Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
Criminal Justice and Criminology
Date of Award
5-2017
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Chris Rush
Committee Members
Dustin Osborne, Jennifer Pealer
Abstract
During the 1990’s the world witnessed a crime drop throughout all categories of crime. Many researchers have sought to seek an explanation for this drop; however, there has been a lack of concrete findings to fully explain this phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to explore a further reasoning as to why this drop occurred, specifically throughout the United States. An unexplored factor to explain this phenomenon is the increase of household computer ownership during the 1990’s. During this decade, household computers and the internet became prevalent throughout the nation. This study utilized secondary data from the Uniform Crime Report and the United States Current Population survey, with support from routines activities theory, to answer the research question to find if there was a correlation between household computer use and the crime drop. The results for this study found that there was a positive correlation between household computer ownership, household internet ownership, and all realms of crime. With this, it is important to note that the social trend of household computer ownership is not the only reasoning for this phenomenon.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Bogar, Alison Kimberley, "Exploring the Social Trend of Household Computer Ownership in Affecting the United States 1990's Crime Drop" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3205. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3205
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.