4 ms·

even when there is no evidence that imprisoning more people has reduced crime by more than a small amount. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Violent_crime_rate

even when there is no evidence that imprisoning more people has reduced crime by more than a small amount. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Violent_crime_rates_by_gender_1973-2003.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Violent_crime_rates_by_gen... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Property_Crime_Rates_in_the_United_States.svg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Property_Crime_Rates_in_th... The ny times editorial board is either living in a dream world, or is willfully lying and actually wants a return to the levels of property and violent crime from 40 years ago.

jwoah12 12y ago
Nice graphs, but where is the evidence linking those trends to higher incarceration rates?
eruditely 12y ago
Unleaded gasoline/Abortion, and for the part where violent crime is caused by a large minority there is still a massive population that is just incarcerated for no good reason and will not contribute. That population is huge. Save them.
- DougWebb 12y ago
  Here's a Mother Jones article discussing the correlation between the rise and fall of leaded gasoline usage and the rise and fall of violent crime during the 20th century. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-li...
nodemaker 12y ago
You need to read Freakonomics!
JacobJans 12y ago
For those interested, here is the section of the study that discusses "The Crime Prevention Effects of Incarceration." http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=18613&page=130 http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=18613&page=130
ShardPhoenix 12y ago
There's also been a fall in other Western countries that don't have the same level of incarceration.
enraged_camel 12y ago
Cool, you established causation. Next step is to show that crime rates decreased because of mass incarceration and not a plethora of other factors. (Good luck, you'll need it.)
- argumentum 12y ago
  I think you meant "correlation"?
  - enraged_camel 12y ago
    Yep. Edit window passed, so I can't fix it!
gcd 12y ago
When recidivism rates are so high (67%), I highly doubt that locking more people up is, in the long run, going to reduce crime better than methods which actually attack the root cause of crime.

jwoah12 12y ago

Nice graphs, but where is the evidence linking those trends to higher incarceration rates?

eruditely 12y ago

Unleaded gasoline/Abortion, and for the part where violent crime is caused by a large minority there is still a massive population that is just incarcerated for no good reason and will not contribute. That population is huge. Save them.

DougWebb 12y ago
Here's a Mother Jones article discussing the correlation between the rise and fall of leaded gasoline usage and the rise and fall of violent crime during the 20th century. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-li...

nodemaker 12y ago

You need to read Freakonomics!

JacobJans 12y ago

For those interested, here is the section of the study that discusses "The Crime Prevention Effects of Incarceration." http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=18613&page=130 http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=18613&page=130

ShardPhoenix 12y ago

There's also been a fall in other Western countries that don't have the same level of incarceration.

enraged_camel 12y ago

Cool, you established causation. Next step is to show that crime rates decreased because of mass incarceration and not a plethora of other factors. (Good luck, you'll need it.)

argumentum 12y ago
I think you meant "correlation"?
- enraged_camel 12y ago
  Yep. Edit window passed, so I can't fix it!

gcd 12y ago

When recidivism rates are so high (67%), I highly doubt that locking more people up is, in the long run, going to reduce crime better than methods which actually attack the root cause of crime.