Law, Business, and Society 9th Edition by Tony McAdams

Exercise 25

Professor and criminal justice expert Morgan O. Reynolds argues that sterner punishment has led to reduced crime in the United States:
This reflects a broader pattern: As our crime rates have fallen, serious crime rates in England have risen substantially, as a recent study from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics found. For example, victim surveys show that
• The English robbery rate was about half the U.S. rate in 1981 but was 40 percent higher than America's in 1995.
• The English assault rate was slightly higher than America's in 1981 but more than double by 1995.
• The English burglary rate was half America's in 1981 but nearly double by 1995.
Why these dramatic increases in English crime rates, while Americans' lives and property grew safer The obvious explanation has been too often downplayed or ignored: The United States has instituted tougher, more predictable punishment for crime. The study's authors attribute the trends they note to the increasing conviction rates and longer sentences meted out in the United States versus the decreasing conviction rates and softer sentences in England and Wales. English conviction rates for rape, burglary, assault, and auto theft have plunged by half or more since 1981, while the likelihood of serving prison time for committing a serious violent crime or a burglary has increased sustantially in the United States. 48
a. Do you agree that harsher and more certain punishment will reduce criminal behavior
b. Do "root causes" such as being born out of wedlock affect criminal behavior Explain.