This study analyzed burglary rates for 141 cities for which data on burglary, AFDC, cost of living, unemployment, household status, and other social and economic variables were available. Cost-of-living-adjusted AFDC payment per recipient person was found to have a direct negative impact on burglary and a separate indirect negative relationship to burglary through its association with household status. The results provided support for strain and control theories and Sampson and Wilson's (1995) social disorganization-strain perspective.
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