Factors influencing criminal behavior in Newark: a local study in forensic psychiatry.

Numerous factors, environmental and others, have had an important influence on the scope and intensity of crime. To understand more fully the nature of crime in the state of New Jersey, the Office of the Attorney General recorded [1, pp. 11–28] a revised section entitled “Profiles of Incorporated Municipalities in New Jersey” in its Uniform Crime Reports of 1971. These profiles included the following factors: areas of population; density rates; population growth; urban, suburban, and rural characterizations; given land areas; and industrial populations. Even though these factors are out of police control, they can affect the crime rate, which can vary from town to town. It also is of interest that since the effects of these factors cannot be easily determined more aggressive research has not been conducted in attempts to decrease state and national crime rates. In New Jersey, during the calendar year 1971, a total of 224 709 crime index offenses were reported to state law enforcement agencies. This was a 14% increase in crime volume over 1970 and a 61% increase compared with the five-year period between 1967 and 1971. The crime index offenses referred to here represent the most common problems to law enforcement and the municipality. They include such violent crimes as atrocious assault, forcible rape, murder, and robbery, and such nonviolent crimes as auto theft, breaking and entering, and larceny of $50 and over in value.