NCJ Number
94418
Journal
American Sociological Review Volume: 49 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1984) Pages: 398-411
Date Published
1984
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Current etiological theories of criminal behavior are unidirectional in structure, positing that crime is caused by a variety of social factors; these theories tend to ignore the reciprocal causal influence of crime on those factors.
Abstract
The present paper assesses the theoretical and empirical consequences associated with unidirectional explanations of criminal involvement. Using a linear panel model approach, it also examines the advantages of reciprocal causal structures by estimating a nonrecursive model of the relationship between crime and one other variable, unemployment. Results indicate that a reciprocal model is far more accurate than a traditional, unidirectional one; unemployment and crime appear to mutually influence one another over the individual's life span. Implications of these findings for etiological theories of criminal behavior are discussed. (Author abstract)