RT Article
T1 Population Size, Change, and Crime in U.S. Cities
JF Journal of quantitative criminology
VO 22
IS 4
SP 341
OP 367
A1 Rotolo, Thomas
A2 Tittle, Charles R. 1939-
LA English
YR 2006
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1764279395
AB The sometimes noted contradiction between cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships concerning city population size and crime rates is reexamined using more complex analytic procedures, controlling for extraneous variables, and allowing for non-monotonic relationships. Instead of a simple cross-sectional relationship between population size and crime rates, the more sophisticated analysis reveals either no association or a quadratic relationship. Similarly, instead of a simple lack of longitudinal relationship or a negative one, the more complicated analysis shows a non-monotonic pattern for three of six offenses. However, we contend that these divergent patterns for cross-sectional relative to longitudinal data are not necessarily indicative of an “anomaly.” Instead, they represent different aspects of a dynamic process in need of more extensive theorizing. Finally, the cross-sectional results showing that city size and crime rates are either not linked or when linked are in a non-monotonic pattern call into question one of the accepted relationships in criminology that have long guided thinking about crime.
K1 Crime Rate
K1 Change
K1 Crime
K1 Size
K1 Population
K1 City
DO 10.1007/s10940-006-9015-x