Switzerland, 1892–1896.[147]
| Status. | Men. | Women. | ||
| To 100 of Population Over 12 Yrs. Old there were: | To 100 Prisoners there were: | To 100 of Population Over 12 Yrs. Old there were: | To 100 Prisoners there were: | |
| Unmarried | 49.3 | 64.0 | 45.7 | 48.5 |
| Married | 44.8 | 26.6 | 41.9 | 33.0 |
| Widowers and widows | 5.5 | 5.7 | 11.7 | 11.6 |
| Divorced | 0.4 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 6.9 |
These tables show that the unmarried men (but not the women) are in general more criminal than the married. However it is necessary to be careful as to this point. All these tables fail to connect civil status with age, a fact which reduces their importance almost to nothing, first because the tendency to crime differs much with age; and secondly, because the percentage of married persons is not the same for different ages. It is, therefore, necessary to compare the married and the unmarried at the same age. The German statistics are the only ones which furnish the necessary materials, and the conclusions to be drawn from these are the only ones which give us certain information as to the relation between crime and marriage. These statistics have served as the basis for the two studies of Dr. Prinzing’s already quoted from which we take the following tables.
First the relation between marriage and crime among men. But it must first be remarked that married men are acquitted oftener than bachelors, as a consequence of which the unmarried men are made, in the tables, to seem more criminal than they are—as the following table shows: [[452]]
Germany, 1886–1890.[148]
| Age. | Number Acquitted out of 100 Accused of Each Category of Age and Civil Status. | ||
| Unmarried. | Married. | Widowers and Divorced. | |
| 18–21 | 15.0 | 20.7 | |
| 21–25 | 15.8 | 18.4 | |
| 25–30 | 15.9 | 20.1 | 16.1 |
| 30–40 | 15.1 | 22.3 | 16.0 |
| 40–50 | 13.4 | 23.7 | 15.2 |
| 50–60 | 13.4 | 24.9 | 18.0 |
| Over 60 | 14.2 | 28.1 | 22.3 |
Germany, 1888.[149]
Crimes in General.
| Age. | Number of Convicts to 100,000 Persons of Each Category. | |||
| Unmarried. | Married. | Wid. and Div. | Total. | |
| 18–21 | 2,994.5 | 5,413.0 | 3,009.2 | |
| 21–25 | 3,107.0 | 3,566.3 | 3,163.8 | |
| 25–30 | 2,950.9 | 2,504.7 | 4,273.7 | 2,746.7 |
| 30–40 | 2,880.9 | 1,961.2 | 3,797.2 | 2,171.5 |
| 40–50 | 2,205.7 | 1,487.8 | 2,626.3 | 1,599.8 |
| 50–60 | 1,241.9 | 1,009.8 | 1,267.8 | 1,052.5 |
| Over 60 | 494.6 | 490.1 | 342.7 | 450.5 |
It appears then from this table, first, that in general the bachelors commit more crimes than the married men; second, that the contrary is true of the period between 18 and 25; third, that the criminality of married men is very great.