TY - JOUR
T1 - The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime
T2 - a Systematic Review
AU - Hoeboer, C.M.
AU - Kitselaar, W.M.
AU - Henrich, J.F.
AU - Miedzobrodzka, E.J.
AU - Wohlstetter, B.
AU - Giebels, E.
AU - Meynen, G.
AU - Kruisbergen, E.W.
AU - Kempes, M.
AU - Olff, M.
AU - de Kogel, C.H.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study is funded by NWO (NWA.1418.20.011). The funder had no role in the design of this study, data collection, analyses, interpretation of the data, or decision to submit results.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - COVID-19 caused a great burden on the healthcare system and led to lockdown measures across the globe. These measures are likely to influence crime rates, but a comprehensive overview on the impact of COVID-19 on crime rates is lacking. The aim of the current study was to systematically review evidence on the impact of COVID-19 measures on crime rates across the globe. We conducted a systematic search in several databases to identify eligible studies up until 6–12-2021. A total of 46 studies were identified, reporting on 99 crime rates about robberies (n = 12), property crime (n = 15), drug crime (n = 5), fraud (n = 5), physical violence (n = 15), sexual violence (n = 11), homicides (n = 12), cybercrime (n = 3), domestic violence (n = 3), intimate partner violence (n = 14), and other crimes (n = 4). Overall, studies showed that most types of crime temporarily declined during COVID-19 measures. Homicides and cybercrime were an exception to this rule and did not show significant changes following COVID-19 restrictions. Studies on domestic violence often found increased crime rates, and this was particularly true for studies based on call data rather than crime records. Studies on intimate partner violence reported mixed results. We found an immediate impact of COVID-19 restrictions on almost all crime rates except for homicides, cybercrimes and intimate partner violence.
AB - COVID-19 caused a great burden on the healthcare system and led to lockdown measures across the globe. These measures are likely to influence crime rates, but a comprehensive overview on the impact of COVID-19 on crime rates is lacking. The aim of the current study was to systematically review evidence on the impact of COVID-19 measures on crime rates across the globe. We conducted a systematic search in several databases to identify eligible studies up until 6–12-2021. A total of 46 studies were identified, reporting on 99 crime rates about robberies (n = 12), property crime (n = 15), drug crime (n = 5), fraud (n = 5), physical violence (n = 15), sexual violence (n = 11), homicides (n = 12), cybercrime (n = 3), domestic violence (n = 3), intimate partner violence (n = 14), and other crimes (n = 4). Overall, studies showed that most types of crime temporarily declined during COVID-19 measures. Homicides and cybercrime were an exception to this rule and did not show significant changes following COVID-19 restrictions. Studies on domestic violence often found increased crime rates, and this was particularly true for studies based on call data rather than crime records. Studies on intimate partner violence reported mixed results. We found an immediate impact of COVID-19 restrictions on almost all crime rates except for homicides, cybercrimes and intimate partner violence.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Crime
KW - Fraud
KW - Homicides
KW - Robberies
KW - Violence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176808701&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001101023800001
U2 - 10.1007/s12103-023-09746-4
DO - 10.1007/s12103-023-09746-4
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85176808701
SN - 1066-2316
VL - 49
SP - 274
EP - 303
JO - American Journal of Criminal Justice
JF - American Journal of Criminal Justice
ER -
