NCJ Number
63996
Journal
Monatsschrift fuer Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform Volume: 61 Issue: 3 Dated: (MAY 1978) Pages: 159-179
Date Published
1978
Length
21 pages
Annotation
EIGHTEEN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ON SELF-REPORTED CRIME ARE CRITICALLY EVALUATED, AND THE CORRELATION BETWEEN CRIME AND SOCIAL CLASS IS ANALYZED.
Abstract
TWO ASSUMPTIONS FORMED THE BASIS OF THIS STUDY: (1) MIDDLE CLASS AND LOWER CLASS HAVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF DELINQUENCY, AND (2) CRIMINALITY IS UBIQUITOUS. WHILE MOST STUDIES ON THE CORRELATION BETWEEN CRIME AND SOCIAL CLASS TAKE OVER RESULTS FROM PREVIOUS RESEARCH WITHOUT CONSIDERING THE VALIDITY OF THE RESEARCH METHODS, THE PRESENT ANALYSIS FOCUSES ON THE METHODS USED AND THE VALIDITY OF THE RESULTS. OF THE WORKS DEALING WITH SELF-REPORTED CRIME BETWEEN 1955 AND 1971 THAT WERE ANALYZED, THREE WERE WEST GERMAN, ONE WAS DANISH, TWO WERE BRITISH, FOUR WERE SCANDINAVIAN, AND EIGHT WERE FROM THE UNITED STATES. WITH REGARD TO METHOD AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDIES, GREAT VARIATIONS WERE FOUND IN THE WAY CLASS ALLEGIANCE, CRIME RATE, AND THE PERIOD UNDER STUDY WERE DETERMINED. SEVERAL STUDIES MADE NO ATTEMPT TO VERIFY THE VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THEIR RESULTS. SEVEN STUDIES CONCLUDED THAT CRIME IS DISTRIBUTED EQUALLY THROUGHOUT THE SOCIAL SPECTRUM; ONLY THREE STUDIES FOUND HIGHER CRIME RATES IN THE LOWER CLASS; ONE STUDY CLAIMED THAT WHILE THE MIDDLE CLASS AND THE LOWER CLASS ARE EQUALLY PRONE TO CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, THE UPPER CLASS POSSESSES A LOWER CRIME RATE; SOME STUDIES WERE INCONCLUSIVE ON THAT POINT. ONLY THREE STUDIES GAVE METHODOLOGICALLY SATISFYING ANSWERS: ONE FOUND AN UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF CRIME BETWEEN LOWER CLASS AND MIDDLE CLASS; THE SECOND ONE FOUND THAT THERE WAS NO CLASS DIFFERENCE IN CRIME; AND ONE REPORTED THAT CRIME IS UBIQUITOUS. THE ARTICLE CONTAINS A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND AN EXTENSIVE, SYSTEMATIC COMPARISON OF THE ANALYZED WORKS IN CHART FORM. --IN GERMAN. (SAJ)