Ecology, Delinquency and Socio-economic Status - A Test of Competing Hypotheses on Data for Melbourne, Australia

• NCJ Number: 74597
• Journal: British Journal of Criminology Volume: 20 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1980) Pages: 329-343
• Author(s): J A P Dustan; S F Roberts
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 15 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Caulfield Institute of Technology Council
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

The relationship of socioeconomic status (SES) to delinquency from the perspectives of divergent theories is examined, and the effect different measures of SES can have on the relationships between SES and delinquency rates is empirically assessed.

Abstract

Data on the variables used were collected for Melbourne, Australia. The unit of analysis was the Local Government Area, a statistical unit which delineates each municipality of Melbourne. The dimensions of SES measured were income, occupation, and education. The most important theoretical implication emerging from the study concerns the clarification of the relationship between delinquency rates and SES. The SES indices in this study failed to remain significantly related to delinquency when ethnicity measures were introduced as control variables. The two exceptions, the variables of family assistance and unemployment, were later found on a factor analysis to load together on a factor separate from the rest of the SES variable set. Thus, it is preferable to regard these variables as measuring the separate dimension of poverty rather than as indicators of very low SES. Both the family assistance rate and the unemployment rate of an area remain significantly correlated with delinquency even after controlling for the anomie variables; however, neither anomie variable continues to maintain its previously significant correlation with delinquency indicator hypothesis receives little support from the results of the present study. While the zero-order correlations indicate some difference in the strength of the relationship between the multivariate analysis suggest a general consistency in the relationships of broad and narrow definitions of delinquency to the SES variable set. Some practical implications of the findings are discussed. Tabular data and about 17 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)