INEQUALITY, CRIME, AND PUBLIC POLICY

• NCJ Number: 63769
• Author(s): J BRAITHWAITE
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 345 pages
• Corporate Author: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd
• Sale Source: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

WRITTEN BY AN AUSTRALIAN CRIMINOLOGIST, THIS RESEARCH REVIEW DEBATES WHETHER POLICIES TO CREATE GREATER SOCIAL CLASS MIX OR POLICIES TO REDISTRIBUTE WEALTH ARE MORE APT TO REDUCE CRIMES.

Abstract

RESEARCH FROM VARIOUS CAPITALIST SOCIETIES WAS REVIEWED WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS UPON EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES, GREAT BRITAIN, AND AUSTRALIA. A BASIC ASSUMPTION WAS THAT CRIME PROBLEMS OF DIFFERING CAPITALIST SOCIETIES WOULD HAVE A SIMILAR CLASS BASIS. AMONG THE FINDINGS OF PART I, WHICH DEFINED THE RESEARCH PROBLEMS AND REVIEWED THE EMPIRICAL DATA ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLASS AND CRIME, WAS THE DISCOVERY THAT PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH A LEGAL DEFINITION OF CRIME AT A THEORETICAL LEVEL ARE COMPOUNDED BY UNRELIABLE OFFICIAL AND SELF-REPORT DATA AT THE OPERATIONAL LEVEL. FURTHERMORE, 300 STUDIES ON THE CLASS DISTRIBUTION OF CRIME SHOW THAT LOWER-CLASS ADULTS AND JUVENILES COMMIT CRIME AT A HIGHER RATE THAN MIDDLE-CLASS ADULTS AND JUVENILES. FINALLY, THE REVIEW INDICATED THAT THERE IS A REASONABLE BASIS IN PARTIALLY TESTED THEORY FOR PREDICTING THAT A REDUCTION OF INEQUALITY OF WEALTH AND POWER WOULD LESSEN THE INCIDENCE OF THOSE TYPES OF CRIMES TYPICALLY HANDLED BY THE POLICE. PART II DISCUSSES WHETHER GREATER RESIDENTIAL CLASS MIXING MIGHT REDUCE CRIME AND CONCLUDES THAT CLASS-MIX POLICIES ARE PARTICULARLY UNLIKELY TO REDUCE CRIME WHEN THEY INVOLVE FORCE OR UPROOTING PEOPLE. EVIDENCE ON THE TOPIC OF THE WIDESPREAD NATURE OF WHITE-COLLAR CRIME LEADS TO THE REJECTION OF THE HYPOTHESIS THAT LOWER-CLASS ADULTS ENGAGE IN MORE LAW-VIOLATING BEHAVIOR THAN MIDDLE-CLASS ADULTS. ALTERNATIVE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS ARE SUGGESTED FOR DETERMING WHETHER INEQUALITY CONTRIBUTES TO CRIME, AND FUTURE RESEARCH IS RECOMMENDED ON SUCH PROBLEMS AS THE EFFECTS OF CLASS BIAS ON SELF-REPORTS OF DELINQUENCY AND THE EFFECTS ON CRIME OF POVERTY REDUCTION. A POSTSCRIPT, APPENDIX ON CLASS-MIX POLICIES, EXTENSIVE CHAPTER NOTES, A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND NAME AND SUBJECT INDEX ARE INCLUDED. (AOP)