IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jpamgt/v30y2011i1p29-56.html

A cure for crime? Psycho‐pharmaceuticals and crime trends

Author

Listed:
  • Dave E. Marcotte
  • Sara Markowitz

Abstract

In this paper we consider possible links between the advent and diffusion of a number of new psychiatric pharmaceutical therapies and crime rates. We describe recent trends in crime and review the evidence showing mental illness as a clear risk factor both for criminal behavior and victimization. We then briefly summarize the development of a number of new pharmaceutical therapies for the treatment of mental illness which diffused during the "great American crime decline." We examine limited international data, as well as more detailed American data to assess the relationship between crime rates and rates of prescriptions of the main categories of psychotropic drugs, while controlling for other factors which may explain trends in crime rates. We find that increases in prescriptions for psychiatric drugs are associated with decreases in violent crime, with the largest impacts associated with new generation antidepressants and stimulants used to treat ADHD.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Dave E. Marcotte & Sara Markowitz, 2011. "A cure for crime? Psycho‐pharmaceuticals and crime trends," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 29-56, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:30:y:2011:i:1:p:29-56
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a
    for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fone, Zachary S. & Friedson, Andrew I. & Lipton, Brandy & Sabia, Joseph J., 2020. "The Dependent Coverage Mandate Took a Bite Out of Crime," IZA Discussion Papers 12968, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Vars, Fredrick E. & Meadows, Benjamin & Edwards, Griffin, 2022. "Slipping Through the Cracks? The Impact of Reporting Mental Health Records to the National Firearm Background Check System," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 52-74.
    3. Dhaval Dave & Monica Deza & Brady Horn, 2021. "Prescription drug monitoring programs, opioid abuse, and crime," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(3), pages 808-848, January.
    4. Griffin Edwards, 2014. "Doing Their Duty: An Empirical Analysis of the Unintended Effect of Tarasoff v. Regents on Homicidal Activity," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(2), pages 321-348.
    5. Bondurant, Samuel R. & Lindo, Jason M. & Swensen, Isaac D., 2018. "Substance abuse treatment centers and local crime," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 124-133.
    6. Richard Wright & Erdal Tekin & Volkan Topalli & Chandler McClellan & Timothy Dickinson & Richard Rosenfeld, 2017. "Less Cash, Less Crime: Evidence from the Electronic Benefit Transfer Program," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(2), pages 361-383.
    7. van Winden Frans A.A.M. & Ash Elliott, 2012. "On the Behavioral Economics of Crime," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 181-213, June.
    8. Deza, Monica & Maclean, Johanna Catherine & Solomon, Keisha, 2022. "Local access to mental healthcare and crime," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. Richard Frank & Thomas G. McGuire, 2010. "Mental Health Treatment and Criminal Justice Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 15858, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Susan H. Busch & Ezra Golberstein & Ellen Meara, 2014. "The FDA and ABCs: Unintended Consequences of Antidepressant Warnings on Human Capital," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(3), pages 540-557.
    11. Ashley C. Bradford & Johanna Catherine Maclean, 2024. "Evictions and psychiatric treatment," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(1), pages 87-125, January.
    12. D. Mark Anderson & Resul Cesur & Erdal Tekin, 2015. "Youth Depression And Future Criminal Behavior," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 294-317, January.
    13. Monica Deza & Johanna Catherine Maclean & Keisha T. Solomon, 2020. "Local Access to Mental Healthcare and Crime," NBER Working Papers 27619, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Susan Busch & Ezra Golberstein & Ellen Meara, 2011. "The FDA and ABCs: The Unintended Consequences of Antidepressant Warnings on Human Capital," NBER Working Papers 17426, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. O’Flaherty, Brendan & Sethi, Rajiv, 2015. "Urban Crime," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1519-1621, Elsevier.
    16. Wagner Kathryn L., 2021. "Public Health Insurance and Impacts on Crime Incidences and Mental Health," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 469-510, April.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • K0 - Law and Economics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:30:y:2011:i:1:p:29-56. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/34787/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.