CRIME AND POVERTY IN A NINETEENTH-CENTURY CITY - THE 'DANGEROUS CLASS' OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, 1860-1885

• NCJ Number: 29805
• Author(s): E H MONKKONEN
• Date Published: 1973
• Length: 347 pages
• Grant Number(s): 72-NI-99-1067
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA THESIS

Annotation

A LENGTHY DOCTORAL DISSERTATION ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF URBANIZATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION TO THE FORMATION AND PERPETUATION OF THE 'DANGEROUS' CLASS OF CRIMINALS AND PAUPERS.

Abstract

THE AUTHOR EXAMINES COLUMBUS, OHIO, OVER ITS PERIOD OF INDUSTRIALIZATION IN ORDER TO TEST THE COMMON ASSUMPTION THAT INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY BREEDS CRIME AND POVERTY. EXTENSIVE, AND COMPLETE, COURT, CENSUS, AND POORHOUSE RECORDS ARE EMPLOYED TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS ON CRIME AND POVERTY, AS WELL AS THEIR INTERRELATIONSHIP FOR THIS PERIOD. THE AUTHOR'S FIRST HYPOTHESIS - THAT URBANIZATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION CREATED A CLASS OF CRIMINALS AND PAUPERS AS SPECIFIC OCCUPATIONAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS FAILED TO ADAPT - IS NOT CONFIRMED. HIS SECOND HYPOTHESIS - THAT EMPLOYMENT SHIFTS DUE TO INDUSTRIALIZATION LED TO CRIME IS LIKEWISE UNCONFIRMED. MONKKONEN CONCLUDES THAT CONTEMPORARY OBSERVATIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF URBAN LIFE ON CRIME AND POVERTY SHOULD BE REEVALUATED IN LIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY EXPERIENCE.