NCJ Number
91230
Date Published
1983
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This Danish longitudinal study examines the relationship between violent crime and offender's IQ, social origin, social mobility, and occupational aspirations.
Abstract
The study used a cohort composed of all boys born in 1953 (n=12,270) within the cities of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, and Gentofte along with the three adjacent counties of Copenhagen, Roskilde, and Frederiksborg. Data were obtained on 98.84 percent of the cohort in 1977. The following sets of data were analyzed, with the first four sets having been found to be negatively correlated with the incidence of registered offenses of police contacts for the cohort: (1) father's occupational status when the subject was born, (2) IQ test (Harnquist), (3) fifty-one occupations ranked by subject by personal preference for future jobs, (4) subject's own occupational status at age 22, (5) whether or not registered by the police for at least one punishable offense, and (6) whether or not registered for one or more violent offenses. With regard to IQ, significantly more violent crime was committed among those with IQ scores of 1-44 than among those with scores 45-80 and 81-120, and there is significantly less violence among those with high IQ than among those in the medium category. The increased frequency of violence for unskilled workers' sons having low or no aspirations can be said to represent one of the several effects of a low status origin. Low parental status plus no or low aspirations plus no upward mobility can be equated with the highest violent delinquency rate, and high parental status plus high aspirations plus stability or upward mobility can be equated with the lowest violent delinquency rate. Tabular data and 11 references are provided.