The Economy, Violence, and Crime

A while back I pondered whether the economic crisis would be accompanied by a rise in crime. I speculated that perhaps we would see a spike in crimes of financial gain, such as robbery or retail fraud. It appears, though, that an increase in violent crime -- especially domestic homicides and murder-suicides -- may also be linked to the economic crisis. According to CNN.com:

An out-of-work money manager in California loses a fortune and wipes out his family in a murder-suicide.

A 90-year-old Ohio widow shoots herself in the chest as authorities arrive to evict her from the modest house she called home for 38 years.

In Massachusetts, a housewife who had hidden her family's mounting financial crisis from her husband sends a note to the mortgage company warning: "By the time you foreclose on my house, I'll be dead." Then Carlene Balderrama shot herself to death, leaving an insurance policy and a suicide note on a table.

Across the country, authorities are becoming concerned that the nation's financial woes could turn increasingly violent, and they are urging people to get help. In some places, mental-health hot lines are jammed, counseling services are in high demand and domestic-violence shelters are full...

Of course, we have to be careful about drawing inferences from these few examples. First, a handful of cases does not a crime wave make. Second, it is likely that an insufficient amount of time has passed to observe any real trends in violent crime rates that may be attributable to economic instability. Third, these violent incidents may be better explained by a diathesis-stress model rather than resulting from economic troubles alone. In other words, it is possible that the people who have resorted to suicide and/or homicide in recent weeks had an underlying mental or emotional instability that was exacerbated by the current economic situation, but that may have led to violence in the presence of other stressors as well.

Still, all of that said, I don't think it is unreasonable to conclude that in the face of seemingly insurmountable financial woes, some people will choose to end their lives or the lives of their loved ones. And that, as financial troubles mount for a growing percentage of the population, more and more people might opt for a violent "way out".

It seems to me that strain is as plausible an explanation as any in these situations, though I suppose other theories might be applied as well.

Thoughts?