But if we are talking about day to day violent crime and you match on more than one of the factors pointed to in my post you find several countries with high crime rates. South Africa and Brazil spring to mind here. A history of racism with gross income inequality. And SA where violent crime is indeed very high you also have a history of militaristic national chauvinism and its close cousin intolerant idealism. Japan and Germany are just bad counter examples in this regard since WWII. We would have to run a mutiple rgression on this to settle the matter.
Or perhaps it just how the process of natural selection is playing out in the US. Your genes make you do it! Chicks did violent men:-).
Quoting Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu>:
> Tfast:
>
> Ok I'll Bite. How about income inequality and a history of racism coupled
> with a militaristic national chauvinism and its close cousin intolerant
> idealism.
>
>
> [WS:] The US is hardly unique in these characteristics, other countries
> (e.g. Germany or Japan to name the most obvious) have even worse track
> record - yet significantly lower homicide rates. So it's not working. Try
> again.
>
> BTW, AFAIR from my previous life as a TA for a criminology prof at Rutgers,
> the social cohesion argument that crime is caused by a breakdown in social
> cohesion and individual stakes in the community (which I previously
> outlined) advanced by the Chicago School studies, Travis Hirshi & Co. is the
> one that has received the most empirical support.
>
> The social inequality argument is basically a politically motivated opinion
> without much empirical support. It does not even make much sense when you
> think about: most poor people who should be criminals according to this
> theory - in fact are not. Moreover, many rich people who should not be
> criminals according to the same theory - in fact are.
>
> Wojtek
>
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