NCJ Number
86466
Journal
Comparative Social Research Volume: 3 Dated: (1980) Pages: 185-198
Date Published
1980
Length
14 pages
Annotation
To examine the relationship between income inequality levels and crime rates, this study gathered data on income distribution, murder rates, and other societal variables -- gross domestic product per capita, population, population density, urbanization -- for a sample of 39 nations in the period of the 1950's and 1960's.
Abstract
Results of correlational and regression analysis reveal a positive relationship between the coefficient of income inequality and the murder rate. This association is moderately strong, and income inequality is the only independent variable with any appreciable explanatory power. Furthermore, when the natural logarithm of the murder rate serves as the dependent variable, the coefficient of income inequality explains about 35 percent of the variance in national murder rates for the sample. The data thus indicate that high murder rates tend to accompany high levels of inequality in the distribution of income. It is suggested that anomie serves as the key link between the two variables because of the significance of income distribution for social norms according to the value orientation of industrial societies. While the basic value commitments in industrial societies restrict the range of legitimate inequality, the objective levels of inequality exceed them in reality. This discrepancy between socially induced expectations concerning income distribution and actual patterns of distribution undermines general respect for social rules and regulations. This breakdown in the normative order is reflected in the high murder rates of industrial nations with high levels of income inequality. The appendix lists sample nations, notes, and 43 references.