1971 Academic Paper: CRIMINALITY AMONG JEWS – AN OVERVIEW

Summary: THE CONCLUSION OF MOST STUDIES IS THAT JEWS HAVE A LOW CRIME RATE. IT IS LOWER THAN THAT OF NON-JEWS TAKEN AS A WHOLE, LOWER THAN THAT OF OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS, AND LOWER THAN A RATE BASED SIMPLY ON THE JEWISH PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION (THE EXPECTED RATE). HOWEVER, THE JEWISH CRIME RATE TENDS TO BE HIGHER THAN THAT OF NONJEWS AND OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS FOR WHITE-COLLAR OFFENSES, THAT IS, COMMERCIAL OR COMMERCIALLY RELATED CRIMES, SUCH AS FRAUD, FRAUDULENT BANKRUPTCY, AND EMBEZZLEMENT. THE AUTHOR SUGGESTS THAT THERE IS A NEED FOR STUDIES WHICH WOULD COMPARE THE JEWS WITH SOCIALLY SIMILAR GROUPS ON VARIABLES SUCH AS – MIDDLE-CLASS POSITION, COMMUNITY INTEGRATION, URBANITY, SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL PROCESSES AND DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATION INTO AMERICAN SOCIETY, ETC. UNFORTUNATELY, SUCH STUDIES ARE IMPRACTICABLE IN THE UNITED STATES BECAUSE MUCH OF THE NECESSARY DATA