NCJ Number
46487
Date Published
1975
Length
47 pages
Annotation
EVIDENCE OF A POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIME AND UNEMPLOYMENT AND RELATED ECONOMIC PROBLEMS IS REVIEWED, AND 13 NEWSPAPER AND JOURNAL ARTICLES ASSERTING OR INVESTIGATING THIS RELATIONSHIP ARE REPRODUCED.
Abstract
ALTHOUGH MUCH ATTENTION HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIME AND EMPLOYMENT BY NONACADEMIC SOURCES, LITTLE SYSTEMATIC RESEARCH INTO THIS RELATIONSHIP HAS ACTUALLY BEEN UNDERTAKEN. TWO STUDIES HAVE FOUND A STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN UNEMPLOYMENT AND SIZE OF THE PRISON POPULATION, BUT NEITHER ACTUALLY STATED THAT UNEMPLOYMENT IS CASUALLY LINKED TO THE NUMBER OF INMATES. OTHER STUDIES INDICATED STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AND THE RATE OF DELINQUENCY, ALTHOUGH AGAIN A CASUAL RELATIONSHIP COULD NOT BE ESTABLISHED BECAUSE A NUMBER OF DISGUISED SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS COULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS RELATIONSHIP. A 1959 STUDY ALSO INDICATED A CORRELATION BETWEEN ADULT CRIME AND UNEMPLOYMENT. ALL OF THESE STUDIES HAVE FAILED TO OFFER A SATISFACTORY THEORY OF CAUSATION FOR THESE CORRELATIONS, E.G., HOW UNEMPLOYMENT RELATES TO CRIME OR TO OTHER VARIABLES WHICH IN TURN CAUSE AN INCREASE IN DEVIANT BEHAVIOR AS THE ECONOMY FALTERS. FURTHER, TRENDS IN UNEMPLOYMENT AND CRIME DATA INDICATE THAT CRIME RATES ARE CONTINUING TO RISE EVEN THOUGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ARE DECREASING. A COMPARISON OF 1964 THROUGH 1974 AGGREGATE CRIME RATES AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATES FAILS TO SHOW ANY STABLE STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO. A DIRECT OR INDIRECT CASUAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIME AND UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS TO BE DEMONSTRATED. A TOTAL OF 13 NEWSPAPER AND JOURNAL ARTICLES DATING FROM 1966 THROUGH 1975 WHICH DEAL WITH THIS RELATIONSHIP ARE INCLUDED. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RESEARCH STUDIES IS ALSO PROVIDED. (JAP)