Unemployment, business cycles, and crime specialization: Canadian provinces, 1981–2009

Abstract

The relationship between unemployment and crime is complex, consisting of two independent and counteracting effects: motivation and guardianship. The Cantor and Land model integrated these two effects leading to a new literature investigating the relationship between unemployment and crime. However, this literature always considers the impact of unemployment (or some other measure of the economy) on the volume or rate of crime. In this paper, we investigate the role unemployment plays in crime specialization on the Canadian provinces, 1981–2009. Using panel data and a hybrid modeling technique we find that unemployment impacts crime specialization, but this impact varies in magnitude and by crime type.

The Role of Family Life and the Influence of Peer Pressure on Delinquency: Qualitative Evidence from Malaysia

“…Most property crime offenders are unemployed or have low-income jobs. Previous researchers have found a significant relationship between unemployment and property crime [15,[21][22][23][24][25][26]. On top of that, Shong [11] found that, among juvenile offenders, poverty was linked to a miserable family environment, academic failure, and involvement with deviant friends.…”

Specialization in offending: A comprehensive review of criminological theories and empirical studies

“…Although most of the researches found that they focus on violent crimes, other researchers found that they commit property crimes to satisfy their perceived needs. Moreover, a recent research of Andresen and Linning found that offenders that commit both crimes ate at the same time because of the same economic factors surrounding them (Merton, 2003;Rosenfeld & Messner, 2003;Andresen & Linning, 2015). Therefore, we argue that there are ample reasons derived from previous studies to claim that offenders will commit both of them at the same time with the exception of criminals who suffer from biological deficits.…”

“…Opponents of specialization argue that differences in personality traits, parenting and family disciplinary styles, social status, and social environment incline offenders to select either type of crime. Since vast majority of the empirical studies support this argument, it can be concluded that offenders are forced and/or motivated by internal and external factors to focus on either crime type (Andresen & Linning, 2015;Youngs, Ioannou & Eagles, 2014;Lynam, Piquero & Moffitt, 2004;Osgood & Pauly, 1983;Tumminello et al, 2013).…”

In a world called catastrophe: the impact of COVID-19 on neighbourhood level crime in Vancouver, Canada

“…Regardless, increases in government assistance, low income, unemployment and major repairs are expected to lead to high levels of crime and, consequently, increased probability of crime increasing during COVID-19 related lockdowns; increases in average family income, post-secondary education, new dwellings, average rent and average dwelling value are expected to result in crime decreasing during COVID-19 lockdown. Though many of these individual variables measure similar concepts within socio-economic status, previous (Canadian) research has shown the importance of using multiple measures of the economy and, consequently, socio-economic status to capture nuances within the economy (Andresen, 2015 ; Andresen & Linning, 2016 ).…”