The aim of the present treatise is to illustrate the connection between the ever-changing economic situation and the anti-social activity of a group living under a uniform juridical system. In the sphere of anti-social activity which presents so many aspects—numerically summarized in the statistics of morality— the student is confronted with several conflicting theories in causality research. The extremes are repressented by the “indeterminist theory of free will” and the “determinist doctrines of environment and heredity”. Whichever theory is accepted is of decisive importance in considering the principles of the policy of criminal law to be applied and its administration at any given period.

The present investigation does not confine itself in the matter of deduction to one of the above theories. It also avoids the analysis of isolated cases. It endeavours to obtain some insight into the functional and causal relationships between the two classes of phenomena by comparing data provided by mass statistics relating to economic and anti-social life.

After introductory expositions on both the significance and nature of the position of the problems and the method underlying the investigation, the historical part of the study deals with the phenomena of crimes against property and the connection between them and economic conditions in Germany during the years 1882—1936. This period is divided into three sections. The years 1882—1913 cover the period of steady development. The war period (1914—18), owing to lack of statistical data, is only treated summarily. In the post-war section the law reforms begun in 1933 are not taken into account, because they did not yet cover the legislative repression of crimes against property.