Inequality, Unemployment and Crime: A Cross-National Analysis

Abstract

In order to contribute to the development of an international perspective on crime and to examine a central tenet similar to many theoretical perspectives on the etiology of crime, cross‐national data on inequality, unemployment, and crime rates were analyzed. It was hypothesized that nations having a high rate of unemployment and an inequitable distribution of income would have a high crime rate. The results of the correlational analyses indicate a moderate positive relationship between the rate of unemployment and homicide rates, whereas there are small negative relationships between unemployment rates and (1) the rates of property crime, and (2) the total crime rates. The variable of inequality is strongly related to the three indices of crime and the directions of the relationships are consistent with those involving unemployment rates. The results were further investigated to examine the possibility that the observed relationships were due to the effects of industrialization. The direction of the zero‐order correlations involving property crime rates and total crime rates are not changed in the partial correlations and the strength of the relationships are not consistently reduced. These results are discussed in reference to their implications for criminological theory and the development of a comparative criminology.

Violent crime and its relation to subjective social stress indicators: The case of Israel

“…The findings of a number of studies, although not based on this model, are nonetheless consistent with it [see among others Avison and Loring, 1986; Braithwaite, 1979Braithwaite, , 1980Brenner, 1977Brenner, , 1984Brenner and Swank, 1986;Krohn, 1976; Linsky and Straus, 1986;Messner, 1980Messner, , 1982bMcDowall, 1986;Williams, 19841. However, as stated before, contradictory and inconsistent findings are not infrequent in this field, and the findings of some other studies do not fit this stress model [e.g., Cook and Zarkin, 1986; Fishman and Cohen, 1985;Messner, 1982a; Messner and Tardiff, 1986; Perry and Simpson, 1984; Rahav, 19821. Because all previous studies in this field (including those based on the stress model) employed only objective stress measures, it is the aim of the present study to apply this theoretical model to subjective perception of social stress and social support factors.…”

Asian Criminology – Challenges, Opportunities, and Directions

“…Cross-national studies use datasets that compile information about crime and justice from multiple nations to study patterns and relationships between crimes and other predictive national indicators. This research has produced the largest literature in international and comparative criminology (LaFree and Kick 1986;Messner 1982;Anderson and Bennett 1996;Krahn, Hartnagel, and Gartrell 1986;Krohn 1976;Messner 1989;Avison and Loring 1986;van Dijk, Mayhew, and Killias 1990;van Kesteren, Mayhew, and Nieuwbeerta 2000;Lee and Earnest 2003;Schaefer and Lynch 2001). The cross-national approach has produced theories and findings that are general to the extent that many nations are covered by the data, extending knowledge of criminology at the national level.…”

Chômage chez les jeunes : Conséquences psychologiques et sociales

“…Dans une optique pluricausale de la criminalité, plusieurs recherches ont considéré une série de facteurs sociaux susceptibles d'intervenir dans la relation entre le chômage et la criminalité (Krohn, 1976;Schmid, 1960). Brown, McCulloch et Hiscox (1972) constatent une très forte corrélation entre une série d'indices de crime et le chômage, la pauvreté et le logement en HLM ainsi qu'une corrélation négative avec le fait d'être propriétaire.…”