Rates of Crime and Unemployment: An Analysis of Aggregate Research Evidence

Chiricos, Theodore G.

doi:10.1525/sp.1987.34.2.03a00060

Cited by 130 publications

(62 citation statements)

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“…However, there has been a "consensus of doubt" (Chiricos, 1987) among scholars with regard to the relationship between unemployment and crime because the predicted positive relationship tends to be "insufficient" (Box, 1987;Cantor and Land, 1991;Yang and Lester, 1994;Fox, 1998), and, at best, "conditional" (Chiricos, 1987;Forst and Bennett, 1998;Hojman, 2004). Furthermore, some scholars predict a negative effect of unemployment (Cantor and Land, 1985;Land et al, 1995).…”

Section: Economic Conditions and Crimementioning

confidence: 99%

“…One focuses on the motivational aspect of unemployment, while the other stresses its opportunistic aspect. The former predicts positive influence of unemployment on crime (e.g., Chiricos, 1987;Hale and Sabbagh, 1991;Deadman, 1994;Deng et al, 1994;German, 1994;Allen, 1996;Britt, 1997;Yoon, 1998;Kury and Woessner, 2002), while the latter predicts negative effects of unemployment on crime (Cantor and Land, 1985;Rattner, 1990;Land et al, 1995). Empirical studies are underway to clarify the conditions under which unemployment is related to the level of crime, and to identify which types of crimes are most influenced by changes in the economic environment (Pudney et al, 2000;Hojman, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A contextual analysis of crime rates: The Korean case⋆

Yoon

Joo

2005

Crime Law Soc Change

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During recent attempts to understand crime in relation to its environments, studies have focused on a single aspect of either economic or organizational context. Furthermore, scant attention has been given to the independent role of the political influence on response to criminal activity. This study examines the relative roles of economic conditions, organizational constraints of police, and political climate in explaining changes in crime rates by incorporating these three contexts into a single study. By using a variety of official statistics, we conducted time-series analyses to examine the social context of crime over the past three decades in South Korea. Findings indicate, first, that the unemployment rate is the best predictor of changes in crime rates; it consistently increased the level of both property and violent crimes. Second, organizational capacity, as indicated by police per capita, is found not to have any consistent effect on crime rates. Third, the impact of political repression, measured by the presence of extraordinary laws and the number of political prisoners, also shows inconsistent effects on crime. However, crime rates were somewhat lower during the past three military regimes, which support the argument that authoritarian governments exercised more punitive sanctions to deter crimes. Implications are discussed and suggestions are offered for future research on this topic.

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Section: Economic Conditions and Crimementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A contextual analysis of crime rates: The Korean case⋆

Yoon

Joo

2005

Crime Law Soc Change

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“…For instances, Raphael and Winter-Ebmer (2001) use U.S. state data to examine the effects of unemployment on crime, Bourguignon (2001) estimates the crime as a function of poverty and inequality using cross-sectional data from developing countries. Chiricos (1987) shows that a high unemployment rate would cause increased property crime rates. Fajnzylber and Lederman (2002) investigate the relationship between inequality and violent crime in aggregate level.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The socioeconomic and demographic determinants of crime in Iran (a regional panel study)

Haddad

Moghadam

2010

Eur J Law Econ

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“…Thus, crime is somehow clustered for reasons due to bad living conditions, unemployment, insufficient education, and lack of infrastructures (Chiricos 1987;Power and Wilson 2000;Raphael and Winter-Ebmer 2001, to mention just a few). But information can be clustered as well.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%