Volume 34, Number 2 · February 12, 1987
Genes & Crime
By Christopher Jencks
Crime and Human Nature
by James Q. Wilson, by Richard J. Herrnstein
Simon and Schuster, 639 pp., $12.95 (paper)
Confronting Crime: An American Challenge
by Elliott Currie
Pantheon, 326 pp., $9.95 (paper)
Like rain on election day, crime is good for the Republicans. Whenever crime seems to be increasing, significant numbers of Americans tend to blame liberal permissiveness and turn to conservative political candidates, partly because they endorse a sterner approach to raising children, policing the streets, and punishing criminals, and partly because they oppose government 'giveaways' to the poor, blacks, and other groups that commit a lot of crimes. While orthodox liberals answer that 'getting tough' won't really help and that the way to reduce crime is to make society more just and opportunity more equal, this response to crime has seldom moved the electorate. When crime rates rise, liberals almost always find themselves on the defensive.
Review, 10959 words
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