Crime Rates: Explanation For The Decline

Cassandra Mata
CRJ 190
Contemporary Issues
Tim E. Croisdale
11th December 2013

Crime Rates: Explanation for the Decline
Introduction
The United States is marked by criminal justice difficulties. In a nation as diverse as this country, it is complex to effectively establish a manner in which to deflect crime. Since the middle of the 20th century the crime rate soared quickly. This held true especially for violent crimes. However, since the 1980’s crime rates in the United States have felt a steep decline. According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, the 2012 estimated violent crime total was 12.9 percent below the 2008 level and 12.2 below the 2003 level. The UCR is an official report on crime in the United States that is published
Criminologists believe that the decline is a result of varying factors in the criminal justice system. There is a causal link between legalized abortion and the drop in crime during the 1990’s. The implementation of the Three Strikes Law in state governments has also aided in decreasing crime rates. These factors function cohesively to affect crime rates. Conversely, the economy impact has the weakest correlation to be able to account for the reduction. Crime rates in the United States have steadily declined in the past twenty years due to the legalization of abortion as well as the implementation of the three strikes law.
Explanation of the Decline
Legalized Abortion
According to Hay, homicide rates are down 40 percent, while violent and property crimes have decreased 30 percent. There is an apparent correlation between the implementation of legalized abortion and crime rate reduction overtime. Crime began to fall roughly eighteen years after Roe v. Wade in 1973. Roe v. Wade was the case that led to the legalization of abortion during the first two trimesters of pregnancy in the United States. This theory starts with the fact that
Abortion became legal in the rest of the United States in 1973 after Roe. v. Wade. The early states that allowed abortions have experienced early more apparent crime declines compared to the rest of the country. States with especially high abortion rates in the 1970’s and 1980’s experienced an especially dramatic crime reduction in the 1990’s. State-by-state and year-by-year statistics show a significant correlation between abortion rates and crime rates 15 to 18 years later (Abramsky, 2001). The rate of arrests also displayed a reduction of arrests among young people (Abramsky, 2001). The decline in young arrests is substantially more apparent for those states with the capability of legalized abortion. Since 1973 statistics show the gradual decrease in crime. In 1994-1997 the early legalizing states experienced a 25.8 percent decrease in violent crime opposed to the 11 percent decrease of the rest of the country. Studies also show a remarkable 44 percent reduction of murders since Roe v. Wade in the early legitimizing states, while the rest of the United States displays half of that reduction (Abramsky, 2001). The largest group of criminals is between ages 18 and 24. The visible decline in crime began 18 years after abortion became legalized and increased in frequency (Wander,1999). For that reason there is a strong correlation between legalized abortion and the evident