Social Correlates of Criminal Involvement: Further Evidence on the Relationship Between Social Status and Criminal Behavior

Abstract

Recent studies have suggested that the relationship between social status and criminality is weak to nonexistent. They have also suggested that if status effects are present, they are observable only when crime is measured officially and not when it is measured through self-report techniques. In this paper we examine the adequacy of past measures of both status and criminality and reassess the relationship between these concepts when each is measured in a more extensive manner than has been customary in past research. The analysis suggests that the relationship between status and juvenile delinquency is indeed weak but that the relationship between status and adult criminality is strong and inverse. Moreover, the social status of the subject appears to be far more important in accounting for criminal behavior than is the status of the family of origin. Finally, when self-reported and official criminality are measured in parallel fashion, the results appear to be concordant rather than discordant.