NCJ Number
167420
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 36 Issue: 4 Dated: (Autumn 1996) Pages: 529-545
Date Published
1996
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study of 7,719 young males who had resided for a long period of time in the same part of Stockholm, Sweden, found that spatial location had practically no influence on their criminality.
Abstract
The study involved males who were born in 1953 and who were registered as living in metropolitan Stockholm on November 1, 1963. Criminality was measured by the number of crimes of different types committed anywhere in the country that the police had solved by identifying the individual as a suspected perpetrator. Crime types included violent crime, theft, fraud, vandalism, traffic violations, drug violations, and other crimes. Of the 7,719 males in the study, about 5 percent were registered for one or more of the preceding crime types in 1968, but the proportion of registered individuals per year then increased and reached a peak of 6.7 percent in 1970; after 1974, this proportion decreased to about 4 percent in 1978. The most common crime type throughout the period was theft. Study findings revealed no cross-sectional or consistent longitudinal relationships of notable strength, indicating that area of residence had virtually no influence on the criminality of young males. The inadequacy of theoretical perspectives used in the study to predict a general relationship between area of residence and individual criminality is discussed. 32 references and 3 tables