In the postwar period, Taiwan has made a great progress in the economic development. While people are living better, crime rate also rises rapidly. Utilizing Durkheim's theory of anomie as the theoretical framework, census data and trend analysis, this study investigates the relationships between economical development and crime rate from 1951 to 1991 and has found that before 1970 people become criminals basically for reasons of survival while after 1970 people commit crimes mostly to satisfy their endless material needs. In addition, the crime rate has reached an unprecedented high since 1986 in which may indicate that Taiwan perhaps is entering what sociologists call an era of anomie.