Why is crime falling in a recession? | The Upshot Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News

Why is crime falling in a recession? The Upshot Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News: "The FBI chart above shows that property crimes also decreased, along with each category of violent crime, even as unemployment around the country remained high in a down economy. But experts who study fluctuations in crime rates say they have no real relationship to employment patterns. 'Forty-year-old non-offenders who get laid off are unlikely to start robbing 7-11s,' University of Colorado sociology professor Tim Wadsworth wrote to The Upshot in an email. 'Most of us think that the relationship between the economy and crime rates has more to do with high rates of joblessness influencing the health and well-being of communities.' Once joblessness damages communities, young men -- who make up the bulk of offenders -- begin to commit more crimes, he says."

"There is a connection between the economy and crime rates, but it's not that when the economy is bad, people go out and commit crime," he said. "When the economy is bad, there are budget cuts. Less is spent on youth crime prevention and crime control on the street."