NCJ Number
123718
Journal
American Journal of Sociology Volume: 95 Issue: 2 Dated: (September 1989) Pages: 307-341
Date Published
1989
Length
35 pages
Annotation
A time-series analysis of crime in France between 1865 and 1913 formed the basis of the effects of policing in deterring various types of crime.
Abstract
The study tested the proposition that as emerging nation-states consolidated power, they also extended surveillance, and this surveillance deterred crime. The crime statistics showed that rates of major crimes declined and minor offenses increased as government surveillance increased in the form of two national police forces. The time-series analysis suggested that although the growth of policing initially increased charges for all types of crime, for major crimes the effect in the long run was deterrence and declining crime rates. Subsequent deterrent effects failed to compensate for the initial inflationary effect on minor offenses, so the rates increased. In addition, the effects of policing on major property crimes held when they were reclassified as minor offenses, but the effect of policing on major crimes of violence disappeared when urbanization was introduced as a control. These findings and other historical evidence suggest that government surveillance expanded less from a specific intent to control crime than from a broader interest in repressing certain classes of people, social protest, and political challenges to the government. Tables and 120 references. (Author abstract modified)