Economic Inequality and Homicide in the Developed Nations From 1975 to 1995

• NCJ Number: 221602
• Journal: Homicide Studies Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2008 Pages: 28-45
• Author(s): David Jacobs; Amber A. Richardson
• Date Published: February 2008
• Length: 18 pages
• Grant Number(s): SES-0417736
• Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study tested the Blau and Blau theory about the relationship between economic inequality and homicide rates in 14 developed democracies.

Abstract

The findings support Blau and Blau as they suggest that homicide rates are higher in the most unequal societies, but the nonlinear relationship detected in the current study provides additional support for relative deprivation theory. The current study revealed significant associations between joblessness and homicides; the most economically developed nations with the largest per capita gross domestic products had higher murder rates. Except in the most extremely unequal nations, expansion in economic inequality produced a growth in the most destructive interpersonal crime. Findings show that a widespread relationship between economic inequality and homicide exists in heterogeneous societies other than the United States. Relative deprivation and unfavorable comparisons when the rich are not separated from the poor in severely stratified societies produce additional murder rates. Changes in economic growth lead to substantial fluctuations in the murder rates. Accounts stressing urbanism and the related associations between social disorganization and violent crime were also supported. Nations with the most substantial infant mortality rates had higher homicide rates. The presence of young males provides a strong explanation for serious street crime and, as a result, young males had a strong positive relationship with cross national murder rates. A culturally determined phenomenon such as murder cannot be expected to respond to transitory shifts in economic determinants. The study used a fixed-effects pooled time-series design to analyze the relationship between inequality and homicide rates in 14 developed nations that were able to provide accurate, relatively complete, and comparable information for the years 1975 to 1995. Those nations included: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Tables, figure, notes, references