Nearly 75% of prisoners are slum inhabitants, said Aliasghar Jahangiri, head of the country’s prisons. At present 9 million people live in informal settlements across the country.
Lopsided development and imbalance in the distribution of income are among the primary reasons leading to an increase in crimes, IRNA reported.
The income of 44.5% of prisoners’ families is less than $140 per month and the higher crime rate can be attributed to this factor.
Almost 50% of the prisoners have committed an offense related to drugs and 70% are less than 40 years of age; among the prisoners, 63% are married, and 20% are divorced.
Also 80% of the inmates are poorly educated, far below the high school diploma level. Jahangiri further said Yazd Province had the lowest number of prisoners and crime rate.
Research from all over the world suggests that places with pronounced income inequality are more likely to have high rates of violent crime, a finding that makes sense: the wider the socioeconomic gap, the more gains potential criminals perceive.
When poorer people perceive inequality, they feel less committed to social norms and in turn come to view crime “as being acceptable.”
