The Correlates of Crime and Deviance: Additional Evidence

Introduction and thesis of the criminal Deviance

Criminal behavior is an act or behavior which is not accepted in the contemporary society since it can lead to loss of property and life. Most previous research has identified several patterns of defiant or criminal propensity among the individuals across societies. In this study, the main of the study is to investigate whether the six patterns of behavior (Marital status, peer crime, religiosity, socioeconomic status, gender or sex, and age) which have been noted in the previous studies can also be evident among the present adults populations in the three societies (Greece, Russia, and Ukraine). These are done by the use of a comparable survey of the self-supported criminal behaviors among the random samples of adults who are of all ages in the societies as mentioned above. In the situation where the usual correlates are identified, the confidence in the theoretical explanations about them will be improved. However, in the situation where they are not sustained, the reorientation of the theory development will be done.

The research questions

• Does the six presume correlates of the crime of deviance are also predicted in the Russia, Greece and Ukraine Samples among the adult population?
• Which of the six variables predicts the crime/deviance independently of others?

Hypothesis

Null Hypothesis

The six presume correlates of the crime of deviance are predicted in the Russia, Greece and Ukraine Samples, and they predict the crime independently.

Alternate Hypothesis

The six presume correlates of the crime of deviance are not predicted in the Russia, Greece and Ukraine Samples, and they predict the crime independently.

The literature about the Research Questions and Hypothesis

While taking a comparison between gender and crime/deviance, it has been found that Males misbehavior is the most agreed upon pattern in the study. Males are disproportionately arrested for almost all offenses, and the gender gap tends to vary with the seriousness of the offenses. The self-reports of the victimization survey and adults give a confirmation of the differences in gender, and the gaps are found to be smaller in the survey data and even not existing in some minor offenses. The assumption of the universal gender gap in misbehavior is considered to be premature since most of the evidence is only got from the studies conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom. While considering age, the typical pattern in behavior involves the misconducts which are observed through the adolescent years up to the early 20s or late teens. Thereafter, the misconduct tends to decline steadily. However, in some studies, the studies conducted in the United Kingdom and the United States shows that the general shape of the crime curves the same across varied conditions. However, there has not been an extensive study of the relationship between age and the ordinary crime.

The correlate of crime which is found to be controversial is the socioeconomic status. Traditionally, it had been assumed that there is a negative relationship between the socioeconomic status and the ordinary street crime. However, the controversy arises since the self-report survey studies were oblique because the official police data in the United States did not have the socioeconomic information about the offenders. Besides, there has been a difference in the interpretation of the self-survey reports. Some of them think that they had only saw slight differences in the offenders' socioeconomic statuses especially among those who commit traditional interpretations. On the other hand, others tend to confirm that they had a confirmation on the traditional arguments which revealed that there is a negative relationship between the socioeconomic status and the crime rate. At some point, the official data about the SES have been said to be incomplete, and their legitimacy has been questioned. Therefore, these controversies are not easy to be resolved.

In relation to the religiosity, most studies have revealed this concept as a moderate antidote for criminal behavior. In some circumstances, some studies have failed to find this effect, and at times some have depicted a conditional association based on the religion composition which is found in various communities. However, in conclusion, regardless of these differences in finding, most research shows a negative relationship between the religiosity and crime or deviance. It means that as the religiosity increases by one unit, the crime rate declines with equal or more than proportionate value. Besides, the previous studies have also confirmed a positive association between the peer crime and the personal misbehavior. While considering the marriage aspect, most scientists and studies view marriage as an event or condition which shields individuals from having antisocial behavior. However, the observations can be limited in a manner since the research itself has been limited in the male samples.

The Methods, the Type of Research and Population

The data used in the study was collected through a random samples household survey of residents of the Athens, Greece, Nizhni, Novgorod, Russia and Lviv, Ukraine populations. The face to face interview was conducted among the 400 randomly selected individuals who are over 18 years in Greece, and 500 both in Russia and Ukraine respectively. For the purposes of anonymity, the actual self-reports about the misbehavior were supplied by the respondents on a short questionnaire. These questionnaires were answered in the absence of the interviewer, and they were sealed in an envelope. Besides, various measures were used to the various patterns of misbehavior variables to aid in putting the study into context and answer the questions as well as giving justification to the research hypothesis. The quantitative analysis has been used which is coupled with the regression analysis.

The Results

From the result, the gender pattern is observed among the Russian and the Ukraine samples but not among the Greek respondents. However, from the study, there has been no significant relationship between fraud and gender which has been found in any country. It is a result which is inconsistent with some of the previous research which depicts that the gender gap was very small or non-existent for the trivial offenses. In Greece, there was no association between gender and crime in Greece. However, in Russia and Ukraine, the violence correlation is not significantly greater than the property offending. On the other hand, there is a negative association between age and misbehavior in all circumstances. It thus shows that the data and analysis are in consistence with the claim that the age/crime relationships are invariant. In the case of the socioeconomic variable, the present cross-cultural data proves the concept or proportion that the relationships are problematic. In Russia and Ukraine, the results were discernable; it is because of the higher the economic comfort of the respondents, the greater the crime propensity. While the religiosity is taken into consideration, there is a negative relationship between the religiosity and crime rate. However, the association was seemed to be weaker in Russian sample. Besides, there has been evident that there is a positive and strong relationship between peer and misconduct behavior and the criminal act among the respondents. However, it is only in Greece where marital status exercises the protective effects which are usually attributed to it hence a high level of significance in Greece among the four measures of crime.

Conclusion

From the study, I have gained a lot of knowledge and evidence about the factors which can lead to an incline or decline in crime. Given that the 4 out of 6 factors or variables have been confirmed that they have a greater influence on how they affect the crime or any other misconduct. It has shown that the gender has no significant relationship with the serious misconduct in the Greek sample. It is because Greek has a low level of crime environment. It is only in Greece in which the marital status and socioeconomic variables significantly give the prediction on the involvement on the crime rate. Therefore, it can be evident that crime can be enhanced by various factors depending on different circumstances and environments.

References

Kranidiotis M, Borchkovar E, Tittle R.C and Antonnaccio O (2010) The Correlates of Crime and Deviance: Additional Evidence