>There is a lot of poor people and relatively few of them engage
>in openly criminal behavior.
I think its perfectly understandable why most poor people don't "openly" engage in criminal behaviour. However most poor people do quietly engage in criminal activity.
>It is the perceived opportunity of getting away with
>violating th enorm rathen than poverty and desperation that causes
>criminal behavior
An interesting theory. People commit crimes merely for the thrill of getting away with it you say? Like some kind of sport? So the people I know who work at crappy underpaid jobs without declaring their income to the taxation department or the Social Security are doing it for the thrill? I'm dubious.
>- and such perceptions increase with the social status
>of the perpetrator.
There isn't much social status attached to petty crime though. I think you might be confusing the average petty criminal with the big time crims who make the headlines and get movies made about them.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas