Despite its reputation as a hive of gun-toting murderous maniacs, the United States has enjoyed a tremendous drop in crime over the past twenty years. The murder rate alone is half what it was two decades ago, but all types of crime have plummeted. What could be causing this unexpected long-term trend? Social scientists have proposed some pretty weird theories which could just be right.
The stereotype of Americans is that they are a violent lot, prone to shooting each other at random. And yet if you compare US crime rates to those in European countries, you can see that crime has been rising in Europe as it declines in the US.
So why the dramatic drop? Well It turns out that it’s all to do with three things:
- Employment
- Abortion
- Windows
Windows! Really? For further explanation click here – America’s Crime Rate
