land in the 1990s generally follows the national pattern with reductions in crime rates as time passes. It is important to learn why the rate of criminal behavior has decreased, if society is to be in a strong position to maintain such a trend.
A wide variety of explanations are offered for the high incidence of criminal behavior in the United States. Unfortunately, these explanations are all too often offered in support of some pet prejudice of the proponent. Advocates of prayer in public school, as example, cite declining moral values as the cause of the increase in crime (Dunaway & Cullen, 1991). The solution, according to these people, is to improve moral values by reintroducing prayer in public schools. The real agenda in such instances, of course, is the pursuit of a particular brand of religion, not the reduction of crime. Civil rights groups often contend that socioeconomic deprivation and discrimination are the underlying causes of criminal behavior, and that, to reduce crime, a more equitable society must be constructed (Phillips, 1991). The real agenda in these instances frequently is income redistribution, not the reduction of crime. Then, of course, there is the lobby for the application of harsh justice on all criminal offenders as a means of reducing the crime rate (Cohn, 1991). The proponents of this action, however, are very careful to delineate exactly what they mean by crime, because, in most instances, they do not want harsh criminal justice for white collar crime, corporate crime, or alcohol-related driving offenses (however violent), because the application of harsh punishment for these crime might just catch them in the net.
Law enforcement agencies throughout the United States have developed their own initiatives designed to reduce the incidence of criminal behavior. Some of these initiatives have been based on the philosophies discussed in the preceding paragraph. Other initiatives developed by ...