Welfare and Burglary

Abstract

This study analyzed burglary rates for 141 cities for which data on burglary, AFDC, cost of living, unemployment, household status, and other social and economic variables were available. Cost-of-living-adjusted AFDC payment per recipient person was found to have a direct negative impact on burglary and a separate indirect negative relationship to burglary through its association with household status. The results provided support for strain and control theories and Sampson and Wilson's (1995) social disorganization-strain perspective.