| چکیده انگلیسی مقاله |
Extended Abstract
Introduction: While property crimes have always existed, they have become more severe and complex in today's industrial society due to various factors. Modern technologies have not only diminished property crimes but have also played a role in their escalation. In Iran, crimes against property have also rapidly expanded following the country's industrial development and modernization, and have taken more severe form, especially in deprived areas. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between poverty and interregional inequality with crimes property in eleven cities of Khorramabad, Borujerd, Dorud, Kuhdasht, Aleshtar, Nurabad, Aligudarz, Azna, Poldokhtar, Rumeshkan, and Chegeni in Lorestan province.
Method: This quantitative study was conducted through secondary analysis based on the official data from Police and the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) covering 1997-2021. The dependent variable of the study is property crimes including fraud, breach of trust, theft, and issuing a blank check, which are measured by annual incidence rates. Moreover, 30 indicators in five economic, social, cultural, infrastructure, and health dimensions were applied to assess deprivation and poverty.
Findings: The results show that there is a positive and significant relationship between social deprivation and property crimes. In addition, absolute and relative poverty are key factors in the increase in crimes. The findings reveal that the cities of Rumeshkan and Chegeni, with severe deprivation, have the highest rates of simple thefts such as cattle theft, while Khorramabad and Dorud, with relative inequality, experienced more complex crimes such as issuing blank check. One-way ANOVA indicated a significant difference in crimes such as theft of houses and private places and theft of cars and motorcycles between deprivation groups, but no significant relationship was observed for fraud, cattle theft, and theft of government places. This suggests the influence of local or opportunity-based factors such as access to property or technology on these crimes. Finally, spatial analysis using GIS showed that crimes are more concentrated in central areas including Khorramabad and Dorud, while deprivation is more severe in western areas including Rumeshkan and Chegeni.
Conclusion: Based on the findings, reduged social controls and psychological stress resulting from perceived inequality contribute to an increase in property crimes. Allocating resources to deprived areas, strengthening infrastructure, creating job opportunities and education in high-inequality areas, and monitoring crime opportunities can reduce crimes. However, focusing on the county level, ignoring intra-neighborhood differences, and lack of qualitative data to analyze cultural factors were limitations of this research that need to be addressed in future studies. |