Abstract
This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the issue of the effect of education on violent crime, specifically in the U.S. state of Alabama. The main purpose of the research is to determine whether more education leads to a decrease in the rate of violent crime. Systematization of the literary sources and approaches for reducing the violent crime rate indicate that increasing education, particularly the number of people with at least a high school or associate’s degree, can be one influential tool in cutting crime. The relevance of this scientific problem analysis is that Alabama has one of the highest violent crime rates in the United States according to crime watch sources, and Alabama residents desire safer neighborhoods. Investigation of what effect education has on crime in the paper is carried out in the following logical sequence: Introduction, literature review, data and analysis, and conclusion. Methodological tools of the research methods include econometric analysis using log-linear, linear-log, and log-log models covering population, educational attainment, violent crime rate, and unemployment rate of each county over five years: 2011-2015. The object of research are all the counties of Alabama, because namely they have some of the highest crime rates in the United States. Coincidentally, Alabama also has one of the lowest educational attainment rates in the country; the average American has more years of formal schooling than the average Alabama resident, and the crime rates of all other U.S. states compared to Alabama reflect this important fact. The paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of how more education impacted the violent crime rate in that state, which showed that, with one exception, more years of schooling does indeed result in less violent crime. The research empirically confirms and theoretically proves that, in the majority of cases, a better educated populace is less likely to commit violent crime.The results of the research can be useful for educators, law enforcement, and criminal justice practitioners.
Highlights
Crime is a problem everywhere, Alabama ranks #43 overall on a list of safest states in the U.S, according to a May 14, 2018 study by U.S News [17]
The take away message is that having a high school education is not enough to deter crime; postsecondary education increases the chances of seeking non-crime related methods of doing things. Another implication is to encourage the remedial education of inmates after they have been incarcerated for a violent crime
We failed to reject the null because our ß1, depending on the particular model outlined above, high school graduation rate, percentage of the population with a college degree, population of each county, and the unemployment rate of each county was set equal to 0
Summary
Crime is a problem everywhere, Alabama ranks #43 overall on a list of safest states in the U.S, according to a May 14, 2018 study by U.S News [17]. The same study found that Alabama is #38 in low property crime and #44 in low violent crime rate. Alabama trails the rest of the U.S when it comes to educational attainment. “About 24 percent of Alabamians have at least a college degree, a figure about 9 percentage points lower than the U.S average [11]” Given these statistics, this paper will explore whether we can reduce violent crime rates in the state through educational attainment. Thesis: On the average, as educational attainment increases, the violent crime rate in Alabama decreases
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