Date of Award

12-2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Legacy Department

Economics

Committee Chair/Advisor

Maloney, Michael T

Committee Member

Tollison , Robert D

Committee Member

Sauer , Raymond D

Abstract

Crime, has and continues to be, a major issue in the world of institutions of higher education. Colleges and universities are constantly working on ways to prevent and improve crime on their respective campuses, which in most occasions includes collecting and reporting crime data to law enforcement agencies and the general public. By setting up punishment schemes and sanctions to deter criminal activity at their institution, administrators and faculty are looking for better, more efficient ways to influence the behavior or their students and steer them away from a life of criminal activity.
By studying existing literature, crime definitions, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Report, this thesis attempts to uncover some of the influences of criminal activity and seeks to discuss possible ways to deter such activity. Taking an economic approach to crime, we seek to take an empirical and theoretical path in order to answer the behavioral questions of criminal activity.
Using the FBI's Uniform Crime Report for campuses across the county, as well as a sample of twenty-one colleges and universities in the state of South Carolina, we are able to investigate criminal activity and changes in criminal behavior. This research and analysis might be able to give institutions a better view of how to approach and deter criminal activity among their student body. By knowing how and why prospective offenders react to the changing costs and benefits of committing crime can greatly aid in the process of finding a better, more effective way to deter criminal activity.

Included in

Economics Commons

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