Explanations
Risk factors related to crime
There is no single factor that predisposes a person to behave violently or become involved in criminal behaviour. Individual, community and societal level factors, and interactions among these factors, all influence behaviour. Some increase the risk of becoming involved in criminal offending and some can help buffer the effects of risk factors and are known as protective factors. Persons take decisions to stay away from crime despite the predisposing factors or to engage in crime without any risk factors that create a predisposition.
In the US Surgeon General’s Report on Youth Crime, a risk factor is defined as anything that increases the probability that a person will suffer harm ( US Surgeon General 2001). A protective factor is something that decreases the potential harmful effect of a risk factor. Protective factors help mediate the effects of risk factors to reduce their influence. For example, socio-economic disadvantage is often seen as a risk factor for delinquency but the effects of low income and other types of disadvantage can be offset by the presence of nurturing parents and a cohesive neighbourhood (Sampson et al. 1997). Social cohesion helps lower crime rates even in low income neighbourhoods.
The presence of several risk factors has a multiplying effect. In other words, the presence of a single risk factor raises the risk of offending, and two or three risk factors raises the risk even more. Individuals interact with their environment and if both individual-level and community-level risk factors are present, the chances of offending are higher than if just one were present.
Risk factors are not causes of crime and their presence does not guarantee that a person will participate in crime. Many children and adolescents living in what might be considered high risk families or neighbourhoods do not become delinquent due to protective factors that buffer the effects of risk factors. In addition, risk factors are not static and can change depending on when they occur in a young person's development, in what social context, and under what circumstances.