NCJ Number
87770
Date Published
1982
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Property crime among the poor in Cali, Colombia, takes many forms but does not represent a means to upward socioeconomic mobility.
Abstract
Analysis of a group of low-income criminals who engaged in theft, robbery, and confidence games revealed that 17 different kinds of criminal activity fell under the legal definitions of these groups of crimes. These crimes represent both interclass and intraclass phenomena; thus, they victimize the poor as much as the rich. Property crime plays a positive role in poor communities in that it provides a source of cheap goods from higher income neighborhoods for low-income householders. The criminals' incomes also help maintain the local economy which provides drinks, food, and often drugs and sex. However, crime also harms the poor, and few individuals accumulate significant material wealth in the course of their criminal careers. Moreover, crime both reflects and reinforces the divisions existing among the urban poor. Furthermore, Cali lacks any communitywide informal mechanisms for dealing with crime, and access is lacking to State resources for crime prevention and justice. Thus, lack of access to justice is a further dimension of poverty. Nevertheless, existing police and courts are too corrupt and inefficient to carry out the task confronting them. These institutions need to be restructured and reorganized so that they gain in accountability and public respect and allow the community to become stronger in terms of policing, crime prevention, and the resolution of disputes. Two tables are provided.