For a parallel reason in 1847, a famine year, whilst all
crimes and offences against property increased in an extraordinary
fashion, only the crimes of theft and breach of confidence by
household servants showed a characteristic decrease, because such
persons were deterred by the fear of being dismissed by their
employers during the time of distress. The figures are as
follows:--
FRANCE (Assizes). 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847.
Crimes against property ... 3,767 3,396 3,581 4,235
Breach of confidence by
household servants ... ... 136 128 168 104
Thefts by the same ... ... 1,001 874 924 896
M. Chaussinand adds, by way of confirmation of my statement that
during economic crises, such as famine and high prices of grain,
the number of cases of escape from justice also decreases, FOR
``thieves and tramps prefer arrest, in order to escape from the
misery which afflicts them outside the prison walls.''
Two fundamental conclusions of criminal sociology may be drawn
from this law of criminal saturation.
The first is that it is incorrect to assert a mechanical
regularity of crime, which from Quetelet's time has been much
exaggerated.
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