Level of Socio-Economic Development and Rates of Violent Crimes in the Provinces

Considering the theoretical and experimental background reached abroad to the effect that an opposite relationship often exists between development and violent crimes, this same question was raised here as to whether a similar pattern exists in Iran? Therefore this study assumed that higher the level of the socio-economic development in Iran’s provinces the lower their rates of violent crime. The theories of structural pressures and violence sub-culture were used to explain the research problem. This is a statistical-method research which uses the secondary and formal data. The analysis is conducted at a macro-level and units of analysis are country’s provinces (28 provinces). The study covers the period of 1997 to 2001. The Pearson correlation, the Spearman correlation, and multiple regression analysis were used for testing the hypotheses. Findings of research indicate that there is a positive and relatively weak relationship between the socio-economic development, in its dimensions, and violent crime rates among the provinces, but when each of the components of violent crimes index (homicide, assault, collective disputes) were brought in relation to socio- economic development and its dimensions, it was observed that only murder (that involved 2.2 percent of all violent crimes index) had an opposite relationship with socio- economic development and its dimensions.