Economic Determinants of Crime and Their Psychological Impacts on Offender Personality
New Evidence Sheds Light on an Old Debate
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58329/criss.v3i2.141Abstract
Abstract Views: 118
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.
Keywords:
Criminality , Economic determinants, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Offender personality, Psychological impacts
References
Becker, G. S. (1968). Crime and punishment: An economic approach. In The economic dimensions of crime (pp. 13-68): Springer.
Bennett, T., & Brookman, F. (2008). Violent street crime: Making sense of seemingly senseless acts. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, 22(1-2), 171-180.
Cantor, D., & Land, K. C. (1985). Unemployment and crime rates in the post-World War II United States: A theoretical and empirical analysis. American Sociological Review, 317-332.
Chitsabesan, P., Kroll, L., Bailey, S., Kenning, C., Sneider, S., MacDonald, W., & Theodosiou, L. (2006). Mental health needs of young offenders in custody and in the community. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 188(6), 534-540.
Cook, S., & Watson, D. (2014). A re-examination of the opportunity and motivation effects underlying criminal activity. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 14(4), 458-469.
Coomer, N. (2003). America’s underclass and crime: The influence of macroeconomic factors. Issues in Political Economy, 12(1).
Dembo, R., & Schmeidler, J. (2003). A classification of high-risk youths. Crime & Delinquency, 49(2), 201-230.
dos Santos, M. J., & Kassouf, A. L. (2013). A cointegration analysis of crime, economic activity, and police performance in São Paulo city. Journal of applied statistics, 40(10), 2087-2109.
Edmark, K. (2005). Unemployment and crime: Is there a connection? Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 107(2), 353-373.
Grogger, J. (1998). Market wages and youth crime. Journal of labor Economics, 16(4), 756-791.
Hamzah, S. N. Z., & Lau, E. (2013). The role of social factors in explaining crime.
Huesmann, L. R., Boxer, P., Dubow, E. F., & Smith, C. (2019). Anxiety, depression, and offending in the Columbia County longitudinal study: A prospective analysis from late adolescence to middle adulthood. Journal of criminal justice, 62, 35-41.
Jacobs, B. A., & Wright, R. (1999). Stick‐up, street culture, and offender motivation. Criminology, 37(1), 149-174.
Jawadi, F., Mallick, S. K., Cheffou, A. I., & Augustine, A. (2019). Does higher unemployment lead to greater criminality? Revisiting the debate over the business cycle. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.
Kelly, M. (2000). Inequality and crime. Review of economics and Statistics, 82(4), 530-539.
Khan, N., Ahmed, J., Nawaz, M., & Zaman, K. (2015). The socio-economic determinants of crime in Pakistan: New evidence on an old debate. Arab Economic and Business Journal, 10(2), 73-81.
Kroll, L., Rothwell, J., Bradley, D., Shah, P., Bailey, S., & Harrington, R. (2002). Mental health needs of boys in secure care for serious or persistent offending: a prospective, longitudinal study. The Lancet, 359(9322), 1975-1979.
Muller, A. E. (2020). A systematic review of quality of life assessments of offenders. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 0306624X19881929.
Putnins, A. L. (2005). Correlates and predictors of self-reported suicide attempts among incarcerated youths. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 49(2), 143-157.
Rosenfeld, R., & Fornango, R. (2007). The impact of economic conditions on robbery and property crime: The role of consumer sentiment. Criminology, 45(4), 735-769.
Sachsida, A., de Mendonça, M. J. C., Loureiro, P. R. A., & Gutierrez, M. B. S. (2010). Inequality and criminality revisited: further evidence from Brazil. Empirical Economics, 39(1), 93-109. doi:10.1007/s00181-009-0296-4
Smith, J. (2003). Home Office Research Study 254: The nature of personal robbery. Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.
Tang, C. F. (2010). THE EFFECTS OF MACROECONOMIC EVILS ON PROPERTY AND VIOLENT CRIMES IN MALAYSIA. International Journal of Business & Society, 11(2).
Teplin, L. A., Abram, K. M., McClelland, G. M., Dulcan, M. K., & Mericle, A. A. (2002). Psychiatric disorders in youth in juvenile detention. Archives of general psychiatry, 59(12), 1133-1143.
Ullah, A., & Muhammad, N. (2020). Prevalence of mental health problems among youth involved in street crimes. Rawal Medical Journal, 45(4), 938-942.
Ullah, A., Shakir, M., Ahmad, N., & Shakir, G. (2021). The nexus of family environment with youth street criminal behavior in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. Heliyon, 7(12).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 CARC Research in Social Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
