NCJ Number
194689
Date Published
2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the impact of crime-control policies in the United States over the last 10 years.
Abstract
For almost 7 years, beginning in the early 1990's, serious crime has been declining dramatically in America. Coming after three decades of high crime rates, this decline is particularly surprising because only a few years ago some criminologists were predicting a continued escalation of crime. Some argue that the "war" on crime and drugs, which features harsh penalties of extended incarceration, has been the leading cause of declining serious crime. Others argue that the "war" on crime and drugs has disproportionately impacted African-Americans in inner cities and poor neighborhoods, with the wholesale incarceration of young Black men decimating the social and economic fabric of Black communities. Discrimination and the sense of unfairness contributes to disrespect for the law and criminal justice agencies, leading to a greater likelihood of law breaking among disadvantaged groups. The "war" on crime has also overloaded the criminal justice system, such that it cannot perform some of its basic functions and render just decisions. There is evidence that recent social and economic trends, rather than crime policies, have had the greatest impact on crime-reduction. Unemployment in the late 1990's was the lowest since the 1960's; welfare caseloads dropped significantly in the 1990's; and births to teenage women declined sharply between 1992 and 1998. All of these trends closely parallel the declining trends in the crime rate. Thus, improvements in the social and economic conditions of the citizenry have more impact on crime than increasing the punitiveness of sanctions. This chapter discusses the underlying assumptions about crime control policy held by liberals and conservatives, accompanied by critiques of these assumptions. The author argues that both liberals and conservative have advocated flawed crime-control policies. 54 notes