The third chapter of Freakonomics begins by introducing the idea that good questions can lead to unique answers, but only if the conventional wisdom can be overturned. Conventional wisdom is classified by John Galbraith as being simple, convenient, and comforting but not necessarily truthful (Levitt & Dubner, 2009). The piece then talks about trying to identify the situations where the conventional wisdom is false and usually triumphs. The piece provides some different examples that are usually taken at face value, like statistics concerning homelessness and the possibility of being victim of rape or attempted rape. The writers move on to talking about the police departments that painted a picture of crack dealers who had weapons and large sums of cash (Levitt & Dubner, 2009). That image infuriated law abiding citizens, but in reality drug dealers usually live in the projects and most still with their mothers. The chapter introduces Sudhir Venkatesh and gives some of his academic background, which leads …show more content…
Of course I try not to believe everything I hear or everything that is just usually accepted by other, but I assumed that I could usually trust statistics. The piece specifically cites a man named Mitch Snyder that claimed about 3 million Americans were homeless (Levitt & Dubner, 2009). He also once told a college audience that forty-five homeless people died every second (Levitt & Dubner, 2009). The statistic that one in every three American women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape is also mentioned, but the actual figure it closer to something like one in eight (Levitt & Dubner, 2009). I understand that the people who created these statistics were only trying to attract attention to their important causes, but it is attracting attention in the wrong way. It does not seem ethical to bring attention to an important cause with lies and
In chapter 4 of Freakonomics, “Where Have All the Criminals Gone?” Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner discuss and argue the possible reasons for the crime drop in the 1990’s, asking and focusing on the question “just where did all those criminals go” (108)? The authors open with a story about the abortion laws in Romania, transitioning into the many factors that could have affected the 1990’s crime drop in America. Some of these factors include the following; Strong economy, increase in police, gun-control laws, the aging of the population, and then their main argument, abortion. While reading this essay, I had difficulty with many things, first off, my emotions, followed by the overall organization.
Hickey, T. J. (2010). Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology, 9th Edition. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
There are a multitude of complex, intricate issues and problems that exist in modern day American society. In an effort to begin to fathom the complexity of such issues, society as a whole has created “conventional wisdoms” to explain the otherwise unexplainable phenomena. In addition, so-called “experts” on topics have tried to explain causes for such issues that may not even be causing them in the first place. Perhaps these causal hypotheses and conventional wisdoms are true, or perhaps there is more to the puzzle than meets the eye. In Freakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner use juxtaposition and selection of details to convince readers to dig deeper into the world and find the truth behind what seems like reality.
As Nils Christie argued, crime is a property of the state (2004). As such, it can be defined by the same systems of ideals which influence the state. Crime statistics, which refer to a category of human acts that society view as deviant, can consequently be argued to be without objectivity (Dorling and Simpson, 1999). The statistics they provide are thus arguably not exact. To a certain extent one could infer they are reflections of society, of those who present the data and most importantly of those who accumulate it. The facts themselves become a socially constructed foundation for social knowledge, which inevitably become subjective. This essay aims to discuss how ideological biases within the Police and to a certain extent the media are reflected in the crime statistics.
The authors have strongly argued that economics is fundamentally the study of enticement and incentives (Levitt). As per the economic grounds people strive to get what they really need or want. The situation becomes even more complex when the same thing is required by different individuals. These points are robustly communicated through cynical insight and storytelling. Since Steven D. Levitt has expertise in studying daily life riddles therefore he is able to consider the influencing aspects of cheating, parenting, crime and sports differently (Levitt). In Freakonomics he has reached to certain conclusions which are contradicting to the conventional economic theories. Levitt and Dubner have comprehensively explored the inside operations of crack gang. Moreover, they revealed the furtive characteristics of Ku Klux Klan. I have found the description of Real Estate Agents most interesting as it indicates the importance and power of information. The authors have explicitly explained that how the expe...
This chapter's main idea is that the study of economics is the study of incentives. We find a differentiation between economic incentives, social incentives and moral incentives. Incentives are described in a funny way as "means of urging people to do more of a good thing or less of a bad thing", and in this chapter we find some examples public school teachers in Chicago, sumo wrestling in Japan, take care center in Israel and Paul Feldman's bagel business of how incentives drive people and most of the time the conventional wisdom turns to be "wrong" when incentives are in place.
Economics in reverse is the best way of describing the unconventional method preferred by economist, Steven D. Levitt. While most economists measure social situations and present the data as numbers and graphs Levitt takes anomalies within the data to reveal truths obscured. It’s Levitt’s sociological take on economics that has set him apart from his peers with his heavy focus on incentives, choices, and the consequences they have. Freakonomics mirrors Levitt’s method since it’s a collection of stories he has uncovered or read, and the core economic principles are hidden within each story throughout the book, sometimes even in plain sight like how there are exactly as many chapters as there are core economic principles.
Joel Best’s Damned Lies and Statistics is a book all about recognizing statistics that are legitimate and others that are really quite horrible. The goal of this book is not that the average every day person be able to read a statistical table from a scholarly journal, but rather that anyone could personally value a statistic he or she may come across in a newspaper article or on a news program. Best was essentially effective in achieving his goal; however, he was effective to the point of overdoing his job of showing that there are bad statistics which give readers cause to evaluate them outside of hearing them on the news.
Then all of a sudden, instead of going up and up and up, the crime rate began to fall. And fall and fall and fall some more. The crime drop was startling in several respects. It was ubiquitous, with every category of crime in every part of the country. It was persistent, with incremental decreases year after year. And it was entirely unanticipated, especially because the public had been anticipating the opposite...
Kelling, George L. Thinking About Crime: Is There a Right to Beg? 1993. Web. 10 December 2013.
Peterson, R, Krivo, L, & Hagan, J. (2006). The many colors of crime. NY: New York University Press.
The article that will be discussed comes from U.S. News & World Report, titled " Better Wages, More Housing Needed to Further Cut Homelessness" by Susan Milligan. The social issue that is being discussed is urban homelessness. According to the author, advocates for the homeless believed that the underlying social problem for homelessness are substance abuse, mental illness, and domestic abuse is the root cause of homelessness. The author focus on multiple causes with this social problem. According to the analysis, officials argues that a lack of affordable housing and stagnant wages are the cause for homelessness. Even though homelessness fell by 2.6 percent, the author argues that economic hardship is exacerbating the problem.
?Over the past year, over two million men, women, and children were homeless? in America. (NLCHP) Homeless people face an intense struggle just to stay alive despite the fact that society turns its head from the problem. The government makes laws that discriminate against homeless people, which make it, illegal for them to survive. The mistreatment of homeless people is an issue that is often ignored in our community. When you see a homeless person on the streets how do you react? Do you turn your head and ignore them? Do you become angry that they are living on the streets? Do you feel frightened and avoid the situation all together? Or do you see these people as human beings and treat them in that way? Homeless people are ?subjected to alienation and discrimination by mainstream society?. (NLCHP) Most alienation and discrimination comes from the lack of education about homeless people. There are numerous untrue myths about homeless people. Many people believe that homeless people ?commit more violent crimes than housed people.? (NLCHP) The reality is that homeless people actually commit less violent crimes than people with homes do. Dr. Pamela Fischer, of John Hopkins University, studied arrest records in Baltimore and discovered that even though homeless people were more likely to commit non-violent and non-destructive crimes, they were less likely to commit violent crimes against people. (NLCHP) The crimes that these people are committing are necessary to keep them alive. These crimes include sleeping, eating, and panhandling. Making it illegal to perform necessary daily activities in public when homeless people have no where else to go makes it impossible for homeless people to avoid violating the law. (NLCHP) Another myth about homeless people is that they do not work and that they get their money from public assistance programs. A study done in Chicago discovered that ?39% of homeless people interviewed had worked for some time during the previous month?. (NLCHP) Many of the people who do not work are actively trying to find jobs, but are discriminated against by the work force. In an interview done at the River Street Homeless Shelter I found many people who have experienced this discrimination. ?People can?t get a job without an address. When they use the shelter?s address they get turned down.? (Mike) Speaking...
In Larina Chi-Lap Yim et al, they use more statistics and facts about how many people are homeless and why they became that way. For every section of their essay, there are facts that back up the statements that are made. For example, there is a section in the essay that talks about a study about mental illness in Hong Kong. They start out by giving some information about mental illnesses, then they have either studies or facts from studies they did or someone else did, to back up what they said earlier. The percentage of people in Hong Kong that are homeless and have a mental illness is 62.7%. In this essay they also provide data charts that show the statistics of mental illnesses, what they are and who has what. The attempts of suicide that homeless people try, history of the illnesses throughout the homeless, the demographics of the homeless and many more things of how and why people are homeless are more reasons given to back up these
MacDonald, H. (2010, January 4). A crime theory demolished. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870359090504574638024055735590.ht