Criminal offenses and some related factors : a study of some socio-economic and cultural factors present in the backgrounds of criminal offenders living in the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia

Abstract

This study investigates the presence of low economic status, low educational achievement and broken homes in the backgrounds of criminal offenders. It is an individual thesis written solely by the investigator, who is a member of the 1965 class of the Maritime School of Social Work. The records of 100 offenders referred to the Adult Probation Service, Halifax, Nova Scotia, between January 1 and December 31, 1962 were the source of data; information pertinent to the study being taken off on a schedule and statistical tests of significance (chi-square) carried out. To carry out the statistical testing, the 100 offenders under study were categorized into two groups; the first group contained those offenders who had committed one offense only while the second group contained those offenders who had committed two or more offenses. It was found that the factors under study were present to a significantly higher degree in the background of those offenders who had committed two or more offenses than they were in the backgrounds of those offenders who had committed one offense only. A preponderance of the offenders in both groups were found to be in their teens or early twenties. The offenders in both groups also showed a large discrepancy between their average educational achievement in relation to their average age than did the general school population of the City of Halifax for the calendar year 1962. It was concluded that social workers need to be alert to the presence and implications of socio-economic and cultural factors, and some recommendations were offered in this regard.