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The advantages of cross-national research have been recently rediscovered by criminologists for the investigation and elucidation of relationships between social SITUC- lure and crime. The richness of this method is found in its ability to capture structural level variance unattainable through within-nation analysis. The present study employs a fixed effect, pooled, cross-section, time-series analysis with a sample of 29 nations over a 25-year span to evaluate a structural model of juvenile delinquency. The findings indicate that selected correlates of juvenile delinquency such as level of industrialization, educational opportunity, national wealth, and guardianship do not always behave as commonly believed. Many of the correlates exhibit curvilinearity, threshold, or saturation effects around which the sign and strength of their relationship with delinquency change. These findings have important implications for delinquency policy and research, [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While recent decades have witnessed sharply divergent trajectories in the well-being of children and the elderly, little research explores the social-structural forces behind these trends. This study examines several key elements of Preston's theory relating relative age group size to the well-being of children and the elderly. First considered is the degree to which membership in a relatively large age group enhances well-being: second, the role of family structure in promoting well-being: third, differences between these processes for children and the elderly. An analysis of three indicators of group well-being-poverty. mortality, and suicide rates-for U.S. states provides mixed support for Preston's theory. Among the elderly, group size is inversely related to suicide and mortality, but unrelated to poverty. Contrary to Preston's view, larger group size diminishes the well-being of children. However, consistent with Preston's theory, family structure is substantially more important for the well-being of children than for the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the effect of development and rate of growth on crime rates. Durkheimian and opportunity models claim to explain this relationship. Durkheimian model is more revered and often employed to examine this relationship. It asserts that with growth in size and density, societies evolve more complex divisions of labor. This complexity transforms the dominant mode of social integration from mechanical solidarity with its collective conscience to organic solidarity. The major criticism of the Durkheimian model is its inability to predict or explain differences in crime rates by crime type. It states that industrialization makes more material goods available for theft and the theft rate, other factors remaining the same, should increase proportionately with development. Unlike the Durkheimian model, the opportunity model considers developmental level, not rate of change, necessary to explain crime rates. In conclusion, the foregoing models address the concepts of level and rate of change differently.

Easterlin's cohort-size hypothesis suggests that crime rates fluctuate according to the relative size of the birth cohort. We examine the hypothesis using arrest statistics from the Uniform Crime Reports for the years 1953 through 1989. This paper extends an earlier ASR article (Steffensmeier et al. 1987) and tests three hypotheses derived from the Easterlin framework: (1) whether cohort size is positively related to age-period-specific crime rates, net of age and period effects; (2) whether the effect of cohort size is stronger for property crimes than for violent crimes; and (3) whether the effect of cohort size is stronger for young adults than for older adults or is consistently additive across the life course. Results using two different procedures to assess the cohort-size effect generally contradict the hypotheses, leading us to question the usefulness of cohort size as an explanation of periodicity in crime rates and possibly in other social phenomena as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests the cohort size hypothesis that crime rates fluctuate according to the relative size of the age (birth) cohort. The hypothesis is tested using arrest statistics of the Uniform Crime Reports for the years 1953-84. Statistics on the Index Crime rate and on the individual index crimes are included in the analysis. The age-period-cohort analysis reveals large age and period effects but small cohort effects. The statistical tests demonstrate that cohort size is not a good predictor of cohort variability. No cohort size effect emerges on the Index Crime Rate or in the individual index crimes. Thus, the data do not support the hypothesis. We suggest possible explanations for these contrary findings and speculate that the cohort size thesis is flawed on theoretical grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about the community impact assessment on prison siting conducted by the Simon Fraser Institute for Studies in Criminal Justice Policy in British Columbia to determine the socio-economic impacts of provincial institutions on communities. An opinion survey was administered to residents in two Vancouver Island communities and a suburb of Vancouver. The areas included Victoria and Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre (VIRCC). Nanaimo and Nanaimo Correctional Centre (NCC), and Surrey and Surrey Pre-Trial Services Centre (SPSC). Both VIRCC and NCC hold inmates sentenced to a period of incarceration of less than two year while SPSC holds accused persons awaiting trial and/or sentencing.

Presents a critique of the methodological and research design problems of prison impact studies. Explores various threats to validity; Two complementary methodologies: a single-site time series and multisite time series; A review of the research literature on the effect of prisons on communities which reveals that most of this information is unsupported by good research design; Conclusion.

Reviews arguments for and against the siting of a correctional facility in a community which are usually based on the economic benefits for the community. Reasons opposition may result, such as fear of escapes, decline in property values, prisoners' families, quality-of-life concerns and feelings of inefficacy; Where to expect future sitings; Criteria for prison siting; Conclusion.

Argues that positive relations between prison facility and community promote the quality of life of correctional staff, of inmates being reintegrated and of noncorrectional community members. Develops a `status relation' framework for .understanding how prison siting practices affect relations between the prison and the community; Applies framework to the siting of California state prisons, in particular, the siting of Pelican Bay State Prison in rural Del Norte County. Details.

This article focuses on a power-control theory related to rape rates in the U.S. According to a study, sex ratios (the number of men per 100 women) affect the roles of both men and women. They suggest that although high sex ratios decrease men's dyadic power, when sex ratios are high men use their structural power to control women. The importance of historical events in shaping a cohort's "generational consciousness" has long been recognized. Major historical events, however, are only one of the factors that shape cohorts. Birth cohorts are also affected by the basic demographic characteristics that distinguish them from other birth cohorts. The sex ratio of a cohort can have profound effects on the cohort's divorce rate, age at marriage, female labor force participation and female educational attainment. Men have more economic and political power and status. This power enables their agents to influence and shape social customs and practices, which in turn are a powerful source of control over people's lives.

The compositional effects of relatively large young-adult cohorts on the total rate of serious crimes is well established. The more subtle effect of relative cohort size on age-specific crime rates, suggested by Richard Easterlin, is more controversial. The literature contains no adequate test of Easterlin's hypothesis as it relates to crime. To provide an adequate test of Easterlin's theory, this study includes age-specific rates and measures of relative cohort size and controls for age and period in an age-period-relative-cohort-size model. Using arrest data from the Uniform Crime Reports (Part I crimes) for the years 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1985, the analysis provides support for Easterlin's theory for property crimes, that is, for robbery, burglary, and larceny (but not for motor vehicle theft). Though these relationships were small in comparison to those between age or period and age-specific crime rates, they were generally statistically significant and were replicated with data from 1962, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982 and 1987. The relationships between relative cohort size and assaultive crimes provided little consistent support for Easterlin's theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Homicide in Canada is regionally distributed, rising from east to west. This study demonstrates a reduction in the regional effect through a convergence in homicide rates between eastern, central, and western Canada in Census Metropolitan Areas with higher levels of inequality and social disorganization. The implications of the findings for research on homicide rates are discussed. Previous research has shown that violent crime is regionally distributed in Canada, rising from east to west. This east-west phenomenon generally persists over time for personal and property crimes. Informed by the debate on the importance of structural factors in explaining Canadian homicide rates the article deals with regional effects on homicide using an alternative social economy explanation. This explains the etiology of violence in terms of the variation in inequality and social disorganization measured by such factors as aggregate unemployment, urbanization, and poverty.