The 1990s was an era in American history that has been studied by criminologists, demographers, criminal justice planners and policy analysts, all with the same goal of trying to explain why there was the largest decline in crime rates since World War II. To understand crime trends and tendencies helps us predict future crime trends. This allows society as a whole to be better prepared to manage and control these trends. Inspector Franklin Zimring, a criminologist has developed theories to help explain these trends.
During most of America’s recorded history, measuring crime and violence was not an accurate science. Crime statistics were recorded at local levels, but oftentimes this was not a priority of law enforcement agencies. Furthermore, statistics were often skewed to reflect better performance of these agencies than was the case. Only recently, during the last generation, has crime statistics been measured on a national level to determine crime patterns. The easiest crimes to measure, because of their nature, were homicide and auto theft.
From 1991-2000, statistically there was a dramatic decline in crime nationally. The statistics studied were of all categories of crimes considered serious, including: homicides which decreased by 39%; rape which decreased by 41%; robbery which decreased by 44%; aggravated assault which decreased by 24%; burglary which decreased by 41%; auto theft which decreased by 37%; and larceny which decreased by 23%. The statistics show a range of decline of 23-44%! (United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation 1990, 2000. Uniform Crime Report. Washington, D.C.) The evidence indicates that the benefit of declining crime rates are concentrated on specific groups with...
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...ng birth rates could lead to a smaller generation of crime proned young adults in the 1990s. This theory can be substantiated by the comparison of Canada which did not increase its law enforcement agencies during that time but which did have declining birth rates from 1970-1980, once again producing a proportionate declining sector of young people in the 1990s and a decline in crime.
Throughout the research that Zimring provided, he was not able to explain any single type of theory that explains the crime decline in the 1990s. (Placeholder1) Inspector Zimring’s investigation indicates that many factors could have caused this phenomena. In conclusion, it is apparent that in order to understand crime rate increases and decreases, there needs to be expanded, ongoing research and gathering of statistics to explain the causes of past, current and future crime trends.
In The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison by Jeffery Reiman and Paul Leighton, four multifaceted issues are focused on and examined. These issues are the Unites States high crime rates, efforts in explaining the high crime rates, where the high crime rates originally came from, and the success attained at a high price. The initial key issue that Reiman and Leighton discuss is America’s high rising crime rates with the understanding of the people that believe policy and regulations are the causes of the decrease in crime. The many graphs throughout the chapter represent information that undoubtedly illustrates that specific policy and regulation may cause rates to become stagnate or strike a plateau. While the rule makers make it appear as though their organization is functioning. Later guns and gun control policy are discussed. With the stern enforcement of the gun policy, at the time, crime appeared to decline, or become stagnate resulting in a plateau effect that is illustrated in the graphs. Countless arrests were made with large quantities of people being imprisoned. Du...
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.
Through the first chapter of this book the focus was primarily on the notion of controlling crime. The best way to describe crime policy used in this chapter is comparing it to a game of ‘heads I win, tails you lose’. This chapter also addresses the causes for decline in America’s
Levitt, S. D. (2004). Understanding why crime fell in the 1990s: Four factors that explain the
Cohen, L. E. & Felson, M. (1979). “Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activities approach,” American Sociological Review 44:588-608.
9. Sherman L., Gottfredson D., MacKenzie D., Eck J., Reuter P., Bushway S. Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising. A Report to the United States Congress. College Park, MD: University of Maryland, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 1997.
The first three reasons are about mass incarceration, this is how mass incarceration just doesn’t work. While crime has fallen during the 1980’s, mass incarceration has had nothing to do with it. Its actually had zero effect on crime since the 2000s.
For decades, researchers have tried to determine why crime rates are stronger and why different crimes occur more often in different locations. Certain crimes are more prevalent in urban areas for several reasons (Steven D. Levitt, 1998, 61). Population, ethnicity, and inequality all contribute to the more popular urban. Determining why certain crimes occur more often than others is important in Criminal Justice so researchers can find a trend and the police can find a solution (Rodrigo R. Soares, 2004, 851). The Uniform Crime Reports are a method in which the government collects data, and monitors criminal activity in the United States (Rodrigo R. Soares, 2004, 851). They have both positive and negative attributes that have influenced
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...
There was a decline in crime during the 1990s. Our country enjoyed seven years of declining crime for the period 1991-98, the most recent data available. During this period crime declined by 22% and violent crime by 25%. These are welcome developments, particularly following the surge of crime and violence of the late 1980s. This decline occurred during a time when the national prison population has increased substantially, rising from 789,60 in 1991 to 1,252,830, a 59% rise in just seven years and a 47% increase in the rate of incarceration, taking into account changes in the national population (Mauer 21-24).
The Uniform Crime Report, which was developed in the 1930s, is commonly used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a record of crimes committed all across the United States. These crimes, which fall under two categories, Part I and Part II offenses, are reported by local police to the Federal Bureau of Investigation each year. Part I offenses are considered to be the more serious of crimes recognized by society. Such examples of this are homicide, forcible rape, robbery, arson, motor vehicle theft, etc. Part II offenses are those that are considered less serious, such as fraud, simple assault, drug abuse, gambling, stolen property, embezzlement, etc. Part I crimes can also be subdivided into what are known as violent crimes and property crimes. (Barkan, 2012). However, there are both some positive and negative aspects of this type of crime measurement. The following paper will explore the small amount of pros and numerous cons associated with the Uniform Crime Report.
Many factors may have led to the decrease in crime, but there are five very plausible explanatory factors as causal to the crime decline. The first is the demographic change, specifically referring to the changing composition of the population (Rosenfeld, 2011). Crime is a young mans game, and the aging of the baby boom generation is an important factor behind the drop, because older populations generally commit fewer crimes (Rosenfeld, 2011).
The three eras that have characterized the field of criminology over the past 100 years are the “Golden Age of Research,” the “Golden Age of Theory,” and an unnamed era that was “’characterized by extensive theory testing of the dominant theories, using largely empirical methods’” (28). The “Golden Age of Research” era spanned from 1900 to 1930 according to John H. Laub. This era is identified as focusing heavily on the collection of data surrounding crime and the criminal. This data was assessed without “any particular ideational framework” (28). The second era, the “Golden Age of Theory,” spanned from 1930 to 1960, also according to Laub. This era is also rather self-explanatory, it is described by the development of theories; however, Laub
The field of criminology has produced multiple theories, each that shaped the perception of how crimes occur in a neighborhood and by viewing these various impressions this can help explain why crimes occur. However, four criminological theories have developed the different perspectives of researchers and outlooks of the field. These approaches have enhanced society by allowing it to analyze crime by establishing an empirical foundation that way to assess which approach is most useful and regulate the difference between a good theory and a bad theory. Every method experiences level of criticisms from either researchers or public policies, however, the focus is only based on four principles that way there can be an assessment to decide which approach is viewed as right or wrong. In order, to determine which approach can be considered a good theory versus a bad theory there needs to be essential elements that give support for each theory. There needs to be criticism, however, with enough empirical evidence that can determine which
The U.S. Department of Labor (2011) reported the national average of unemployment for 2008 was 5.8 percent. The rate dramatically increased in 2009 with an average of 9.3 percent and 9.6 percent for 2010. While unemployment rates have increased, the FBI’s preliminary reports for 2010 show that law enforcement agencies across the U.S. have reported a decrease of 6.2 percent in the number of violent crimes for the first 6 months of 2010 when compared to figures reported for the same time in 2009. The violent crime category includes rape, murder, robbery, and aggravated result. The number of property crimes also decreased 2.8 percent when compared to the same time last year. Property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. Arson decreased 14.6 percent when compared to the same time periods of 2009 (FBI, 2011).