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Analysis Of Levitt And Dubner's Freakonomics

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In chapter four of Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner discuss the criminal activity occurring in the United states and what the possible causes are for the decrease of crime rate in the 1990’s. The authors bring up several theories as to why the crime rates have decreased such as policemen, stricter gun laws, drug market changes and even abortion laws. Levitt and Dubner do a really good job in explaining the different theories in the decrease of crimes. The authors also provide very interesting points that might make you think differently about something. Some factors may seem hard to believe but it can cause a great impact in society like abortion. Levitt and Dubner introduces a successful argument that could actually make the reader believe that abortion did have an effect on crime rates decreasing in the 1990’s. Levitt and Dubner spend a lot of time convincing the reader how in reality policemen, stricter gun laws, and drug market changes are not the main reason for the decrease in crime rates. Instead, they begin to explain that the primary reason for the decrease in crime rates in the 1990 's is the legalization of abortion. The legalization of abortion occurred right after the case …show more content…

They begin to explain that the drop in crime among the age groups that would have been affected by the Roe v. Wade. They argue that because of this case those babies that would have grown and become criminals are not because they are not being born. The authors begin to support their explanation by using studies done is Australia and Canada. Both states have shown a similar causal relationship between abortion rates and crime (Levitt, Dubner 129). They further explain how the generation that was affected by Roe v. Wade is not only missing the thousands of young criminals but also the unwanted teenage mothers who would have been born if not for the Roe v.

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As Levitt (2004) stated “those over the age of 65 experience victimization rates for serious violent crime that are less than one-tenth of those of teenagers” (p. 171) and since the young population got older, the crime followed in trend. Disagreements One of Levitt’s main four causes of the 1990s crime was the legalization of abortion in the 1970s. Levitt argued that unwanted children were at higher risk for crime and the legalization of abortion reduced the number of unwanted children. His hypothesis was brought about because “the five states that allowed abortion in 1970… experienced declines in crime rates earlier than the rest of the country”

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