Letter: Causes of crime in the Thirties

From Ms Anne Stott

Sir: It was depressing to read the muddled logic of Ray Honeyford's letter (13 July). He glibly discounts the "sociological" causes of crime, ignoring well-established research which has demonstrated that crime in the 1930s was associated, then as now, with poor living conditions, poor education and, above all, unemployment.

But if the causes of crime do not lie in these "sociological" factors, where do they lie? In the "failings" of the black family? But that's another "sociological" cause. Is original sin found disproportionately among black young people? In black genes?

Yours faithfully,

Anne Stott

Gravesend,

Kent

13 July