Structural Correlates and Economic Factors of Crime

Flashcards covering the economic, structural, and theoretical factors associated with crime rates as described in the lecture notes.

Absolute poverty

An economic factor identified as a stronger predictor of crime than other indicators, showing a particularly strong link to violent crime.

Concentrated disadvantage

A combination of multiple neighborhood problems—including poverty, unemployment, welfare use, single-parent homes, youth population, and race—used to identify areas with high levels of disadvantage and the highest crime risk.

Manufacturing decline

A structural factor linked to crime alongside other indicators such as inflation and public resource strain.

Ethnic heterogeneity

A community characteristic linked to crime that describes a diverse mix of different ethnic groups within a population.

Residential mobility

A factor associated with crime that refers to the frequency with which residents move in and out of a specific neighborhood.

Family disruption

An indicator of crime linked to social instability, often measured by high rates of divorce.

Strain Theory

A theoretical connection suggesting that individuals in poverty face more pressure to commit crimes.

Social Learning Theory

A theory proposing that criminal behavior is learned through social interactions.

Control Theory

A theory suggesting that crime increases when there is less supervision or monitoring (fewer people "watching").

Shaw & McKay

Researchers who collected life histories and qualitative data through interviews with delinquent boys to explain how crime develops.

Data maps

Tools that illustrate where crime occurs but are limited because they do not explain why individuals choose to commit crimes.

Structural correlates (Limitations)

Factors that are often hard to measure, may contain bias in data, and show where crime happens but fail to explain individual motivations or why some people in those areas do not commit crimes.