NCJ Number
147371
Journal
Hospital and Community Psychiatry Volume: 44 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1993) Pages: 874-879
Date Published
1993
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Data from more than 4,000 persons in the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) survey were used to examine two hypotheses: that being laid off increases the likelihood of violence and that being employed in an industry in which employment is unexpectedly low decreases the likelihood of violence.
Abstract
The participants completed initial and followup interviews as part of the survey. Data for persons who were working and not violent at the time of the initial interview but who were unemployed at reinterview were examined, as were data for persons who remained employed in industries with low employment levels. The data were analyzed by means of logistic regression techniques. Results revealed that the risk of violent behavior among those who were laid off was nearly six times higher than that of their employed counterparts. Controlling for concurrent psychiatric disorder did not reveal a lower risk. The risk of violent behavior was reduced among those who remained employed in industries where layoffs were occurring. Findings indicated that economic contraction appears to affect violence in the community in two countervailing processes, one of which increases violence and one of which reduces it. However, the net effect may well be that violence decreases in communities experiencing economic contraction. Tables and 39 references (Author abstract modified)