A cross-cultural study of aggression and crime

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology • Vol/Iss. 3 • Published In • Pages: 259-271 •
By Allen, Martin G.

Abstract

The relationships of aggression and crime to variables of childhood experience, adult behavior, and social structure are cross-culturally analyzed.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
HRAF Collection of Ethnography (paper/fiche)Combinationand other ethnographic reports

Hypotheses (18)

HypothesisSupported
". . . childhood achievement is negatively correlated with crime" (266)Supported
"[Adult] achievement and jurisdiction (social control) are correlated with crime" (266)Not Supported
"Political integration, social stratification, size of community and class stratification are correlated with crime" (266)Supported
"Directness of aggression is not associated with other variables [of social structure] of size and complexity--such as degree of social stratification, class stratification, caste stratification, jurisdiction" (266)Supported
"Correlations for size of community and degree of political integration [with aggression] are negative but not significant" (266)Supported
"Only settlement pattern [of social structure variables] correlates significantly with aggression . . . indicating that permanent and stable patterns are associated with indirect, displaced, 'neurotic' patterns of aggression" (266)Supported
"There are no significant correlations between either crime or aggression and: the childhood variables of responsibility, self reliance, independence . . . and aggression satisfaction and anxiety in childhood . . ." (265)Supported
"Sexual satisfaction and childhood indulgence are related positively to crime" (265)Supported
"Average anxiety and childhood achievement correlate negatively to crime" (264-265)Supported
"Greater erogenous satisfaction [oral, anal, sexual] in childhood is associated with lower incidence of crime" (264)Supported
Responsibility, self reliance, achievement, or independence training in childhood will be related to directness of adult aggression (263)Supported
"Infant and childhood indulgence relate positively to directness of aggression" (263)Supported
"Dependence anxiety relates (negatively) with directness of adult aggression" (263)Supported
"Directness of aggression relates inversely with overall (average) anxiety in childhood" (263)Marginally supported
"Crime will correlate with productivity, deviance-conformity, mental illness, suicide, or drunkenness-drug addiction" (263)Not Supported
"Seclusiveness correlates with crime. . ." (263)Supported
The more direct and appropriate the expression of aggression, the lower the amount of crime (263)Supported
"Directness of aggression is associated with high productivity, high creativity, low deviance-conformity, low incidence of crime, suicide, and mental illness" (263)Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: mas  Jessie Cohen