Citation

Tuttle J. Int. J. Comp. Appl. Crim. Justice 2019; 43(1): 13-27.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Society of Criminology's Division of International Criminology, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis)

DOI

10.1080/01924036.2017.1397037

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The focus on the institutional control of violent crime has increased over the past few decades, stimulated largely by Messner and Rosenfeld's "institutional anomie theory." A related theory, referred to as "institutional legitimacy theory" in this study, has received considerably less attention. This theory, originating in the social control theoretical tradition, is tested in an analysis of homicide rates (circa 2012) across 108 nations. Overall, institutional legitimacy theory receives support as economic, political, familial, and religious institutional legitimacy assist in reducing homicide rates across societies. Most notably, homicide is positively associated with the size of the shadow economy (the measure of waning economic institutional legitimacy), consistent with the hypothesis that parties lacking institutional redress are more likely to use unilateral violence to resolve grievances.

Language: en

Keywords

cross-national; Homicide; institutions; shadow economy; social control