NCJ Number
191579
Journal
Social Forces Volume: 80 Issue: 1 Dated: September 2001 Pages: 283-309
Date Published
September 2001
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This article evaluates the relationship between crime rates and levels of social capital across populations.
Abstract
Recent theoretical attention has been paid to “social capital” and its impact on a range of public problems, including crime. However, few studies have evaluated the relationship between crime rates and levels of social capital across populations. That research gap is due to the absence of macro-level empirical indicators of social capital. The concept of social capital includes social action as well as social resources and perceptions. Social capital is measured as a latent construct with aggregated voting and organizational membership data, and survey data on social trust. Its relationship with homicide rates was examined for a nationally representative sample of geographic areas. Results showed that social capital had a significant direct effect on homicide rates. This was a result of controlling for the reciprocal influence of homicide on social capital. Although social capital mediated little of the effect on homicide of levels of economic deprivation, it explained more than two-thirds of the effect of Southern regional location. It was indicated that depleted social capital contributed to high levels of homicide. These results provide a basis for future research on the mechanisms linking social capital to crime at the macro level. 18 notes, 2 appendices, 69 references