HC Deb 20 April 1998 vol 310 cc522-3W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the relationship between the levels of crime and the levels of unemployment over the last 17 years. [39035]

Mr. Michael

The following research studies which have been commissioned by the Home Office since 1981 bear directly on the relationship between crime and unemploymentField, S. (1990) Trends in Crime and their Interpretation. Home Office Research Study No. 119. Field, S. (1998) Trends in Crime revisited. London: Home Office. Graham, J. and Bowling, B. (1995) Young People and Crime. Home Office Research Study No. 145. Home Office. (1983) Unemployment, Crime and Sentencing: Some Time Series and Cross Sectional Studies for England and Wales. An unpublished Home Office report, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. Orme, J. (1994) A Study of the Relationship between Unemployment and Recorded Crime. Home Office Statistical Findings 1/94. Tarling, R. (1982) Unemployment and Crime. Home Office Research Bulletin 14.

A large amount of research bearing directly or indirectly on the link between crime and unemployment has been evaluated. The key studies examined include: Association of Chief Officers of Probation (1993) Social Circumstances of Younger Offenders under Supervision. A research report by Gill Stewart and John Stewart, Lancaster University. Belknap, J. (1989) "The Economics—Crime Link" Criminal Justice Abstracts 21, 1, pp. 140–157. Dickinson, D. (1994) Crime and Unemployment. Unpublished paper. Cambridge University. Farrington, D. P., Gallagher, B., Morley, L., St. Ledger, R. J., and West, D. J. (1986) "Unemployment, School Leaving, and Crime" British Journal of Criminology Vol. 26, 4, pp. 335–356. Hale, C. (1998a) "Crime and the Business Cycle in Post-War Britain Revisited" British Journal of Criminology, forthcoming. (First issued as The Structural and Cultural Determinants of Crime and Punishment, Working Paper No. 3, 1997.) Hale, C. (1998b) "The Labour Market and Post-War Crime Trends in England and Wales", forthcoming, in Carlen, P. and Morgan, R. (eds) Crime Unlimited: Questions for the 21st century. London: Macmillan. (First issued as The Structural and Cultural Determinants of Crime and Punishment Working Paper No. 4, 1997.) Pyle, D. J. and Deadman, D. F. (1994) "Crime and the Business Cycle in Post-War Britain". British Journal of Criminology, 34, 339–357. Reilly, B. and Witt, R. Crime Deterrence and Unemployment in England and Wales: an empirical analysis. University of Sussex Discussion Papers in Economics, paper 12/92. Walmsley, R., Howard, L., and White, S. (1992) The National Prison Survey 1991. Main findings. Home Office Research Study 128. London: HMSO.