Crime in this country is an everyday thing. Some people believe that crime is unnecessary. That people do it out of ignorance and that it really can be prevented. Honestly, because we live in a country where there is poverty, people living on the streets or barely surviving, there will always be crime. Whether the crime is stealing food, money or even hurting the people you love, your family. Soon you will read how being a criminal begins or even ends, where it begins, who it begins with and why crime sometimes seems to be the only way out for the poor. The exact amount of poverty that exists in the United States is difficult to ascertain, as the way poverty is measured determines the amount of poverty reported. The U.S. Bureau of the Census reported that in 1985 there were approximately 33,100,00 people officially classified below the poverty level. Young children living in low-income families are vulnerable to a wide variety of problems, including poor nutrition, inadequate housing, substandard medical care, lack of proper nutrition, and physical or emotional abuse. Adolescents from these backgrounds become part of the cycle of low income or unemployment. Black and Hispanic teenagers have particularly acute problems finding work. The Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recognized the role of poverty in producing delinquency and noted that the most serious forms of juvenile delinquency are more prevalent among youth of lower socioeconomic levels. The fact that poverty is self-perpetuating is a documented problem. Criminal and delinquent activity may also be an accepted part of the overall picture of disadvantaged children. It's h... middle of paper......lewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.Laub, J, & Sampson, R. (2003). Shared beginnings, divergent lives: delinquent children up to the age of 70. The president and members of Harvard College. Marcus, R. (2007). Aggression and violence in adolescence. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Peterson, R, Krivo, L, & Hagan, J. (2006). The many colors of crime. NY: New York University Press.Raphael, J. (2000). Save Bernice. Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Brothers, Inc. Shover, N, & Hochstetler, A. (2006). The choice of white collar crime. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Smith, M. (2001). Sex without consent. NY: New York University Press. Thompson, W, & Bynum, J. (1991). Juvenile delinquency. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon A division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.Wilson, H. (2007). Guns, gun control and elections. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.