Economic Development and Crime: The Two May Be Associated as an Adaptation to Industrialism in Social Revolution

Crime and economic development are discussed as part of a third major human adaptation to a new form of civilized life called industrialism. Most humans have lived the lives of hunters and gatherers while a much smaller minority has lived as members of societies based on agriculture and animal domestication. A much smaller group is now embarked on an adaptation to urbanization, technology and industrialization. Within this paradigm the process of economic development is viewed in stages, as suggested by W. W. Rostow. This allows a more extensive consideration of the social, cultural, and historicalcontexts of crime. Clusters of circumstances distinctive of specific developmental stages, or criminogenic contexts, are suggested as means of characterizing such variables. Two such contexts are briefly described. The first is a product of the unplanned drift of rural populations to urban areas in search of a better life. The second is a product of the changeover of elite groups in societies seeking to make the transition to modernization and sustained economic growth. Policy options in the interest of minimizing crime in the developmental process are briefly considered.