Weatherburn Flashcards
what was the aim of weatherburn?
to study the relationship between economic stress, child neglect/abuse , juvenile crime in particular postcodes in new south wales of Australia
how was poverty measured?
by % of households in a postcode with an income of $1600
how was economic and social stress measured?
by % of single parent families and % of crowded families (e.g. more than one person per room)
what was recorded per household?
rate of reported child abuse and child neglect cases were recorded as well as number of court cases involving juvenile accused of property and violent offenses
what was the time period of this study?
5 years 1991-1995
what was the result of poverty?
areas in poverty tend to have higher levels of parenting deficits such as child neglect
were was there a positive correlation found?
level of child neglect/ abuse in a postcode area and level of juvenile participation in that area
what did they find with delinquents?
mixing with them increases the risk of you committing a crime
what was found in relation to evenings?
51% of young people let out in the evening in crime prone neighborhoods are involved in crime in comparison to 33% in non-crime neighborhoods
what are some conclusions that can be drawn form this study?
juvenile participation in crime is related to poverty , single parent families , crowded living spaces , neglect and abuse
what is known as epidemic model of delinquency ?
youngsters are more likely to be involved in crime if they are resident in offender prone areas
what does weatherburn say crime is down to?
level of economic stress
what makes a juvenile more likely to get involved in crime?
when they are from low socio- economic status families who reside in low socioeconomic status areas , compare to those who don’t (differential association theory)
what could be done to decrease crime in these neighborhoods?
increasing police patrols in theses neighborhoods and increasing penalties for offending
a 20% reduction in child neglect would lead to a 5 % reduction in young offenders turning up in court
governments should try to prevent the geographic concentration of poverty and introduce child and family support programmes
what are the positives of this study?
gains quantitative data -easy to analyse
reliable- methods could be repeated
