Are unemployment rates indicative of property crime rates? Will states with the least amount of unemployment have less property crime? Jeremy Aiello Soc /21/2013 The property crime statistic is based on rate per 100,000 inhabitants. Simple crime/unemployment hypothesis: Due to strain theory and other Variables, those that are unemployed will cause more crime.

Literature Review Aaltonen’s study examined whether the relationship between unemployment and crime differed among different crimes. There were significant positive effects of unemployment and property crime. This increased as the unemployment becomes more chronic. Baron’s study examined unemployed youths and crime. He determined that external variables as a result of being unemployed lead to crime. For example, emotions such as anger, can lead to increases in crime rather than simply just being unemployed. Chamlin’s study used rational choice theory to see whether unemployment increased the likelihood of crime. The study concluded that long-term and permanent unemployment lead to higher levels of property crime. Young performed this study after several evaluations of other stuides. Most of the other studies showed inconsistent results between unemployment and property crime. He performed this study in twenty different nations with cross-sectional data. His study proved insignificant results as well which gives doubt to the simple unemployment-crime hypothesis. Cantor wanted to prove the simple hypothesis wrong as well. Overall, there was more of a negative relationship between crime unemployment. However, for property crimes, there was a significant positive component.

Works Cited AALTONEN, M., MACDONALD, J. M., MARTIKAINEN, P., & KIVIVUORI, J. (2013). EXAMINING THE GENERALITY OF THE UNEMPLOYMENT-CRIME ASSOCIATION. Criminology, 51(3), Baron, S. W. (2008). Street Youth, Unemployment, and Crime: Is It That Simple? Using General Strain Theory to Untangle the Relationship. Canadian Journal Of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 50(4), Cantor, D., & Land, K. C. (1985). UNEMPLOYMENT AND CRIME RATES IN THE POST-WORLD WAR II UNITED STATES: A THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS. American Sociological Review, 50(3), Chamlin, M. B., & Cochran, J. K. (2000). Unemployment, Economic Theory, and Property Crime: A Note on Measurement. Journal Of Quantitative Criminology, 16(4), 443. Young, T. J. (1993). Unemployment and Property Crime: Not a Simple Relationship. American Journal Of Economics & Sociology, 52(4),

Data Sources Used Bureau of Labor Statistics :  The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides annual data on labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy. The data set the Bureau provided outlines the Unemployment rates for States in This data will be compared to violent crime rates in 2012 to see whether unemployment can be linked to violent crimes. Uniform Crime Reports, Crime in the United States by State, 2012:  /tables/5tabledatadecpdf The Uniform Crime Reports is data set provided by the Federal Bureau of Statistics. It is a data set collected by the FBI twice each year. The data is voluntarily provided by virtually every police and Sherriff's department in the nation. The UCR has provided data on violent crimes in 2012 in the United states.

Data Analysis 1) “clean” up the data 2) Select a new box next to the current data 3) In the new box, type “=“ and click Alabama property crime rate and “/” (divide) it by Alabama Unemployment rate 4) Drag this new equation down through all 50 states(Higher the number, the “better” for graphing purposes) 5) Label this “New Equation” 6) Insert a Pivot Table with all data (select all) 7) Put “States” into Row 8) Put “New Equation” into Values 9) Select all and reduce decimal places all the way down. Exp ) Rearrange “New Equation” largest to smallest (it is now evident that Nebraska property crime compared to unemployed rate is the least) ◦ Nebraska is ranked 2 nd for unemployment (least amount)

This is what it should look like.

Making Graphs 1) Highlight all 2) Insert Bar Graph (This is the east way to see the difference between states) 3) Since there are 50 states, you must expand the graph to fit all of the data in the chart

1. Lets go back to the original data on the other sheet 2. Create a new pivot table 3. Put “Property crime” in Row labels 4. Rearrange this column from small-large (The top should be the state with the least property crime rate per 100,000 inhabitants) 5. Now, put “state” in the Row labels (Now can see which state that is[ND]) 6. Now, put “unemployment rank” in the values ◦ Doing this will allow us to see if the states with the lowest property crime rate are actually ranked the lowest in unemployment. ◦ The reason I chose this way, was because the unemployment rank will show a clearer view of the states with the least unemployment because the states are ranked 1-50 New Graphs

Analysis Continued 1) Select All 2) Insert Line graph 3) Expand Line Graph so all states can be seen If states with the least property crime rate positively correlated with unemployment, the line graph should go from small-large It clearly does not

Simple Hypothesis Findings It is evident that there is not a positive correlation between states with low property crime rates versus there unemployment rate. This seems to agree with Young’s results from his study. The results are inconclusive. However, the other authors may be right that there are many other factors involved. If states with the least property crime rate positively correlated with unemployment, the line graph should go from small-large It clearly does not

Conclusion At the conclusion of my lab, the data appears to be inconclusive to a positive correlation between unemployment rates and property crime rates per 100,000 inhabitants. However, as seen in the last line graph, the two states with the least property crime in 2012 (North Dakota and South Dakota) ranked in the top 3 for lowest unemployment. This proves that unemployment may be a factor to a certain degree. It is also evident that the state with the 3 rd lowest property crime rate (New York), was ranked 38 th highest state for unemployment rate. There are clearly other variables to consider. Baron mentioned emotions as one variable that may cause crime as a result from his study of unemployment and crime. Chamlin and Aaltonen both came to the conclusion that significant lengths of unemployment increases the chance of crime. The unemployed rate statistics were recorded overall from A different year may yield different results. Different areas of the country or dividing the state may also yield a different result.