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Welfare and Burglary

NCJ Number
162023
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 42 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1996) Pages: 223- 230
Author(s)
J DeFronzo
Date Published
1996
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The relationship between burglary and welfare was examined using information from 141 cities for which data on burglary, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), cost of living, unemployment, household status, and other social and economic variables were available for 1991.
Abstract
Results revealed that AFDC payment per recipient, adjusted for cost of living, had a direct negative impact on burglary and a separate indirect negative relationship to burglary through its association with household status. Findings provide support for strain and control theories and Sampson and Wilson's social disorganization perspective. Findings are consistent with a social policy of using welfare assistance to the poor as a means of limiting burglary. As predicted by control theory, the percentage of households that were female headed had a positive effect on the variation in burglary rates. The negative effect of adjusted AFDC payments supported strain theory. The impact of unemployment and the negative relationship between AFDC level and percentage of female-headed households were consistent with the approach of Sampson and Wilson. Table and 23 references

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