Socioeconomic Change and Homicide in A Transitional Society

Abstract

Durkheim argued that rapid social change would produce anomic conditions which, in turn, would lead to increases in criminal and deviant behavior. Russia provides a unique opportunity to test this theory given the large-scale fundamental socioeconomic changes occurring in the nation. Russian homicide rates more than doubled in the years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and are now among the highest in the world. The pace and effects of the socioeconomic transition vary widely throughout Russia, however, as do rates of and changes in violent crime. In this study, we took advantage of the unique natural experiment of the collapse of the Soviet Union to examine the association between socioeconomic change and homicide. We measured the negative effects of socioeconomic change by creating an index of changes in population size, unemployment, privatization, and foreign investment. Using data from Russian regions (n = 78) and controlling for other structural covariates, regression results indicated that regions that more strongly experienced the negative effects of socioeconomic change were regions where homicide rates increased the most between 1991 and 2000. Further analysis of the individual components of this index revealed that regions with greater increases in (1) unemployment experienced greater increases in homicide rates and (2) privatization experienced smaller increases in homicide rates.

Alcohol and Homicide in Russia and the United States: A Comparative Analysis

“…However, the gap during the 1990s between the predicted rate and the observed homicide rate indicates that there is room for other factors. Existent research suggests that some of the increase in the homicide rate during this period was because of the rapid political (Pridemore and Kim, 2006) and socioeconomic change (Pridemore and Kim, 2007). The economic crisis also may have had an indirect impact by spurring heavy episodic drinking (Rojas et al, 2008).…”

Anomie in the Oil Patch: A Preliminary Analysis

“…These studies (Pridemore and Kim 2006;Pridemore and Kim 2007;) provide a noteworthy test of Durkheim's anomie theory and results that provide ample support for his theory. They offer support for the idea that rapid change experienced in Russia weakened the "collective consciousness" resulting in increased rates of suicide and homicide "via mechanisms described by Durkheim" (p. 95).…”

“…A plausible operationalization and test of Durkheim's anomie theory is offered in a series of studies by Pridemore and Kim (2006), Pridemore and Kim (2007) and Pridemore, Chamlin and Cochran (2007). In these works, the authors utilize the natural experiment that was Russian society during the rapid transition in both economic and political systems beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s.…”

“…Specifically, the study found regions in Russia that endured the highest rates of unemployment also encountered the highest increases in homicide rate. Pridemore et al's (2007) interrupted time series analysis examines rates of homicide, suicide and alcohol related deaths in Russia between the years 1956-2002. More specifically, the authors' "research, which is also based on Durkheimian thought, seeks to examine the disintegrative effects of rapid social change on the social cohesion of complex social systems" (p. 271); namely, rates of homicide, suicide and alcohol related deaths in early 1990s Russia.…”

“…Though the regions with greatest increases in homicide rates were also those with the strongest sentiments towards democracy, Pridemore and Kim do not believe these rates of violence are connected to democracy; rather, "it is the rapid change that appears to be the operative mechanism" (p. 96). Pridemore and Kim (2007) explored the association between regional homicide rates and rapid "socioeconomic change", operationalized as an index consisting of changes in population, unemployment, privatization and foreign investment. The authors found "higher levels of negative socioeconomic change were positively and significantly associated with greater increases in regional homicide victimization rate" (p. 236).…”