Jobs And Street Crime Reduction (New York, Wilson: crime rate, employment, neighborhoods)

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Something for the sociologist here. It's about the connection between high rates of joblessness in certain areas and it's connection to higher crime rates in those areas:

I see a very strong association between some of these problems like gang behavior and violent crime and joblessness. For example, if you look at a recent longitudinal study conducted by my colleague at the University of Colorado -- we are doing a book together -- Delbert Elliot. He found, for example, that by the time white males and black males reached the late 20s, the violent crime ratio is 4 to 1 -- 4 black to 1 white. Much higher violent crime rate among black males. However, when he controlled for employment, there was no significant difference in the violent crime rate between white males and black males. No significant difference.

frontline: the two nations of black america: interview with william julius wilson

The situation is worst in the East New York section of Brooklyn, where the unemployment rate for the third quarter of this year was 19.2 percent, according to the study, by the Fiscal Policy Institute. That means that almost one-fifth of the adults living in East New York could not find jobs; it does not account for those unemployed residents who did not bother seeking employment.

Study Shows Jobless Rate Varies Widely Across City - New York Times

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After reading on here about certain neighborhoods like ENY,Brownsville etc that are known for higher crime rates It got me thinking about this info that I read a while back on the connection between street crime and high rates of joblessness. I've read other interviews by sociologist William Julius Wilson where he seemed to be saying that one reason reducing unemployment in an area can reduce crime is the affect that employment can have on how people utilize their time. Other than providing legal money for people a job helps shapes how people utilize their time. When you have large numbers of unemployed people in an area especially young people that means that a good amount of their time will be concentrated in hanging out in the streets and all that can come with that. Employment helps to reduce the amount of time that these people spend in the streets. In other words,it's better for a young person to be spending 8 or 12 hours at a job rather than spending those 8 or 12 hours out hanging in the streets. Over time this is how increased employment in areas like Brownsville can reduce crime in those areas. To those familiar with areas like ENY and Brownsville how do you see the unemployment situation in those areas? Has joblesseness always been high in those areas?