NCJ Number: 192426
Title: Rising Crime in Urban Argentina: The Effects of Changes in Labor Markets and Community Breakdown
Journal: International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume:25 Issue:1, 2 Dated:Spring/Fall 2001 Pages:71-92
Author(s): Marcelo Bergman
Date Published: 2001
Page Count: 22
Publisher: http://www.ijcacj.com/
Type: Report (Study/Research)
Format: Article
Language: English
Country: United States of America
Annotation: Based on the best available data, this study shows a moderate
increase in criminality in urban Argentina over the last 15
years, combined with a steep increase in violent and property
crime during a 2-year span in the mid-1990's.
Abstract: Argentina does not have a methodologically sound system of
crime-data collection. Any analysis of crime patterns must
account for the severe limitations in the quality and
characteristics of the data. This study used three data sources:
police department reports, victimization surveys and other
self-reports, and court data. The study examined the effect of
changes in the composition of relative size cohorts and the
significant transformation of the labor market structure. It is
difficult to attribute the sudden shift in the crime rate to the
slow changes in the population composition (relative size
cohorts, changes in family structure, etc.). The study found that
major changes in the employment structure had a strong
association with the increase in criminality. The two-fold
increase in unemployment among young males paralleled the
two-fold increase in reported crime. In a macro-level analysis,
the rise in crime was associated with the institutional demise of
the state, the unprotected economic transformation (lack of
"safety nets"), and the acute impact of high unemployment among
juveniles; however, evidence from the accumulated research
indicates that unemployment and socioeconomic status had indirect
effects on delinquency. The large incorporation of women into the
work force and the scarcity of jobs for youths and males have
changed the traditional organization of families and communities,
as well as the patterns of control and child-rearing practices.
Family disruption has been a good predictor of juvenile violence
and delinquency, and the data indicate that such disruption has
been increasing in Argentina due to the dramatic shifts in the
labor market. 3 tables, 8 figures, 13 notes, and 45 references
Main Term(s): Criminology
Index Term(s): Argentina; Crime in foreign countries; Economic influences; Employment-crime relationships; Juvenile delinquency factors; Social conditions; Socioeconomic development; Urban criminality
To cite this abstract, use the following link: http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=192426
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