NCJ Number
137909
Journal
Criminal Justice Research Bulletin Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Dated: (1991) Pages: 1-10
Date Published
1991
Length
10 pages
Annotation
A variation on structural theory is presented in an effort to explain 20- and 30-year trends in urban crime rates and some striking aspects of those rates.
Abstract
The analysis focuses on a set of urban crime rates and disaggregated arrest rates that have been compiled from 1960 to 1980 for some of the largest U.S. cities. Predatory crime rates increased markedly between 1960 and 1980, and these high levels continued through the 1980's. In addition to overall increases in incarceration rates, the estimated nonwhite incarceration counts for this period have increased more rapidly than the white incarceration counts. The trends themselves suggest that efforts of the past decades to ignore family and jobs and to focus on pathology have failed. Recent and current approaches to employment, family life, child care, and crime also have proved disastrous for large segments of the black population in the United States. Given this massive failure and the extent to which this is an urban problem, crime reduction efforts most likely should focus on urban areas and on a variety of social and educational services directed at children, especially inner-city and central-city children. 4 figures, 2 tables, and 11 references