NCJ Number
68796
Date Published
1979
Length
243 pages
Annotation
THE STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WAR AND MURDER, RAPE, AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT IS EXAMINED IN THIS DISSERTATION.
Abstract
SERIOUS VIOLENT CRIME RATES WERE COMPUTED FROM POLICE ARREST AND OFFENSE RECORDS FOR 1900 TO 1976 IN BUFFALO, N.Y., A REPRESENTATIVE URBAN COMMUNITY. LONG TERM CRIME TRENDS FOR THIS PERIOD SHOW A POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN VIOLENT CRIME AND WAR. AN ARREST ANALYSIS OF MALES REVEALS A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN VIOLENT CRIME INVOLVEMENT DURING WORLD WAR II. THE ONLY WARTIME DECLINE OCCURRED AMONG 20 TO 29-YEAR-OLDS, THE AGE GROUP INVOLVEMENT WAS SKEWED TOWARD MUCH YOUNGER AGE GROUPS. DURING ALL WARS, THE MURDER RATE INCREASED FOR ALL SECTORS OF THE POPULATION. THE NUMBER OF RAPES ALSO INCREASED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF WORLD WAR II, POSSIBLY BECAUSE OF THE LARGER PROPORTION OF 20 TO 29-YEAR-OLDS INVOLVED IN THE CONFLICT. THE PATTERN FOR AGGRAVATED ASSAULT IS SIMILAR TO THAT FOR MURDER; HOWEVER, ESPECIALLY HIGH CORRELATIONS WERE SHOWN FOR FEMALES AND BLACKS DURING WORLD WAR II AND FOR BOTH BLACKS AND WHITES DURING THE VIETNAM WAR. THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN VIOLENT CRIME AND WAR ARE EXPLAINED, IN PART, THROUGH THE STATES' USE OF PROPAGANDA WHICH LEGITIMIZES AND GIVES DIRECTION TO SOCIETY'S AGGRESSIONS, AND THROUGH INCREASED POLICE AGGRESSIVENESS IN WARTIME. DURING WAR, THE ACT OF CRIME FIGHTING BECOMES A PATRIOTIC DUTY, AND BUFFALO'S POLICE ESTABLISHMENT GREW IN RESPONSE TO ALL U.S. WAR INVOLVEMENTS IN THE 20TH CENTURY AS DID VOLUNTEER CRIME-FIGHTING UNITS. VIOLENCE THEN BECOMES A LEGITIMATE MEANS OF SOLVING SOCIAL PROBLEMS. GRAPHS AND TABLES ARE INCLUDED IN THE TEXT AND APPENDICES, AND FOOTNOTES AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED.