Crime and Economic Development

Economic development in a society will affect the crime rate in different ways. Theorists today believe criminal behavior is caused more by social factors than by biological ones. Barbaric crimes, such as maiming, will drop when a society becomes industrialized, while, at the same time, other crimes such as property crimes will rise. Non-industrialized countries have a bigger problem with major human rights offenses than economically developed societies. Industrialized and non- industrialized societies have their own unique problems that lead to criminal activity.

Emile Durkheim, a social theorist, "demonstrated that much human behavior, including criminal behavior, is caused by social factors rather than biological or psychological factors" (Curran & Renzetti, 2001 p. 110). Durkheim coined the term anomie, which "during periods of rapid social change, traditional norms may be viewed as no longer applicable to behavior, leaving people free to pursue any ends by any means" (Curran & Renzetti, 2001 p. 490). Durkheim was the first theorist to explore this, but today theorists see this as the dominate way of explaining crime.