Anytime a crime is committed, many are left to ask why it happened or what the motive was. Some have argued that crime results from unfortunate circumstances, whilst others believe it arises from an immoral nature. I personally believe that crimes happen for both reasons, and I will explain why in this essay.

On the one hand, crime can be a last resort for the needy or desperate. Sometimes people find themselves in a bad way, without the money to pay for rent or to feed themselves and their family. Given an inability to earn a living honestly, many turn to crime to survive. For example, poverty stricken neighbourhoods typically have higher instances of theft and robbery.

Furthermore, social influence can create a tendency towards criminal activity. Research has shown that there are more single parents nowadays as result from higher divorce rates. In these instances, kids may find themselves being mentored by poor influences in the absence of positive role models. Research has also shown that juvenile delinquency is higher amongst single parent households.

On the other hand, some people are inherently bad. The concepts of good and bad, righteous and evil, or right and wrong exist for a reason. When people lack moral character, they may commit crimes for no other reason than they are bad people. For instance, greed led to several high profile white-collar crimes where large sums of money were embezzled by already wealthy businessmen. Otherwise, there are also many instances of killers who were raised under favourable circumstances.

In conclusion, there is no means of predicting if a person will commit a crime, as there are a number of reasons why people do it. While criminals can be a result of unfortunate circumstances, like poverty or broken homes, some people in this world are just plain rotten.