Crime and Economic Activity: A Research Note

• NCJ Number: 111782
• Journal: Sociological Spectrum Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (1988) Pages: 187-195
• Author(s): R Gramling; C Forsyth; J Fewell
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1987 Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Sociological Association, Memphis.

Annotation

This paper examines the relationship between unemployment, median income, and the seven FBI Index crimes.

Abstract

The methods used in this study were the combination of using national statistics and correlating unemployment with each of the reported seven Index crimes. The analysis lends support to the contention that opportunity is a stronger motivator of criminal activity than is deprivation. Also called into question was the propriety of official unemployment rates as indicators of economic deprivation, at least at the State level. Thus, economic deprivation cannot be ruled out as a causal element in crime rates. Future researchers are cautioned to use a more macroscopic (national) or microscopic (community level) approach. 1 table and 28 references. (Author abstract modified)