Crime and the Great Recession

Common sense tells us that crime should increase during hard times. We've all seen examples of people taking desperate actions when they are cold, broke, and hungry, whether through real-life, firsthand observations or through fictional characters like Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. Moreover, recent research by María Dávalos and her colleagues suggests that recession-generated stress might induce people to turn to drugs or alcohol, which in turn might lead to criminal involvement.