Citation

Vold GB. Am. J. Sociol. 1935; 40(6): 796-803.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1935, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/216984

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The general impression is that crime has increased with the depression. Several indexes of criminal activity are examined to see if fluctuations correspond to the rise and fall of business barometers. Admissions to state and federal prisons and reformatories show a gradual increase up through 1931 and a decrease since that time; offenses known to the police (Part I) show relatively little fluctuation but exhibit a slight peak in 1932-33; robbery and burglary trends in the period 1930-34 show striking uniformity in seasonal variation but no perceptible increase during the period. Indexes of crime in local areas give very largely the same picture. Statistics of crime in Massachusetts Baltimore, New York City, Minneapolis, St. Paul. and Los Angeles are examined. Only Minneapolis and St. Paul in the case of serious crimes known to the police is there an apparent increase throughout much of the period 1930-34. The others all resemble the national figures, reaching slight peaks or crests in 1931 or 1932 and decreasing since then. In general, there seems to have been no increase in crime at all commensurate with the extent or duration of the depression.