Aspects higher education in Sunderland – the

Aspects higher education in Sunderland – the

Aspects of City Life – Crime.Different angles can be taken with regards to crime in the city, andfurther to this, the main topic can be broken down into smaller areas. I haveconducted two types of research;Primary – Interviews etc. Secondary – Named Sources.The question of crime and how it affects a city is perhaps best put tothose people that have either lived in a city all their lives (thus knowing whatthe crime is like in the area), or to those that have moved to a city from atown or village (therefore being able to make a comparison between the types ofcrime and their severity in the two habitats).

A city, apart from having a great deal more shops, civic andrecreational amenities, and night life will also have many more people – peoplethat need somewhere to live, meaning vast expanses of housing estates and otherresidential areas. In Sunderland’s case all of the above are true, and, as withmany other cities across the country it has a very large student population.There are two centres of higher education in Sunderland – the university, andthe college, both with large subscriptions. Although both have been establishedfor a while now, it was only fairly recently that the old Polytechnic achieveduniversity status. This has not only increased the size of the university interms of property but also the number of students attending it.

This thereforemeans that the overall size of Sunderland has increased, including the numbersof shops, clubs, recreational activities and also houses.A great deal of people in Sunderland believe that their local pubs andclubs have been ‘taken over’ by students and at first there was a great deal ofapprehension and tension between locals and students, often resulting in violentconflict. This still exists but to a much smaller extent. However, somethingthat can be connected with this is the mugging and burglary that happens to asmall minority of students.

Obviously crime occurs everywhere, no matter whereyou live, but students are seen as easy targets due to their vulnerability, aswell as the fact that they have money and valuable possessions. The severity ofsome of the attacks has been such that victims have needed extensive hospitaltreatment due to the injuries they have sustained. Security measures at certainhalls of residence have been questioned after several attacks occurred inusually safe surroundings.The most startling aspect of violent crime in this area is that it stilloccurs, despite increased policing and advice to students regarding how toprevent it. Certain districts are particularly dangerous and carry high levelsof crime, but the problem can often be pin-pointed to individuals, stealing outof desperation for a variety of reasons. This leads me to the main point of mychosen topic.The focus of my research will be upon crime against students, mainlybecause I can use primary evidence (several of my friends have been mugged) andin a presentation, be it audio, visual or both, it would, in my opinion, be moreshocking and at the same time carry a preventative message.

I have certainpeople in mind to interview that have been victims of crime that will help thepresentation carry impact. The views of the general public would also bevaluable to my research and so I plan to carry out an independent survey todiscover the views of local people. By doing this it will mean that I am nottaking one side or the other (students or local residents) but an unbiased viewupon crime in the local area, the reasons it occurs, and aggravating situations.It will be up to the audience to decide whether or not students are unfairlydiscriminated against, or whether locals rightly take the law into their ownhands. Law