NCJ Number
53936
Date Published
1978
Length
17 pages
Annotation
THE PARADOX OF APPARENTLY CONFLICTING EVIDENCE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIME AND UNEMPLOYMENT IS DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH AND IN LIGHT OF THAT NATION'S 1975 TO 1978 ECONOMIC RECESSION.
Abstract
BOTH POVERTY (INCLUDING UNEMPLOYMENT) AND AFFLUENCE HAVE BEEN FOUND TO INDEPENDENTLY CORRELATE WITH HIGH CRIME RATES UNDER CERTAIN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES. UNEMPLOYMENT HAS ALSO BEEN FOUND TO SIMULTANEOUSLY CAUSE INCREASES IN CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF CRIME AND DECREASES IN OTHERS. FOLLOWING THE RECESSION OF 1961, FATAL ROAD ACCIDENTS IN AUSTRALIA DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY, AND SINCE THE MAJORITY OF SUCH FATALITIES USUALLY INVOLVE THE CRIME OF DRUNK DRIVING, IT IS LIKELY THAT THE NUMBER OF THESE OFFENSES ALSO FELL. HOWEVER, IT IS CLEAR THAT THE MORE RECENT RECESSION HAS GIVEN RISE TO AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF CRIMES INVOLVING FRAUD ON THE SOCIAL SERVICES, PARTICULARLY IN RELATION TO UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS. ALTHOUGH SOME HISTORICAL EVIDENCE RELATING TO CRIME AND UNEMPLOYMENT SHOWS PERIODS OF HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT COINCIDING WITH HIGH CRIME RATES WHILE OTHER STUDIES FAIL TO SHOW A CORRELATION, THERE IS CONSISTENT EVIDENCE THAT AT ANY GIVEN POINT IN TIME THE GROUP OF PERSONS WHO ARE CRIMINAL OFFENDERS INCLUDES A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER PROPORTION OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS THAN IS TO BE FOUND IN THE GENERAL POPULATION. RELATIVE DEPRIVATION IS PROBABLY A MORE IMPORTANT CAUSE OF CRIME IN WESTERN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES THAN IS ABSOLUTE DEPRIVATION, ALTHOUGH IT COULD BE ARGUED THAT RELATIVE DEPRIVATION WILL NOT BE A MAJOR CAUSE OF CRIME WHERE THERE IS A JUSTIFYING IDEOLOGY WHICH EFFECTIVELY PERSUADES PEOPLE THAT THE EXISTING GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR IS ACCEPTABLE. THE 1975 TO 1978 AUSTRALIAN RECESSION HAS NOT BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY AN OVERT BREAKDOWN OF SUCH AN IDEOLOGY, AND WHILE THERE WERE INCREASES IN CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF CRIME, NO MASSIVE BREAKDOWN OF PUBLIC ORDER OCCURRED. REFERENCES ARE FOOTNOTED. (KBL)