders in 2020. Why? (2021, February 8). Intelligencer. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/02/america-saw-a-historic-rise-in-murders-in-2020-why.html.