February 22, 2010, 17:21
Shannon EdmondsThe Great American Crime Drop
quote:
From Time Magazine ...
"Criminologist Conklin believes that two statistics in particular--median age and the unemployment rate--help explain the ebb and flow of crime. Violence is typically a young man's vice; it has been said that the most effective crime-fighting tool is a 30th birthday. The arrival of teenage baby boomers in the 1960s coincided with a rise in crime, and rates have declined as America has grown older. The median age in 1990, near the peak of the crime wave, was 32, according to Conklin. A decade later, it was over 35. Today, it is 36-plus. (It is also true that today's young men are less prone to crime. The juvenile crime rate in 2007, the most recent available, was the lowest in at least a generation.)
So not only did teenage baby boomers increase the crime rate, but non-baby boomer teenagers are more law-abiding. Interesting ...
February 22, 2010, 17:32
JBAnd by non-baby boomers, do you mean "slackers"?
February 23, 2010, 09:46
AlexLaymanThe crime drop corresponds with a reduction in spanking as a method of discipline and the simultaneous increase in the popularity of ice hockey.
October 24, 2013, 15:21
JBFrom Crime & Consequences Blog:
OK, in the past three years, the prison population has indeed decreased, as several states, most notably California, have reduced their prison population. So now, the evidence -- the BJS figures released this morning -- is in.
What does it say?
Details.