Legal Research

Minorities Victimized More By Crime In Recession: Study

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Crime and Justice News, February 18, 2009.

"When the economy goes sour, certain minority groups suffer at the hands of criminals more than others, says a study quoted by U.S. News & World Report. Crime statistics from 1973 to 2005 show an increase in violent, non-lethal crime against blacks and Latinos during and after periods of recession, says research scheduled for presentation last Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in Chicago."

"U.S. 'minorities experience substantially higher rates of violent victimization than non-Latino whites,' said Karen Heimer, a University of Iowa sociology professor. 'Our study shows that the higher rates of poverty, urban residence, and differential age distributions of non-Latino blacks and Latinos help to explain these groups' higher victimization rates.' Criminal justice policy-makers and those who offer help and services to victims can better prepare against fluctuations in crime during the current recession, said Heimer, did the study with criminologist Janet Lauritsen of the University of Missouri-St. Louis."

U.S. News & World Report

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on February 18, 2009 (boomark / email).