The purpose of this research is to examine the phenomenon of a decline in the homicide rate in the United States. The research will summarize various arguments that explain this decline and discuss the theoretical perspectives that support the explanation. Additionally, differences between ideas about causes of the homicide decline will be examined and evaluated with a view toward assessing which arguments make the most sense and what these arguments imply about the direction of future public policies.
Over the course of the 1990s, the rate of murders in the US declined. In 1990, for example, according to FBI crime statistics, the murder rate per 100,000 persons in the population works out to 9.3. However, by 1999, that rate was 5.7 murders per 100,000. Those are the figures that come out of a calculation if the 1999 rate represents a 39% decline from 1990. Also, the 5.7 per 100,000 figure represents a return to the levels of 1966 (McCaghy, et al. 126).
There is a lot of television news coverage devoted to violent crimes in the US. The high public profile of murders might ordinarily be expected to deaden the sensitivity to murder. That makes the 1990-1999 decline all the more dramatic. Experts disagree, however, about what caused the decline in the homicide rate. Basically there are two general ways of explaining it. One has to do mainly with economics, and the other has to do mainly with changes in the composition of the culture and the value systems of the country. Within these two general ideas, there has emerged a body of research to support the various explanations.
The economic argument that explains the decline in the homicide rate is that a stronger economy leads to a lessening of murders because homicide incidents are concentrated among lower socioeconomic groups (McCaghy, et al. 127). A strong economy is also relevant to the ability of people to spend more money on security.
Cultural explanations have also been pr...