Economic Change and Homicide in Detroit, 1926-1979 (From Violence in America, Volume 1: The History of Crime, P 163-177, 1989, Ted Robert Gurr, ed. -- See NCJ-119355)

• NCJ Number: 119362
• Author(s): C Loftin; D McDowall; J Boudouris
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Data about two types of homicide rates in Detroit during 1926-69 formed the basis of an analysis that concluded that economic conditions had an important influence on homicide rates in Detroit.

Abstract

Domestic homicides involving family members were considered separately from criminal transaction homicides, which were committed during the course of another crime such as a robbery or a drug sale. The analysis used a model that included economic indicators, the proportion of the population that was nonwhite, the proportion of all homicide cases cleared by arrest, and a dummy variable for World War II. Results showed that poverty was the most influential variable. It was a major factor in increasing both domestic and criminal transaction homicides. In contrast, the effects of unemployment were relatively small and were confined only to criminal transaction homicides. Findings also suggested that long and short periods of high unemployment affect crime differently and that aggregations that include several types of offenses may obscure the relationship between unemployment and specific categories of crime. Finally, the results showed that homicide rates did not respond immediately to changes in the environment; instead, they became apparent only over a period of several years. Results suggest the need for caution in interpreting the results of any single study on homicide. Table, appended definition, and reference notes.