Inflation and Cross-National Homicide: Assessing Nonlinear and Moderation Effects Across 65 Countries, 1965–2015

2021 ◽  
pp. 105756772098162
Author(s):  
Mateus Rennó Santos ◽  
Alexander Testa ◽  
Douglas B. Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Homicide Rates ◽  
Positive Direct ◽  
Cross National

Criminologists have long speculated that economic conditions play a role in driving crime trends. Emerging research finds that inflation rates are associated with crime rates both within the United States and cross-nationally. Inflation is hypothesized to increase crime by incentivizing illegal markets and organized criminal activity and by reducing the legitimacy of social institutions. Existing research on the association between inflation and homicide rates has been limited to single-country studies or multicountry studies consisting of developed countries only. Moreover, there has been limited attention to the potential complexity of this relationship, including whether it is nonlinear, as crime rates may only increase after a certain threshold of inflation is reached, and whether the criminogenic impact of inflation may be moderated by socioeconomic development, as developing countries are anticipated to be more adversely impacted by the criminogenic influence of inflation. Drawing on a sample of 65 economically diverse countries from 1965 to 2015, we find a positive direct relationship between inflation and homicide rates, although we do not find evidence that this association is nonlinear. Finally, contrary to expectation, we find that the inflation–homicide relationship is most impactful in countries with higher levels of development. We discuss these findings in the context of cross-national predictors of crime.

The Crisis of Social Institutions and Police Homicides: The Adverse Effects of Low Institutional Control

2021 ◽  
pp. 108876792110184
Author(s):  
Kamali’ilani T. E. Wetherell ◽  
Terance D. Miethe
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Homicide Rates ◽  
Institutional Control ◽  
Different Levels

Using U.S. census data and a multi-source database on officer-involved killings, the current study extends previous research by exploring the influence of measures of weak social control in economic, educational, and familial institutions on state rates of police homicide. States with lower levels of institutional control are found to have higher overall rates of police homicides and police killings involving Black, Hispanic, and White decedents. The significant effects of institutional control on these police homicide rates are generally found to exhibit contextual invariance across different levels of various control variables (e.g., comparisons of states with low or high violent crime rates, low vs high economic inequality, low vs high levels of urbanization). These results and the limitations of this study are discussed in terms of implications for future research and public policy on police homicides and the role of social institutions in minimizing the occurrence of these incidents.

Insecurity or Perception of Insecurity? Urban Crime and Dissatisfaction with Life: Evidence from the Case of Bogotá

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Romero
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Urban Crime ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Murder Rate ◽  
Life Dissatisfaction

AbstractIn recent literature, life satisfaction and welfare have been extensively studied. However, limited attention has been given to the effect that crime may have over these variables. Using the case of Bogotá this paper shows that urban crime rates, specially murder rate, have a positive impact on individuals’ life dissatisfaction. This effect seems to be mediated by the general perception of insecurity and not by the households’ victimization. In particular the perception of insecurity has a great impact on the unhappiness of those households that changed their perceptions because of the criminal activity. The conclusion of this paper is that it is necessary not only to reduce the crime rates, but also to generate good security perceptions.

The legacy of military dictatorship: Explaining violent crime in democracies

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Frantz
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
Military Dictatorship ◽  
Homicide Rates ◽  
The Military ◽  
Cross National

Violent crime rates have increased dramatically in many parts of the world in recent decades, with homicides now outpacing deaths due to interstate or civil wars. Considerable variations exist across democracies in their violent crime rates, however: different autocratic experiences help explain why this is the case. Democracies emerging from military rule have higher homicide rates because they typically inherit militarized police forces. This creates a dilemma after democratization: allowing the military to remain in the police leads to law enforcement personnel trained in defense rather than policing, but extricating it marginalizes individuals trained in the use of violence. The results of cross-national statistical tests are shown to be consistent with this argument.

Child Homicide in Developed Countries

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Prabha Unnithan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Child Abuse ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Family Involvement ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Child Homicide ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Homicide Rates

Previous research has found that the United States has had atypically high rates of child homicide. This paper re-evaluates this and other findings using late 1980s data for 24 developed countries under current cause of death categories (and also includes the 5–14 years age group). The United States continues to have high homicide rates for the entire span of childhood. New Zealand also ranks high. Comparatively, in both countries male infants and females 1–4 years face greater risks of homicide, which is a major cause of death in certain age groups. Reporting artifacts are a possibility raised again by this study. Related issues are discussed empirically and using recent conceptual clarifications regarding family involvement and child abuse.

scholarly journals CRIME DOES NOT CAUSE PUNISHMENT: The impact of sentencing policy on levels of crime

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Tonry
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
Crime Trends ◽  
Discernible Effect ◽  
Mandatory Minimums ◽  
Sentencing Policy ◽  
The Impact

If countries can learn from one another, South Africa can learn from the experiences of other countries that have re-organised their sentencing systems in recent decades. South Africa’s correctional system has many similarities to America’s – seriously overcrowded prisons, sentences that are too long, stark disparities, and therefore injustices, in sentences received for comparable crimes. American solutions – mandatory minimums, prison terms measured in decades not years – have neither reduced crime rates nor made streets safer. Nor will they in South Africa. Comparisons of countries with very different sentencing policies and punishment practices – Canada versus the United States, Finland versus the rest of Scandinavia, England versus Scotland – show that sentencing and punishment have little discernible effect on crime trends and patterns. Crime trends and patterns in most developed countries move in broad parallel, irrespective of national punishment policies.

scholarly journals Ch.1 Preamble

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Correa Carlos Maria
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Trips Agreement ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Transfer Of Technology ◽  
Other World

This introductory chapter discusses the Preamble of the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. As in other World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements and the WTO Agreement itself, the TRIPS Agreement contains a detailed Preamble where the negotiating parties expressed the objectives that they sought in adopting this component of the WTO system. While the provisions of the Preamble reflect, to some extent, the different positions that the negotiating parties brought to the negotiating table, they substantially respond to the protectionist paradigm advocated by the United States and other developed countries with regard to intellectual property. Indeed, some of developing countries’ concerns about the implications of stronger intellectual property rights (IPRs) for their economies and, in particular, for transfer of technology, received limited attention. Ultimately, the Preamble to the TRIPS Agreement contains a few elements that may be important for the interpretation of specific provisions in the Agreement.

Suicide-Bereaved Individuals’ Attitudes Toward Therapists

Crisis ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin F. Ward-Ciesielski ◽  
Madeline D. Wielgus ◽  
Connor B. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Time Of Death ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Important Group ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Suicide Bereaved ◽  
Research Domain

Background: Suicide-bereaved individuals represent an important group impacted by suicide. Understanding their experiences following the suicide of a loved one is an important research domain, despite receiving limited attention. Although suicide-bereaved individuals may benefit from mental health treatment, their attitudes toward therapy and therapists are poorly understood. Aims: The present study aimed to understand the extent to which bereaved individuals’ attitudes toward therapy and therapists are impacted by whether their loved one was in therapy at the time of death. Method: Suicide-bereaved individuals (N = 243) from the United States were recruited to complete an online survey about their experience with and attitudes toward therapy and therapists following the suicide of a loved one. Results: Bereaved individuals whose loved one was in therapy at the time of death (N = 48, 19.8%) reported more negative and less positive attitudes toward the treating therapist than those whose loved one was not in therapy at the time of death (N = 81, 33.3%) or whose loved one was never in therapy/the deceased’s therapy status was unknown (N = 114, 46.9%). Conclusion: The deceased’s involvement with a therapist appears to be an important factor impacting the experience of bereaved individuals and should be considered when attempting to engage these individuals in postvention.

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