URBAN DYNAMICS AND CRIME CONTROL
ABSTRACT
This research is essentially a descriptive one bearing in mind that peevishly and work has gone in to issues of crime in urban areas. If often assumed that urban areas are synonyms with crime and that the more an area becomes urban the more the rate of crime increases. It is against this background that this research is premised. We should know
that the dynamics of urbanization can cause rapid changes in the rate of crime in an area. Also its evaluation of the
efficiency of the police as a major form of crime control (both in reporting and curbing crime) was carried out.
Our case study is Abeokuta South Local Government Area of Ogun State commonly which is experiencing
rapid urbanization due to the presence of offices, shopping complexs, presidential houses, school, Eateries and
cafes. Since our research is descriptive in nature we made reference to a lot of secondary data we collected data in
the form of crime statistics. An evaluation of crime cases document from 1997-2007 was carried out. Also we
interviewed some residents of the community by asking their perception of policing in the area and also their view on
alternative means of crime control (vigilante groups, night watchmen etc.).
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Urbanization dynamics with the physical power and forces of pulling a large number of people to become
permanently concentrated in a relatively small area of forming cities as a result of large number of people migrating in
search of greener pasture.
The advent of industrilazation marks a great turn in human resistence, it being the acecendent that has brought
tremendrous in every aspect of human social life the dividend of industrialization is double faceted, one of which is
being pivotal in the development or economics, attainment of political poer and general changes in socil cultural life,
industrial area are often view as the epitome of good living attrate a high inflow of people in search of green pasture.
However industrialzation is a major cause of the myriad of social problem that have been plug in human societies to
this crime which is one of major social problem that pervate our society is quite pertinent to tthe study.
For the decades researchers have carried out studies on the incidence of crime. They hyave attempted to explain
why crime ismore prevalent in certain place that others. In concordiance with this, studies have often speculated that
crime is predominant in urban areas, however the features aligns with urban areas show that they have intendency to
have more frequent occurences of crime. Features such as the high population, the high level of inequalities,
interogeneous natures of the resident. The social control mechanism among others. The field or sociology has been
termed urban crime studies. It involve the scientific study of crime in urban-area and stretches across measuring the
frequencies of crime cases in urban area using available data provided by statistics agencies or police report, the
demographic features such as population size and density. The immigration/emigration and then the socioeconomic and culture factors. The factors mentioned are instrumented in aiding researchers view the pattern of an
area assuming status and the seemingly proportionate level of crime.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Urban life is usually depicted with negativity stemming from the words of red field urban sociology thus assumption
cannot be regarded as far-fetched. The social relationship in urban areas can almost be set at zero
tolerance. individuals are too engrossed in securing there basic needs and any other activity is deemed as
secondary.the problem of crime in urban sociologist as discipline. urban residents live with crime every day,from non
violence oriented crimes like rape,armed robbery and murder.also the indiscriminate use of hard drug is becoming
quite habitual among the young people in the urban areas.with these mentioned,the question then arises that are there
no way in which crime in urban ares can be checked? In rural systems social control mechanism are mainly informed
in nature (though there are still formal mechanism present) since rural communites are very homogeneous individuals
can be deterred from crime when they are aware that someone close to them might discover any acts of crime they
commits. That is the closely larit relationship such as immediate family members, the extended family and the other
kinsmen acting as a third eye and at the same time serving as a check on their activities.
However in urban area the reverse is the case, the heterogeneous nature of the resident caused by a near obsessive
drive to achieve the mainstream valves ( which is the acquisition of wealth was diminishes any aspect or this informal
form of social control and even if there was it would be as it’s most minimal.
The control of crime is now left to the formal agents or social control, which is mainly the police. The primary priority
of the police is to secure and protect the lives and property of the citizens. A rather rhetoric question can then
proposed, “how far have the police gone in fighting and cubing crime to a considerable level?” this question can be
regarded as rhetoric considering the fact that the police in some cases are the perpetrators of the problem in question
crime. They have been know to carry out their justices in streaks of violence (refereed to as police brutality) extorting the
populace and forming alliances with criminal gangs.
URBAN DYNAMICS AND CRIME CONTROL