Using Anomie Institutional Theory to Explain Crime in the ECOWAS Region: Policy Implications

Abstract

This study used Anomie Institutional Theory to explain crime in the ECOWAS region to inform policy. The sample size used in this particular study considered the fifteen-member countries in the ECOWAS region. This study employed the correlational research design. The data source for all the variables came primarily from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Mortality Database, the World Development Indicators, The World Bank, UNDP, and the CIA World Factbook. The study finds that development has a significant negative relationship with homicide, this therefore indicates that homicide rates tend to be higher in nations that have younger populations, lower life expectancies, higher infant mortality rates, lower GDPs per capita, and fewer urban residents. The study found a positive significant product term for the interaction between economic participation and noneconomic participation [i.e. similar to analyses of Messner & Rosenfeld (1997); Hughes et al. (2015); Weld & Roche (2016)], indicating that the relationship between economic participation and homicide is actually exacerbated by strong noneconomic participation. This may be indicative of greater anomic pressures in societies where individuals face competing pressures to succeed in multiple institutional domains. The study recommends that Crime control in the ECOWAS region should be a collaborative effort among all stakeholders. Above all, the leadership in the region must ensure institutional balance across the ECOWAS member countries to minimize crime in the region. Keywords: Anomie, Institutions, Crime, economic, Non-economic, Time-Use, Strains, Homicide, Policy DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/12-6-10 Publication date: September 30 th 2022