Running head: Overpopulation and violence 1
Overpopulation and violence 9Overpopulation and Violence:
The poison of America
Roger F. Lewis
St. Thomas University
Table of Contents
Abstract 3
Overpopulation and Violence: The poison of America 4
Literature Review 6
Data 8
Data Analysis/Findings 8
References 10
Tables 12
Figures 13
Abstract
America has seen a lot of violence in the past two decades. We
have experienced violence in many forms form terrorists’
attacks on September 11, 2001, mass shootings such as Las
Vegas and Pulse Orlando shootings, mass school shootings,
FedEx bombings, Walmart shootings, racial violence, and even
bullying. Majority of our violence are by our own citizens and
in order to determine why America is so violent, a research
study will be conducted on what makes people commit violent
acts? Why America is so intrigue with violence? Does it have to
do with how America was founded?
The research is conducted in review of previous events in order
to determine if the United States can be considered a violent
community. When you look back at the previous events, most of
the violence is linked with guns. The paper is also set up to
investigate the impact of such violence on society, and the
younger generation. The measure of violence is comprehensive
with terrorist activities, mass shootings, cyber-bullying/bullying

and poverty.
The study was conducted through questionnaires that were
shared amongst a group of 30 random individuals who form the
sample population. The individuals are composed of American
citizens, visitor in the state and other persons who have taken
up residence in the U.S. for a period of time. The study is also
conducted using SPSS for the interpretation and gathering of the
analysis. The questionnaire contains 20 identified possible
causes of violence for the participants to pick out from.
Overpopulation and Violence: The poison of America
The United States is a ranked as the most violent country
globally. The rates of murder in the country are extremely high
compared to other nations such as Japan and Canada. There
more cases of assault, rape and robbery in USA compared to
most nations. Crime rates in the country have always been
greater than in other rich nations. Violence entailing
relationships accounts for 32% of the violent deaths. Knives and
guns are the main weapons utilized in murders involving
relationships. It is estimated that more than 70% of the
privately-owned guns in the world are found in United States
and majorly owned by men. Over the years, deaths that have
been performed using guns have reached the 30,000 mark.
Approximately more than 300 million guns are privately owned
in United States (Stark, 2017).
I believe that overpopulation is the reason why America is a
violent society. Basically, overpopulation leads to the depletion
of resources and individuals begin fighting to acquire the scarce
resources. Individuals are willing to use violence to acquire the
scarce resources therefore resulting to increased robberies and
other forms of theft. Again, overpopulation in the United States
has created a scenario whereby the demand for employees is far
much less than the supply. This has led to most Americans
being unemployed which has led to poverty.
As a result, the unemployed engage themselves in criminal
activities in order to provide for their families. Again, due to
poverty and unemployment, family conflicts and violence are

more likely to occur. It can be concluded that as the population
increases in United States, violence will also increase as people
try to acquire the scarce resources available. Most of the
violence does not lead to death but the mental and physical pain
that accompanies the violence is long lasting. It is time the
increasing rate of population in United States is addressed in
order to reduce the rates of violence in the nation.
Overpopulation is the main cause of unemployment and poverty
in United States, Unemployment and poverty are the key factors
that contribute to violence in the nation. This means that the
root cause of the violence problem is overpopulation. It is
important to look at the problem because in the coming years,
its effects will extensively affect the economic state of the
nation. Increased violence is accompanied by economic
instability (Riedel, 2015). By looking at the problem, factors
that contribute to overpopulation will be determined and
strategies to address the increasing rate of population also
determined. By developing the strategies to reduce population
growth, it now possible to reduce the cases of violence that
result from unemployment and poverty.
I will look at the problem by performing a random survey of 30
individuals and evaluating the survey. The 30 individuals will
be current or past public safety officials who have extensive
experience in matters associated with security in United States.
The survey questions will be aimed at determining the impact of
overpopulation on American violence and how it can be
addressed. The surveys will be sent to the respondents through
emails and as soon as they respond, the data collected will be
utilized in drawing meaningful conclusions.
Literature Review
The book Physical violence in American Families (2017) by
Murray Straus was focused on the ideas of two previous books,
Intimate violence and Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the
American Family. The book exhibits the authors’ to helping in
diminishing family violence. It aims at emphasizing public
awareness of the numerous rates of physical maltreatment of

children and spouses and the resulting consequences. The book
has also analyzed the causes of these violence and also
demonstrating to the public on their ability to put to a stop to
them.
Studies have ascertained that increase in violence may be
caused by neoliberal economic policies. This is according to the
book, Exploring Neoliberalism and Homicide (2019) by Craig
Mclean, Michael A. Long, Steve Hall, Paul B. Stretesky and
Michael J. Lynch. The book examined the homicide incidences
of 142 nations in 2014. The research established that homicide
rates may escalate if the size of government and tax
encumbrance gets more neoliberal. This is because neoliberal
government policies lead to economic imbalance and also
causes an upsurge in poverty rates leading to increased
homicide rates.
N. Barber on his book, Why is Violent Crime So Common in the
Americas, (2006) investigated single parenthood ratios and their
contribution to having higher rates of violent crimes in the
Americas than in other parts of the globe. The research, which
was conducted in 39 countries established that current single
parenthood constantly projected to violent crimes whereas 18
years ago it wasn’t the case.
The Cost of Inequality (1982), a book by Judith R Blau and
Peter M. Blau found out that the biggest role player in the
increase in urban criminal violence is the differences in racial
inequality in socioeconomic conditions. It’s also stated that
poverty may not affect urban criminal violence in SMSAs once
economic inequality is coordinated.
William Wilbanks reviews the concept that violent crime is
intraracial rather than multiracial in his 1985 book IsViolent
Crime Interracial? He discovered that violent crime in the US is
intraracial in three perceptions, victimization of whites by other
whites, victimization of blacks by fellow blacks and
victimization of whites by blacks.
It was found out that around 15.5 million children were living
in families which were involved in partner violence at least

once in the previous year, 7 million of those being estimated to
have lived under very harsh partner-violent families. This is
according to the book, Estimating the Number of American
Children Living in Partner-violent families (2006) by
McDonald, Renee, and Caetano among other writers.
In Violent Video Games Effects on Aggression, Empathy and
Prosocial Behavior in Eastern and Western Countries effects of
video games (2010) by Anderson, Craig A, J Sakamoto and
others, these effects were investigated using Meta-analytic
methods. They reported that exposure to violent video games
contributed strongly to increase in aggressive behavior,
deceased empathy and prosocial behavior.
Michael C. CampbellMatt Vogel and Joshua Williams in their
article, Historical Contingencies and the Evolving Importance
of Race, Violent Crime (2015) state that due to stabilization and
regression of imprisonment, some of the aspects that that
influenced state incarceration rates in the prison lost power.
J Brian Atwood in his journal, the link Between Poverty and
Violence Conflicts
(2012) outlines that there is a huge connection exists between
poverty and violence conflicts, a connection that national
security analysts have taken too lightly.
Why We Watch (1998) by Goldstein J.H investigates how
violent imagery in films, TV, literature, religion, sports,
photojournalism and other cultural domains contributes to
violence in both past and modern-day America. He demonstrates
how violent imagery has overwhelmed western cultures over a
long time.
All these writers have done a lot of research and addressed most
of the causes of violence in the US. However, as much as almost
every cause has been stated, few of them were left out
overpopulation being among them. Population in the US rises at
an estimated rate of 2 million people per year. That averages to
about 240 people per hour. Overpopulation especially in cities
makes them to be a world of strangers. This leads to
unrecognizability between people living in that location which

helps criminals to commit crimes without fear of being
identified. Furthermore, there is no sense of responsibility
between the citizens as most of them are strangers to each other.
Overpopulation also leads to lack of social control leading to
disorganization hence which causes deteriorates moral
prohibitions. Absence of primary social control also causes
crime and exhibits other forms of social disorganizations such
as drug abuse, suicide, and divorce among others. I am adding
to the literature by conducting my research on overpopulation
using a random survey poll to
Data
After further collaboration and discussion, this research
study group identified sixteen different possible solutions on
why America loves violence. The possible solutions range from
Data Analysis/Findings
Using a survey with eight demographics and sixteen possible
reasons as to why America is violent and entering all the data
into SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and
analyzing all the results, here are my findings:
Conclusion
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3, 4, or 5 with no text following it before the next heading, just
add a period at the end of the heading and then start a new
paragraph for the subheading and its text.] (Last Name, Year)
References
Riedel, M., & Welsh, W. N. (2015). Criminal violence: Patterns,
causes, and prevention. Oxford University Press, USA.
Stark, D. E., & Shah, N. H. (2017). Research on gun violence vs
other causes of death. Jama, 317(13), 1379-1379.
2. Craig McLean, M. A. (2019). Exploring the Relationship
between Neoliberalism and Homicide: A Cross-National
PerspectiveExploring the Relationship between Neoliberalism
and Homicide: A Cross-National Perspective. International
Journal of Sociology , 53-76 .
Anderson, C. A. (2010). Violent video game effects on

aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and
Western countries: A meta-analytic review. Psychological
Bulletin, 151-173.
Atwood, J. B. (2012, June 18). The Link Between Poverty and
Violent Conflict. New England Journal of Public Policy, pp.
150-164.
Barber, N. (2006, July 11). Why is violent crime so common in
the Americas? AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, pp. 442-450.
Blau, J. R. ( 1982). The Cost of Inequality: Metropolitan
Structure and Violent Crime. American Sociological Review,
114-129.
BRAITHWAITE, J. (1975). PopuLation Growth and Crime.
AUST. & N.Z. JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY.
Goldstein, J. H. (1998). Why we watch: The attractions of
violent entertainment. New York: Oxford University Press.
Intraracial?, I. V. (1985 , January 1). William Wilbanks. Crime
and Delinquency, pp. 117-128.
McDonald, R. E.-M. (2006). Estimating the number of American
children living in partner-violent families. Family Psychology,
137-142.
Straus, M. (4 September 2017). Physical Violence in American
Families. New York: Routledge.
WILLIAMS, M. C. (2015). HISTORICAL CONTINGENCIES
AND THE EVOLVING IMPORTANCE OF RACE, VIOLENT
CRIME, AND REGION IN EXPLAINING MASS
INCARCERATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
CRIMINOLOGY, 180-2003.