NCJ Number
126357
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 32 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1990) Pages: 591-606
Date Published
1990
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Alternative theoretical perspectives -- urbanization theory, inequality theory, compositional and opportunity theory -- for explaining the relationships between urban location and crime have been formulated; but few attempts have been made to empirically assess them together.
Abstract
Most of this literature is specifically to the context of the United States. The present research formulates hypotheses derived from a review of these several theoretical perspectives. These hypotheses are tested with data from cities in Canada with a population of 25,000 and over, using multiple regression techniques. Violent and property crime rates are computed and demographic, social and economic data published by Statistics Canada are used as indicators of the predictor variables. The results provide strong support for opportunity theory. Implications of the findings for the several theoretical perspectives are discussed. 65 references, 5 notes, and 2 tables. (Author abstract)