Unemployment,Legitimation, and Property Crime

Within recent years several economists have suggested that sociological and psychological concepts are not necessary in explaining criminal behavior. They contend that deviant behavior can best be understood as a type of economic activity resulting from the rational analysis of the rewards and costs associated with legitimate and illegitimate means. The sociologist would contend that such a perspective ignores the fact that people internalize the social norms of a society, and that it is only when they perceive the social system as unjust that they challenge the legitimacy of its rules and begin to consider the rewards and costs associated with deviant means. Data are presented which support this position. The differing policy implications of the two perspectives are briefly discussed.