TY  - JOUR
AU  - Marcotte,Dave E.
AU  - Markowitz,Sara
TI  - A Cure for Crime? Psycho-Pharmaceuticals and Crime Trends
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15354
PY  - 2009
Y2  - September 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15354
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15354.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Dave Marcotte
Department of Public Policy
UMBC
1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, MD 21250
Tel: 410/455-1455
Fax: 410/455-1172
E-Mail: marcotte@umbc.edu

Sara Markowitz
Department of Economics
Emory University
1602 Fishburne Dr.
Atlanta, GA 30322
Tel: (404) 712-8167
E-Mail: sara.markowitz@emory.edu
AB  - 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.
ER  -