NCJ Number
174440
Date Published
1999
Length
300 pages
Annotation
Articles in this volume discuss America's falling crime rate, offer explanations for the decrease, and suggest implications for criminal justice operation.
Abstract
The early 1990s saw a decrease in the rate of violent crime in the United States, a phenomenon which generated much debate as to the causes and how they can be translated into social policy which will effectively combat crime further. A conference held in March 1998 to review the falling crime rate and its ramifications resulted in 11 articles: (1) Alcohol and Homicide in the United States 1934-1995--or One Reason Why US Rates of Violence May Be Going Down; (2) Explaining Recent Trends in US Homicide Rates; (3) Declining Crime Rates: Insiders' Views of the New York City Story; (4) Declining Homicide in New York City: A Tale of Two Trends; (5) The Improbable Transformation of Inner-City Neighborhoods: Crime, Violence, Drugs, and Youth in the 1990s; (6) Asymmetrical Causation and Criminal Desistance; (7) Social Institutions and the Crime "Bust" of the 1990s; (8) Understanding the Time Path of Crime; (9) Volunteerism and the Decline of Violent Crime; (10) Effective Law-Enforcement Techniques for Reducing Crime; and (11) Which Homicides Decreased? Why? Notes, figures, tables