Unemployment, Crime, and Imprisonment: A Panel Approach

• NCJ Number: 110401
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1986) Pages: 751-773
• Author(s): R N Parker; A V Horwitz
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1984 annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Annotation

Using data over a 6-year period (1975-80) for the United States, a panel model with appropriate controls for intra-series trend and cross-series lagged effects examines whether a relationship exists between unemployment and crime and imprisonment.

Abstract

Data on major offenses were taken from the Uniform Crime Reports, and measures of total prisoners, admissions, and releases were obtained from the U.S. Department of Justice. Unemployment rates, expressed as a percentage of the civilian labor force, were obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although bivariate correlations are strongly suggestive of a relationship between unemployment and crime, results of the panel approach suggest that most of the apparent relationship is due to common trend effects. Little evidence is found for a relationship between crime/imprisonment and unemployment, regardless of the type of effect considered. Results from stability tests indicate that the crime-unemployment relationship has been unstable, and the unemployment-imprisonment relationship has been relatively invariant. 7 tables, 1 figure, 39 references. (Author abstract modified)