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The Great American Crime Decline (Studies in Crime and Public Policy)by Franklin E Zimring
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Many theories--from the routine to the bizarre--have been offered up to explain the crime decline of the 1990s. Was it record levels of imprisonment? An abatement of the crack cocaine epidemic? More police using better tactics? Or even the effects of legalized abortion? And what can we expect from crime rates in the future? Franklin E. Zimring here takes on the experts, and counters with the first in-depth portrait of the decline and its true significance. The major lesson from the 1990s is that relatively superficial changes in the character of urban life can be associated with up to 75% drops in the crime rate. Crime can drop even if there is no major change in the population, the economy or the schools.
Offering the most reliable data available, Zimring documents the decline as the longest and largest since World War II. It ranges across both violent and non-violent offenses, all regions, and every demographic. All Americans, whether they live in cities or suburbs, whether rich or poor, are safer today. Casting a critical and unerring eye on current explanations, this book demonstrates that both long-standing theories of crime prevention and recently generated theories fall far short of explaining the 1990s drop. A careful study of Canadian crime trends reveals that imprisonment and economic factors may not have played the role in the U.S. crime drop that many have suggested.
There was no magic bullet but instead a combination of factors working in concert rather than a single cause that produced the decline. Further--and happily for future progress, it is clear that declines in the crime rate do not require fundamental social or structural changes. Smaller shifts in policy can make large differences.
The significant reductions in crime rates, especially in New York, where crime dropped twice the national average, suggests that there is room for other cities to repeat this astounding success. In this definitive look at the great American crime decline, Franklin E. Zimring finds no pat answers but evidence that even lower crime rates might be in store. About the AuthorFranklin E. Zimring is the William G. Simon Professor of Law and Wolfen Distinguished Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. His recent books include The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment (2003), voted a Book of the Year by the Economist and American Juvenile Justice (2005). Table of ContentsPart I What Happened in the 1990s? 1. The Size and Character of the Crime Decline 2. The Environment for Optimism: Crime Trends and Attitudes about the Effectiveness of Crime Policies Part II The Search for Causes 3. The Usual Suspects: Imprisonment, Demography, and the Economy 4. Progeny of the 1990s: Three New Explanations of Decline Part III Two New Perspectives 5. Which Twin Has the Toni? Some Statistical Lessons from Canada 6. New York City's Natural Experiment Part IV Twenty-First Century Lessons 7. What Happens Next? 8. Seven Lessons from the 1990s Appendix 1: Crime and Abortion Policy in Europe, Canada, and Australia Appendix 2: Supplementary Statistics on Crime Trends in Canada during the 1990s Appendix 3: Trends for the City of New York and the United States during the 1990s Appendix 4: Measuring the Extent of Decline in Selected High-Decline Cities References Index What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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