The current financial crisis has an ongoing impact on public mental health and quality of life. The aim of the current study was to investigate the potential impact of the financial crisis on criminality in Greece, verifying differences in crime rates between the years 2008 and 2011. Data on crime in Greece for the years 2008 and 2011 were provided by the Crime Analysis Section of the Public Security Department of the Hellenic Police Headquarters. The overall and the specific crude crime rates were calculated per 100.000 residents and per police region of Greece. A significant increase in the overall crime rate between 2008 and 2011 was found (t=5.01, p=0.001). Moreover, between 2008 and 2011 there was a significant increase in the following specific criminality rates: homicide (t=2.41, p=0.03), fraud (t=7.35, p=0.001), extortion (t=3.22, p=0.009), illegal weapon possession (t=5.27, p=0.001), theft/burglary (t=4.62, p=0.001) and robbery (t=3.23, p=0.007). There were not statistically differences in the specific rates of sex-related crimes (rape, sexual exploitation) and drug-related crimes were not observed. According to the results of our study, criminality in Greece shows significant increase during the current financial crisis as reflected by many crime indicators.

Key words: Financial crisis, criminality, Greece. 

G. Tsouvelas, V. Kontaxakis, O. Giotakos, G. Konstantakopoulos, M-I. Kontaxaki, T. Papaslanis (page 54) - Full article