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hammervice
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People Are Too Fat To Rob
P:thumbs up:
The fact that crime has continued to fall is one of the more surprising aspects of the Great Recession. The F.B.I. reported the latest numbers today: violent crimes fell 5.5 percent last year and property crimes declined 4.9 percent.
One factor for the decline seems to be the sheer number of people who have been locked up in recent decades. Some, no doubt, are being kept in prison even though they present little danger; but other prisoners would probably be committing crimes if they were free. Another factor is the spread of smart, data-driven police strategies.
Lawrence Katz, a labor economist, has an intriguing item to add to the list of potential causes: video games. When I spoke to him recently, he was very careful to say it was only an idea. He is far from sure that it’s correct. But, as The Economist put it, “Larry Katz, a Harvard economist, suspects that video games and Web sites may have kept the young and idle busy during this recession, thus explaining the surprising lack of an uptick in crime.”
Video games can not only provide hours of entertainment. They can also give people — especially young men, who play more than their fair share of video games and commit more than their fair share of crimes — an outlet for frustration that doesn’t involve actual violence. Video games obviously have many unfortunate side effects. They can promote obsessive, antisocial behavior and can make violent situations seem ordinary. But might video games also have an upside? I’m willing to consider the idea.
One piece of economic research, looking at violent movies, seems to offer some support for the idea. It found: “violent films prevent violent crime by attracting would-be assailants and keeping them cloistered in darkened, alcohol-free environs. Instead of fueling up at bars and then roaming around looking for trouble, potential criminals pass the prime hours for mayhem eating popcorn and watching celluloid villains slay in their stead.”
P:thumbs up:The fact that crime has continued to fall is one of the more surprising aspects of the Great Recession. The F.B.I. reported the latest numbers today: violent crimes fell 5.5 percent last year and property crimes declined 4.9 percent.
One factor for the decline seems to be the sheer number of people who have been locked up in recent decades. Some, no doubt, are being kept in prison even though they present little danger; but other prisoners would probably be committing crimes if they were free. Another factor is the spread of smart, data-driven police strategies.
Lawrence Katz, a labor economist, has an intriguing item to add to the list of potential causes: video games. When I spoke to him recently, he was very careful to say it was only an idea. He is far from sure that it’s correct. But, as The Economist put it, “Larry Katz, a Harvard economist, suspects that video games and Web sites may have kept the young and idle busy during this recession, thus explaining the surprising lack of an uptick in crime.”
Video games can not only provide hours of entertainment. They can also give people — especially young men, who play more than their fair share of video games and commit more than their fair share of crimes — an outlet for frustration that doesn’t involve actual violence. Video games obviously have many unfortunate side effects. They can promote obsessive, antisocial behavior and can make violent situations seem ordinary. But might video games also have an upside? I’m willing to consider the idea.
One piece of economic research, looking at violent movies, seems to offer some support for the idea. It found: “violent films prevent violent crime by attracting would-be assailants and keeping them cloistered in darkened, alcohol-free environs. Instead of fueling up at bars and then roaming around looking for trouble, potential criminals pass the prime hours for mayhem eating popcorn and watching celluloid villains slay in their stead.”
