Trends in Street Crime and the Crime Drop
Title
Trends in Street Crime and the Crime Drop
Author
Rosenfeld, Richard
Research Area
The Individual and Society
Topic
Conformity and Deviant Behavior
Abstract
After rising for nearly three decades, rates of street crime have declined in the United States since the early 1990s. Researchers have attributed the crime swings to changes in the economy, age structure, imprisonment, and drug markets. Recent studies also highlight the role of immigration, abortion policy, and policing. A major challenge for future research on crime trends is to explain why street crime did not increase during the Great Recession of 2008–2009. National research agencies should devote attention to the question of why and how crime rates change over time.