Economic Determinants of Crime and Their Psychological Impacts on Offender Personality

New Evidence Sheds Light on an Old Debate

Abstract

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The issue of crime is universal and found across the country. The prevalence of criminality among people in rural-urban areas of Pakistan has been triggered by the paralyzed and dysfunctional economic system. This empirical ascertains the association between economic factors and participation in crimes. The present study also explored psychological issues such as depression, stress, and aggression experienced by people involved in unlawful activity. Data were gathered through structured interviews with 200 criminals housed in the sampled prisons of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan. Furthermore, to investigate the level of significance and association between an independent and dependent variable Bivariate analysis was carried out through a contingency table as well as Chi-Sequre statistics. Likewise, the association between multiple variables was examined through Multivariate analysis. It has been observed that on Bi and Multivariate level involvement in crimes was found significant with economic factors ( ≤ 0.000). A strong significant relationship was also found between involvement in criminal activities and an upsurge in mental health issues such as stress, depression, and aggression among inmates. Existing findings were also in line with previous studies dealing with criminality and economic factors. Certainly, the results of the present study have substantial additions to the existing literature on crimes in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Government and non-government organizations who are looking to develop effective strategies to reduce crime rates can benefit from this study.