What causes violent crime?

Fajnzylber, Pablo; Lederman, Daniel; Loayza, Norman

doi:10.1016/s0014-2921(01)00096-4

Cited by 445 publications

(276 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Becker (1968) famously argued that criminal acts (like all other behaviour) are the result of rational decision-making based on a cost-benefit analysis, where costs equal whatever penalties are imposed. Even though contemporary research focuses more on the sociological aspects of crime perpetration, many economists still work with the assumption that high penalties can deter crimes (see e.g Fajnzylber et al 2002). In fact, several scholars find that penalties reduce crime rates (Levitt 1995;Braga & Weisburd 2011).…”

Section: Ipv and Macro-level Driversmentioning

confidence: 99%

The macro-level drivers of intimate partner violence: New evidence from a multilevel dataset

Kovacs

2017

Global Public Health

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This study uses multi-level regression analysis to determine the impact of macrolevel drivers on intimate partner violence. It argues that we need to look beyond the usual, individual-level risk factors in order to understand why women experience abuse at the hands of their intimate partners. Using Demographic and Health Survey data from 40 developing countries, this paper demonstrates that socio-economic development, beliefs and laws play an important role in explaining intimate partner violence.Keywords: violence against women, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, multilevel analysis 2

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Section: Ipv and Macro-level Driversmentioning

confidence: 99%

The macro-level drivers of intimate partner violence: New evidence from a multilevel dataset

Kovacs

2017

Global Public Health

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“…Similarly, in Marxist theory violent crime is seen as a consequence of economic and social frustration caused by the inevitable inequalities of capitalism, which unloads itself in misguided aggression against fellow sufferers instead of leading to political rebellion and revolutionary action (Neuman & Berger, 1988;Hagan & Peterson, 1995). Even economic theory predicts a positive effect of inequality on crime as higher inequality raises the potential net gains from crime (Fleisher, 1966;Ehrlich, 1973;Kelly, 2000;Soares, 2002;Fajnzylber, Lederman & Loayza, 2002a). This argument applies much stronger to property crime than homicides, however.…”

Section: Deprivation and Economic Theory: The Importance Of Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Good Policy Can Lower Violent Crime: Evidence from a Cross-National Panel of Homicide Rates, 1980–97

Neumayer

2003

Journal of Peace Research

197

175

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“…Our perspective extends prior research on inequality in several ways. First, criminological and economic research typically examines how variance in stable macrostructural factors, such as socioeconomic status, predicts outcomes, including violent crime and economic mobility (13,14,(19)(20)(21); we show that in addition to such stable macrostructural factors, even temporary exposure to physical inequality-being literally placed in one's "class" (economy class) for the duration of a flight-relates to antisocial behavior, and that situational inequality-being reminded of economy or first class via the boarding procedure-further predicts such behavior. Second, building on recent research demonstrating that increasing the visibility of inequality decreases prosocial behavior by relatively higher social…”

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confidence: 99%

Physical and situational inequality on airplanes predicts air rage

DeCelles

Norton

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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We posit that the modern airplane is a social microcosm of classbased society, and that the increasing incidence of "air rage" can be understood through the lens of inequality. Research on inequality typically examines the effects of relatively fixed, macrostructural forms of inequality, such as socioeconomic status; we examine how temporary exposure to both physical and situational inequality, induced by the design of environments, can foster antisocial behavior. We use a complete set of all onboard air rage incidents over several years from a large, international airline to test our predictions. Physical inequality on airplanes-that is, the presence of a first class cabin-is associated with more frequent air rage incidents in economy class. Situational inequality-boarding from the front (requiring walking through the first class cabin) versus the middle of the plane-also significantly increases the odds of air rage in both economy and first class. We show that physical design that highlights inequality can trigger antisocial behavior on airplanes. More broadly, these results point to the importance of considering the design of environments-from airplanes to office layouts to stadium seating-in understanding both the form and emergence of antisocial behavior.physical inequality | situational inequality | antisocial behavior | social class | air rage R ecent media attention has been devoted to the phenomenon colloquially known as "air rage" (1, 2): a form of antisocial behavior by airplane passengers becoming abusive or unruly, antagonizing crew members and other passengers, and endangering flight safety. Such incidents can be emotionally traumatic for passengers and staff, and expensive and reputationally damaging for airlines (3). Although virtually no empirical research examines the antecedents of this hazardous and increasingly common phenomenon, popular explanations for air rage include crowded planes, frustrating delays, and shrinking seats (1, 2). We advance an alternative view: the modern airplane reflects a social microcosm of class-based society, making inequality salient to passengers through both the physical design of the plane (the presence of a first class cabin) and, more subtly, the boarding procedure (whether economy passengers must pass through the first class cabin). We hypothesize that both types of inequality on airplanesphysical (presence of first class) and situational (boarding location)-trigger antisocial behavior (negative, often aggressive behaviors that are harmful to others) (4).Since Durkheim (5), scholars across disciplines have investigated inequality and social class. The influence of social class-individuals' material resources and relative rank in the socioeconomic hierarchy-is ubiquitous, and can affect critical outcomes, such as health, well-being, emotions, and behavior (6-12). Economic scholars often conceptualize class as socioeconomic status, comprised of relatively chronic and macrostructurally determined factors, such as education, income, and geographic location (e.g....

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What causes violent crime?

Cited by 445 publications

References 27 publications

The macro-level drivers of intimate partner violence: New evidence from a multilevel dataset

The macro-level drivers of intimate partner violence: New evidence from a multilevel dataset

Good Policy Can Lower Violent Crime: Evidence from a Cross-National Panel of Homicide Rates, 1980–97

Physical and situational inequality on airplanes predicts air rage

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