The relationship between unemployment and crime : A cross‐sectional analysis employing the British Crime Survey 1992

Author: Elliott Caroline   Ellingworth Dan  

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd

ISSN: 0143-7720

Source: International Journal of Manpower, Vol.17, Iss.67, 1996-11, pp. : 81-88

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Abstract

Various authors have tested for the presence of a relationship between unemployment and crime, employing time-series or cross-sectional data. However, little use has been made of the British Crime Survey. Consequently, in the present paper, we test for the presence of a relationship between male unemployment and crime, using regional and area-level crime data from the 1992 British Crime Survey, with socio-economic and demographic data being taken from the 1991 census. Use of these data sets allows us to look at four differing measures of crime: we can study possible relationships between male unemployment and the incidence, and prevalence, of both property and personal crimes. Area-level data are also employed to test more ecological explanations of spatial crime patterns.