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A spatial analysis of neighborhood crime in omaha, Nebraska using alternative measures of crime rates. By haifeng zhang and Michael p. peterson. internet journal of criminology 2007 Many researchers – (Ackerman (1998), Anselin (2000), Kershaw and Tseloni (2005), Nagle (1995), Osborn et al (1992). ) Substantial neighborhood crime research has documented that urban crime occurs most frequently in stressful and disadvantaged areas with disproportional concentration of poverty, unemployment and minority populations. The social disorganization theory argues that socio-economic stress (e. g. poverty, racial/ethnic issues, etc) undermines social control level and strikes the foundations of social cohesion, which results in occurrence of crime. The routine activity approach/theory claims that criminal activities are related to social environment and the behavior patterns of people who live in the neighborhood or community. Unfavorable environment settings (poverty, low education or literacy and unemployment) are frequently used to evaluate the effects of crime correlates.

Crime and poverty

Fleisher (1963-1966) – (Fleisher, B. , (1966), “The Effects of Income Delinquency”, American Economic Review “The principal theoretical reason for believing that low income increases the tendency to commit crime is that it raises the relative cost of engaging in legitimate activity and that the probable cost of getting caught is relatively low, since they (low-income individuals) view their legitimate lifetime earnings prospects dismally they may expect to lose relatively little earning potential by acquiring criminal records, furthermore, if legitimate earnings are low, the opportunity of lifetime actually spent in delinquent activity, or in jail is also low (Fleisher 1966, p. 20)” Marc Hooghe, Bram Vanhoutte, Vim Hardyns and Tuba Bircan. Unemployment, Inequality, Poverty and Crime. Spatial Distribution Patterns of Criminal Acts in Belgium 2001-2006. British Journal of Criminology Oxford University Press, Oxford 2011. A concentration of poverty, a lack of resources and various indicators for social disorganization have all been invoked to explain a concentration of crime. Pg1 Kelly (2000) – (Kelly, M. , (2000). “Inequality and Crime”. The Review of Economics and Statitics, “in the economics theory of crime, areas of high inequality place poor individuals who have low returns from market activity next to high-income individuals who have goods worth taking, thereby increasing the returns to time allocated to criminal activity” “strain theory argues that, when faced with the relative success of others around them, unsuccessful individuals feel frustration at their situation. The greater the inequality, the higher this strain and the greater the inducement for low0status individuals to commit crime”

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Machin and Meghir (2004) “Crime and Economic Incentives. ” National Bureau of Economic Research. When there are larger numbers of people with low wage rates, the crime rate usually goes up. Handbook of crime correlates. Lee Ellis, Kevin Beaver, John Wright. Academic Press, Oxford, UK Many of the most popular theories of criminal behavior have focused on poverty as a major causal factor (Mesnner and South 1986:977).

Deteriorated neighborhood conditions in an urban area were almost always associated with higher rates of official crime.

Crime and education

Crime appears to be strictly related to the level of education attained and to individual’s economic and social background. Freeman (1991,1996), Grogger (1995,1998) and more recently Lochner and Moretti (2001) attempt to clearly identify the relationships between crime and education.

Usher (1997) (Usher, D. , (1997). “Education as Deterrent to Crime”. Canadian Journal of Economics, “Education promotes good citizenship. Education does more than teach skills to enhance one’s capacity to earn income. It perpetuates the values of society, enculturates people to serve their communities and promotes virtues of hard work and honesty. ” Education may also have a “civilization effect,” tending to reduce the incidence of criminal activity. Ehrlich (1975, p. 333) (Elrich,I. , (1975). “On the Relation between Education and Crime”.

In Juster, F. T. (Ed. ), Education, Income and Human Behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 313-337. ) Positive relationship between the average number of school years completed by the adult population (over 25 years) and particularly property crimes committed across the U. S. in 1960 Wilson and Herrnstein (1985) (Wilson, J. Q. and R. Herrnstein (1985). Crime and Human Nature. New York: Simon and Schuster) Several studies have shown that criminals tend to be less educated and from poorer economic backgrounds than non-criminals. Lochner (1999) (Lochner, L. , (1999). Education, Work and Crime: Theory and Evidence”, Working Paper No 465, Center for Economic Research (RCER) – University of Rchester) “crime is primarily a problem among young educated men. Individuals with low skill level are more likely to participate in criminal activities because the returns they can earn from work or school are low. Both high school graduation and ability directly lower criminal propensities”  Lochner and Moretti- (Lochner, L. and E. Moretti (2001). “The effect of education on crime: evidence from prison inmates, arrests and self-reports”, NBER Working-Paper no. 605) “Schooling increases the returns to legitimate work, raising the opportunity costs of illegal behavior. ” P. 1 “Schooling significantly reduces criminal activity” p. 30 Education and Crime. Lancer Lochner. University of Western Ontario. December 13, 2007. Empirically there is a strong negative correlation between educational attainment and various measures of crime. Using OLS, Lochner and Morretti (2004) estimate that one-year increase in average education levels in a state reduces state-level arrest rates by 11 percent. pg9 Handbook of crime correlates.

Lee Ellis, Kevin Beaver, John Wright. Academic Press, Oxford, UK The vast majority of studies have concluded that as an individual’s years of education increase, his or her probability of criminal behavior decreases. Two studies of the relationship between years of education and antisocial behavior both concluded that a significant negative correlation existed. Pg 36 The crime reducing effect of education. Stephen machin, Olivier marie. Suncica vujic. Institute for the Study of Labor discussion paper no. 5000. June 2010. IZA Bonn Germany Pg 2-4

There are a number of theoretical reasons why education may have an effect on crime. From the existing socio-economic literature there are (at least) three main channels through which schooling might affect criminal participation: income effects (education increases the returns to legitimate work raising the opportunity costs of illegal behavior therefore, those who can earn more are less likely to engage in crime), time availability (time spent in education may also be important in terms of limiting the time available for participating in criminal activity.

The time spent at school during the year is negatively correlated to the probability of arrest that year. It was found that property crime increases significantly in areas where youths have days off school) and patience or risk aversion. For most crimes, one would expect that these factors induce a negative effect of schooling on crime.

Crime and unemployment

Arvantes and Delfina 2006 High unemployment rates also provide incentives to perform all kinds of criminal acts. John P. Allison (1972) (Allison, John P. Economic Factors and the rate of Crime. ” Land Economics  Allison finds that unemployment rate is one of the biggest factors that contribute toward crime rates. Both unemployment and poverty rates have significant and positive effects on crime rate. Handbook of crime correlates. Lee Ellis, Kevin Beaver, John Wright. Academic Press, Oxford, UK Pg 107 Regarding the frequency of unemployment, numerous studies have been conducted with respect to criminality.

The majority of these studies have indicated that frequently unemployed persons are more likely to have a criminal record In Ehrlich model, individuals divide their time between legal activates and risky illegal activities. If legal income opportunites become scare relative to potential gains in crime, the model predicts that crime will become more frequent. Increased unemployment could be one such factor. Identifying the effect of unemployment and crime. Steven Raphael and Rudolf winter-ebmer. Journal of law and economics. Vol. xliv. April 2001. The university of chicago Pg 260

Declines in crime rates may be due in part to the current absence of legal employment opportunities. To the extent that increase legitimate employment opportunities deter potential offender from committing crimes, a decline in the unemployment rate such as that observed during the 1990s may be said to cause the declines in crime rate.

Crime and literacy

Handbook of crime correlates. Lee Ellis, Kevin Beaver, John Wright. Academic Press, Oxford, UK Pg 150 The vast majority of studies have found that individuals who receive high grades tend to be less criminal than those with low grades.

The academic performance of delinquents and criminals tends to be especially poor in those subject areas requiring reading and other linguistic skills rather than in areas where the primary demands are on mathematical and scientific reasoning skills. There is a strong evidence that academic performance as measured by grade point average was inversely associated with both official and self-reported criminality in nearly all investigations. Slow reading development was positively correlated with involvement in crime and delinquency. Theories the Criminological theories past to present. Essential Readings. Third edition.

Francis T. Cullen and Robert Agnew. Roxbury Publishing Company LA California, Pg 5-8 Classical theory by Beccaria Central Thesis: Crime occur when the benefits outweigh the costs – when people pursue self-interest in the absence of effective punishments. Crime is a free-willed choice Positivist theory Crime is caused or determined by sociological factors Social Disorganization/Chicago School – Shaw an McKay, Sampson and Wilson, Raudenbush and Earls Disorganized communities cause crime because informal social controls break down and criminal cultures emerge. They lack the “collective efficacy” to fight crime and disorder.

Strain/General Strain by Cohen, Cloward and Ohlin, Agnew When individuals cannot obtain success goals (e. g. , money, status in school), they experience strain or pressure. Under certain conditions, they are likely to respond to this strain through crime. The strains leading to crime, however, may not only be linked to goal blockage (or deprivation of valued stimuli0 but also to the presentation of noxious stimuli and the taking away of valued stimuli. Critical Theory by Bonger, Quinney, Currie and Colvin Inequality in material well-being creates conditions that lead to street crime and corporate crime.

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