The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly reshaped people’s daily lives and changed multiple aspects of society. Recent research has shown that individual behaviors including crime and deviance have also been affected. Whereas prior studies revealed that certain criminal and violent behaviors have increased since the pandemic, little is known about the specific causes including pandemic related factors leading to these changes. Our study uses the US component of the international survey about the COVID-19 pandemic and crime to better understand how the pandemic related stressors and various emotions affected the likelihood of crime and violence. Using negative binomial regression, we found that certain stressors were more important than others in increasing the likelihood of criminality. In addition, different positive and negative emotions were associated with crime, with some emotions serving as important links between stress and criminal behavior. We also discuss policy recommendations based on our findings.

Presenters: Hannah Tessler, Jullianne Regalado, Hannan Latif, Anastasiia Timmer, Laura Iesue, Ali Jawaid