and sometimes conditions push people to do them like drugs or losing your house

The stress from being stabbed in your latest 200 point WTA game.

The answer is yes, some people commit crimes for all the reasons you state and you could add another dozen or so reasons.

Their employers - London buses had to break the speed limits at a certain period in history in order to meet the timetable. I'm sure pressure is brought to bear by employers all over the world on employees to turn a blind eye to regulations or actually commit crimes. Recently the BBC was banned from reporting in Zimbawe but reported from there nethertheless. Would serving soldiers have broken international laws within the consent of their superiors?

For acadamic interest - some people just want to see if they could commit the crime for the satisfaction that they can.

I don't think education 'makes' people commit crimes but the lack of a good education is a good indicator as to whether someone will become a perp. I wonder if this is relative - does someone with a 'bad' education in a well educated country become more likely to commit crime than a person with a good education is a poorly educated country - even though their educational attainment could be the same?

*without

Opportunity + calculating you can get away with it.

Opportunity. If there's opportunity for the crime and there's rewards to be had, then there will be crime.

People make fairly rational decisions to commit crimes based on the risk:reward ratio. This is obviously tipped over to the side of committing crimes if you're poorer. I wouldn't say education directly makes you less likely to commit crime, but it's correlated with a decent upbringing and a decent job, so you'll probably be far less likely to commit crime. Most people dropped into certain circumstances will resort to crime.

So what would it take to stop crime all together? Perhaps if everyone had equal wealth they would not want any reward because they have all they need. Of course there would still be people with mental disabilities.

Ooh, we could send all those with mental disabilities away to a camp, so they can learn to concentrate!
We can call them "Concentration camps!"
(Was that too insensitive?)

depends on the crime, poverty and the desire to to leave it certainly pays a very large part in most (property) crimes but has little to with rape and some murders. For twisted shit i think its pretty much a given that ones childhood plays the major part.

"So what would it take to stop crime all together? Perhaps if everyone had equal wealth they would not want any reward because they have all they need. Of course there would still be people with mental disabilities."

The only way to stop all crime is anarchy.

People commit crimes for a large number of different reasons, and not all crimes are bad. Would you condemn people who commit crimes in civil disobedience, or because their country's laws are unjust?

A better question, and what I think you were really meaning, would be "Why do people do evil?"

Why do people do evil?
Because it is in their best interest. And to them, it is not evil. Playing Diplomacy is a perfect example of this. Someone stabs you, he may seem evil at first, but when you think about it, from his standpoint, what he did was good, and possibly even pre-empted the same act from you.

But how do you define evil?
What if the people who are committing this "evil" are actually doing what they see as a public service?

Thank you, that is essentially what I just said.

How about apparent unfairness. During the 1930s general crime was way down. Most everyone was hurting. Most of the crimes commited where against the banks, or involved bootlegging.

Isn't that the same as claiming povery as a cause?

Not if you are doing well but feel you are not getting your fair share.

I commit crimes out of boredom. = |

If i wasn't stuck with stupid laggy IE I would posted it first:p

but keeping with the topic I would say that claiming poverty as a cause is dependent on the situation and the crime itself, not so much the fact that a "crime" is being committed.

DrawdeHellfire, it's even more boring in jail.

Not if you're in a Philippines' dancing jail. Those jails look like a jolly good time.

I commit crimes because I'm horny. Mmm, Sodomy Sundays!

Sodomy is not a crime where I live (the UK). Although if you read the Daily Mail, you'd think it was. Then again, if you read the Daily Mail, there really is no hope for you...

all good answers but there's one missing:
- faith: The scariest people are the one who just know that god (or whatever) is on there side, because in they can justify any action they want with it and might not even fear any consequences. E.g. Suicide bombers, honor killings, hate crimes against gays and abortion doctors, master race mentality.
In a very similar vein you have people who commit crimes for the "greater good". How many people died in the communist gulags because a large portion of the population believed it was a necessary step in the creation of a workers paradise. Or the street gang member who shoots a rival gang's member.

yes, committing crimes due to faith is akin to adherence to a different law, the law of (your ) book as opposed to the law of your nation.

The problem is that the 'laws' of faith are often unclear. There are hundreds of entries in the bible that could be construed as 'laws' but which most Christians find it convenient to ignore, too. Eating shellfish, for example.

Stupidity combined with opportunity, usually.