I read the study so long ago that there wasn't even any Internet and we still had to do our term papers on typewriters, but there is a study out there (actually quite a few - but I'm too lazy to go and look for them) to the effect that most "career criminals" (especially at the lower end of the "economic reward for activity" scale have actually made the most cost/effective "career choice" that was reasonably open to them given their levels of intelligence, education, training, and socialization.
What that means is that your "average" lout who breaks into peoples' houses and steals stuff, can make more money doing that than they can through attempting to hold "honest employment". True, there is always the possibility that they will get a chance to become "guests of the government" from time to time, but the apprehension rate for the moderately skilled is actually quite low (and, besides, they don't need any income while they are "guests of the government").
PS - If you want to take a cynical look at the situation, postulate that "All crime stops completely and irrevocably." then project what effect that would have on the unemployment rate (don't forget to include the personnel in the insurance companies that deal with "loss through crime" and the sudden loss of investment income because all of the "loss through crime" insurance policies would no longer be needed - so people wouldn't be paying the insurance premiums [oh yes, and don't forget to include the sudden decrease in demand for lawyers {and their staffs}, judges, courthouse staffs {and the related civil service bureaucracy}, and social workers {and THEIR related staffs}]). The conclusion that you are likely to reach is [HIGHLIGHT TO READ]"A complete elimination of crime in the United States of America would be disastrous for the US economy"[We now return you to your regularly scheduled font colour.].
