The United States currently ranks first in the world for the rate of incarcerated individuals with an estimated 2.1 million people currently in prisons and jails across the nation. For reference, the Census Bureau estimates the U.S. population as third in the ... More »
Demographic and economic trends like suburbanization, deindustrialization, white flight, and foreclosures have resulted in an increase in vacant properties in cities like Chicago. High vacancy rates pose many challenges for cities and residents, including decr... More »
The 2018 elections were not only the largest in Mexico’s history, but also the most violent. From September 2017 to June 2018, 48 political candidates were killed during their campaigns. Was this violence politically motivated? A consequence of the criminal ac... More »
A simple model of crime suggests that a criminal will act when the benefits of committing the crime outweigh the costs. The benefits might include anything from financial gain to emotional release. The costs are also wide-ranging — from the obvious legal punis... More »
Crime imposes an immense burden on cities, taking its toll in higher policing costs, lower property values, fewer job opportunities, and reduced overall quality of life. High and rising rates of crime are often cited as reasons for businesses not to locate to ... More »
In the 1980s, churches across the United States sought to provide shelter for refugees fleeing violence in El Salvador and Guatemala. The U.S. supported the regimes of these countries, and it did not want to provide political asylum to their refugees. Neverthe... More »
This article was originally published on February 25, 2013. Link to original article here.Gun sales in the United States are a huge business; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ran 19.5 million firearm background checks in 2012 alone. The recent tragedy... More »
The increase in undocumented immigration into the United States over the past two decades has fueled controversies about public safety impacts. President Trump has stated explicitly, both during his campaign and as president, that undocumented immigrants, spec... More »
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) was launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2002 to reduce gun violence across 94 federal districts. The City of Chicago adopted this program the same year, targeting neighborhoods inflicted with high rates of poverty, un... More »
People are hard-wired to form social networks, and an individual’s social network can play a role in shaping his or her behavior. Unfortunately, this social dynamic is as true for criminal networks as it is for more benign social networks. Among young people, ... More »
A recent study provides the first quasi-experimental evidence of a link between air pollution and criminal behavior. Researchers estimate the cost of pollution-induced crime and make a case for environmental sustainability policies that consider the impact of ... More »
By studying the impact of the introduction of a universal child care program in Quebec, Baker et al. argue that shocks to the development of children’s non-cognitive skills lead to worse health, higher crime rates, and lower life satisfaction in the long run. ... More »