Decommodification and Homicide Rates in the 20th-Century United States

• NCJ Number: 193220
• Journal: Homicide Studies Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2002 Pages: 6-38
• Author(s): Candice Batton; Gary Jensen
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 33 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article presents a study that assessed the impact of decommodifying social policies on United States homicide rates during the 20th century.

Abstract

The hypothesis was that changes in social welfare policies should lower homicide rates or weaken links between fluctuations in market forces and homicide. The concept of decommodification is based on the assumption that the economy affects the structure and organization of all other social institutions (family, education) and social relations in society. Economic fluctuations also affect the lives of individuals as they rely on their participation in the market for sustenance and support. Changes in the economy or an individual’s labor force participation are likely to have a direct and immediate impact on the individual’s activities within other institutional realms. It is proposed that the concept of decommodification can be integrated with the theory of institutional anomie, which focuses on the interplay between culture, social structure, and crime. This study analyzed U.S. data for homicide rates from 1900 to 1997. Findings indicated that the conceptualization and modeling of temporal variation in decommodification was important in understanding its impact on lethal violence rates over time. Although the findings support institutional anomie theory when decommodification is conceptualized as a contextual factor that affects the social structure and organization of society, more intricate analyses of temporal variation in decommodification and homicide rates were less supportive. No support was found for more intricate specifications measuring annual variation in the level of decommodification. No support was found for alternative modes of periodization. The results also indicated a temporal shift in the correlates of homicide rates between the two distinct historical periods, and methodological implications for conducting time-series analyses. 2 tables, 26 notes, 70 references