NCJ Number
141186
Date Published
1992
Length
350 pages
Annotation
The patterns of relationship between socioeconomic development and crime on Yugoslav territory prior to recent political developments were analyzed.
Abstract
On a very general level, socioeconomic development influences all forms of crime but influences certain types of crime more than others. The greatest and most consistent developmental influences relate to property crime and, in a somewhat less consistent manner, traffic offenses. On average, almost two-thirds of property crime can be explained by developmental factors. Developmental factors have less influence on crimes against life and limb and sexual offenses. This can be explained by the fact that these crimes relate much more closely to microsocial environmental and personality factors. To be effective, crime control and prevention strategies need to be placed in the specific context of development. Sociodevelopmental crime prevention and control strategies have a higher probability of success in those areas in which crimes against life and limb predominate or represent an important issue. Opportunity reduction crime prevention strategies emerge as preferable in areas in which property crime and traffic offenses are more marked. 87 footnotes, 17 graphs, and 112 tables