Citation

Duncan OD. Am. J. Sociol. 1931; 36(5): 770-781.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1931, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/215535

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In an attempt to trace in a rough way the association between various influences and the occurrence of crimes carrying a penitentiary sentence in Texas, it has been found that Negroes and Mexicans have much higher crime ratio than the white population of the state. Territorial migration has been found to go with an increase in the crime rate of the migrants. Urban population as a class show a greater crime rate that rural populations. The age of greatest frequency of crime has been found to extend from fifteen to forty years, the ten years of life having the most crimes being from twenty to twenty-nine years. Occupations which are seasonal and mostly urban have higher crime rates than those which give steady employment, or which are rural. Relatively speaking, there are fewer crimes among those actually married than among those of any other marital condition. The crime rate seems to have an inverse relationship to the amount of education possessed by various groups. An elementary statistical analysis of these phenomena is the task of this paper.