The relationship between debt and crime: A systematic and scoping review
| Author | Gercoline van Beek,Dike van de Mheen,Vivienne de Vogel |
| DOI | 10.1177/2066220320964896 |
| Published date | 01 April 2021 |
| Date | 01 April 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Original Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/2066220320964896
European Journal of Probation
2021, Vol. 13(1) 41 –71
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/2066220320964896
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The relationship between debt
and crime: A systematic and
scoping review
Gercoline van Beek
Vivienne de Vogel
University of Applied Sciences of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Dike van de Mheen
Tranzo, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Abstract
Compared to macroeconomic factors, the financial situation of the individual may provide
better insight into the relationship between debt and crime. However, the relationship
between debt and crime is still unclear and little is known about the causality of this
relationship and the factors that influence it. To obtain more insight into this relationship,
a systematic and scoping literature review was conducted. Five articles were analyzed in
the systematic review, and 24 articles in the scoping review. The results of the systematic
review show a strong association between debt and crime whereby debt is a risk factor for
crime, especially for recidivism and regardless of the type of crime, and crime is a risk factor
for debt. The scoping review provided additional and in-depth insight, and placed the results
of the systematic review in a broader perspective. Moreover, it emphasized the prevalence
of debt among offenders, regardless of age, and identified the factors that influence the
relationship between debt and crime.
Keywords
Crime, criminal behavior, debt, debts, financial problems
Introduction
The relationship between socioeconomic factors and crime is a classic theme in crimino-
logical literature (Dunaway et al., 2000; Ellis and McDonald, 2000; Tittle et al., 1978). In
exploring this theme, criminological research has mainly focused on the environmental
Corresponding author:
Gercoline van Beek, Research Centre for Social Innovation, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences,
Padualaan 101, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Email: gercoline.vanbeek@hu.nl
964896EJP0010.1177/2066220320964896European Journal of Probationvan Beek et al.
2020
Original Article
42 European Journal of Probation 13(1)
characteristics of individuals from a macroeconomic perspective. Studies were conducted
on factors such as the economic situation of families (e.g. poverty and parental income;
Comanor and Phillips, 2002; Galloway and Skardhamar, 2010; Hsieh and Pugh, 1993),
neighborhoods (Leventhal and Brooks-Gunn, 2001), and household economic resources
and unemployment (Bjerk, 2007; Phillips and Land, 2012). Of these different macroeco-
nomic factors, the mutual relationship between employment and crime has received the
most empirical attention (e.g. Skardhamar and Savolainen, 2014). Although these studies
have yielded valuable knowledge for the field of forensics, much less is known about the
economic situation of the individual on a micro level (i.e. debt of individuals). Insight into
debt at the individual level is important, as it enables professionals, such as probation
officers, to help clients with their finances to prevent recidivism. These professionals
often supervise clients with debt and this debt is considered a serious problem in supervi-
sion (Jungmann et al., 2014).
Several studies have demonstrated that debt at the individual level may be a better
indicator of worsening financial situations than employment status or low income at
societal level (see Aaltonen et al., 2013). These scholars have stated that macroeconomic
measures have two shortcomings. The first shortcoming is that many measures of unem-
ployment pertain to those who are officially registered as unemployed. Therefore, these
measures often fail to reach those completely outside the labor force, for instance, home-
less and addicted people, who may be the true high-risk group. The second shortcoming
of macroeconomic measures is that low income does not necessarily indicate poverty. It
is possible to have a low income but no financial debt (Aaltonen et al., 2016; Oksanen
et al., 2015). Furthermore, debt might mediate the relationship between unemployment
and crime. Debt may make people more vulnerable to life events, such as losing a job,
due to high stress levels and loss of concentration. Conversely, the risk of debt increases
when unemployed because of loss of income (e.g. McCloud and Dwyer, 2011). Therefore,
the financial situation of the individual may provide important insight into the relation-
ship between debt and crime.
Research on debt shows that it may have severe consequences for an individual and
may increase the likelihood of criminal behavior, for example, because it can lead to com-
mitting property offenses to gain income and to pay for the basic needs (Hoeve et al.,
2014). In addition, debt may cause high stress levels for an individual, as a result of which
they may commit crimes. Debt is also likely to worsen as a consequence of crime, for
example, as a result of monetary sanctions or due to the lack of income during incarcera-
tion. In addition, debt may hinder resocialization and desistance from crime, for example,
by making it more difficult to find housing after incarceration. This may be reinforced by
difficulties finding a job after incarceration to obtain more income (Harris et al., 2010).
Debt and crime thus reinforce each other in a negative way, and this relationship might
increase the risk of future crime and lead to a series of cumulative problems for the
individual.
Insight into the directionality of the relationship between debt and crime can be
derived from three theories on criminal behavior: (1) the strain theory, (2) the develop-
mental taxonomic theory, and (3) self-control theories. These theories look at criminal
behavior from a broader perspective. Some factors associated with debt are also included
in several theories of criminal behavior. All of these theories can thus help to explain the
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