“I think you’ll find higher violent crime rates among blacks even controlling for socioeconomic factors, at least it was years ago when I was looking at such things. Apples to apples, yes crime generally goes up in poorer areas, but apples to oranges you still get greater overall rates across the spectrum in certain ethnic groups. There’s either a cultural problem or something else. For example, poverty doesn’t really explain terrorism. In that case, people at every stratum are driven to acts of murder primarily by Islam rather than economic factors.”
That’s interesting, If you happen to have any links to the research I’d be interested in reading it (not doubting you, but genuinely interested in the research). I’d also be very interested in getting my wife’s feedback on it as she working towards her postgrad in criminology.
The question of root causality behind terrorism is such a complex and emotive one that I wouldn’t even hazard a guess. I think it’s just too easy for the individual’s own ideological framework to come into play when trying to find an objective answer.