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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Institutional-Anomie, Political Corruption, And Homicide Rates, Jerry K. Daday, Lisa M. Broidy, Dale Willits
Institutional-Anomie, Political Corruption, And Homicide Rates, Jerry K. Daday, Lisa M. Broidy, Dale Willits
Sociology Faculty Presentations
Messner and Rosenfeld’s institutional-anomie theory (IAT) has advanced our understanding of cross-national variation in homicide rates. Empirical tests of IAT have primarily examined how non-economic institutions alleviate or mitigate the mal-effects of economic inequality and economic deprivation. As economic institutions gain strength and dominance, non-economic institutions tend to weaken and are forced to accommodate the market. This creates an elevated state of institutional anomie that is conducive to higher violent crime rates. Most cross-national quantitative tests of IAT have examined the comparative strength of economic and social support institutions (especially social welfare) and find support for the theory. However, prior …