The Influence of Crack Cocaine on Robbery, Burglary, and Homicide Rates: A Cross-City, Longitudinal Analysis

Eric Baumer, Janet L. Lauritsen, Richard Rosenfeld, Roosevelt Wright

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

After tracking one another closely for decades, the U.S. robbery rate increased and the burglary rate declined in the late 1980s. The authors investigate the impact of crack on this divergence using a two-stage hierarchical linear model that decomposes between-and within-city variation in crime rates for 142 cities. Given its prominence in discussions of crack and criminal violence, homicide offending is also examined. Net of other influences, cities with higher levels of crack use experienced larger increases in robbery and decreases in burglary. Cities with greater levels of crack had higher homicide rates but did not show more rapid increases in these rates than other cities. The results suggest that the emergence and proliferation of crack shifted the balance of urban offending opportunities and rewards from burglary to robbery.
Original languageAmerican English
JournalJournal of Research in Crime and Delinquency
Volume35
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 8 1998

Disciplines

  • Psychology
  • Criminology
  • Criminology and Criminal Justice

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