Murder not a top cause of death, a first in 45 yrs

[hack89]

ATLANTA (AP) - For the first time in 45 years, homicide has fallen off the list of the nation's top causes of death.

U.S. Health officials say the murder rate fell enough in 2010 to drop it out of the top 15 causes. Criminologists have not reached a consensus about what's been driving murder rates down in recent years.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501367_162-57357028/murder-not-a-top-cause-of-death-a-first-in-45-yrs/

Link to the CDC report:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_04.pdf

This is good news.

[hack89]

4. Look at Table 7

it ranks very high in some age groups - unfortunately the younger ones.

[jeff47]

27. That's because the younger ones tend not to die from old age. (nt)

[TheWraith]

2. The violent crime rate has been dropping continuously for almost 20 years.

Most people don't know that, though--if you asked them, they'd probably tell you that crime is up.

[hack89]

3. I personally place all the blame for that on Nancy Grace! nt

[DerBeppo]

5. Farther, even

I highly suggest watching Steven Pinker's TED speech at ted.com or read his book "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined".

[HuckleB]

11. +1

[LanternWaste]

7. Unless the speaker directly implies a national figure, they may indeed be correct.

"if you asked them, they'd probably tell you that crime is up..."

I imagine it depends on the locale/region/city/neighborhood. One person who lives in X may state with validity that violent crime is indeed going up (as is the trend for the east side of Ft Worth). Another may state just as validly that violent crime is decreasing.

Unless the speaker directly implies a national figure, they may indeed be correct-- yet we maintain that they are wrong based on little more than our inference.

[TheWraith]

10. Catch is, they're usually wrong even locally.

Most places in the country are seeing decreasing crime. But people's PERCEPTIONS are usually that it's increasing.

[russspeakeasy]

16. Haley Barber said "screw that; we need more murders".

[JDPriestly]

21. Yes. Crime has decreased in my area over the past 20 years.

The strange thing is that so many people are imprisoned. More than ever. And for longer periods of time.

[Kellerfeller]

30. There may well be a correlation

Those who are in jail cannot easily commit additional crimes.

There could also be a deterrent effect, but I doubt it is terribly strong.

[Posteritatis]

18. Yep. One of the safest eras in human history and people just refuse to accept it. (nt)

[Fearless]

6. Birth control. n/t

[bemildred]

17. And abortion. Worth noting this is in spite of economic decline.

But we still are a very rich country.

[Fearless]

29. True!

[harun]

8. I think a leading contributer to the decline is SNAP.

Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (food stamps).

When a society takes steps to keep its population from feeling desperate, the use of desperate measures declines.

[JDPriestly]

22. Yes. Domestic violence is a major part of our crime, and food stamps help alleviate the

financial pressures that contribute to domestic violence.

[Quantess]

9. The right wingers will say it's because of our high incarceration rate.

The would-be murderers are locked up so they can't go out murdering.

[hack89]

14. That could be part of it

the thing about violent crime is that only a small percentage of felons commit the majority of murders. The best predictor of whether one will become a killer is an extensive record of violent crime. You don't have to lock up too many habitual violent offenders to effect the crime rate.

[vminfla]

15. No, incarceration rates are down to the point that underutilized prisons are closing

Throughout the US, prisons are being closed. Crime is down overall.

[slackmaster]

12. I suspect the ongoing rise in median age has something to do with the decline in violent crime

The percentage of people who are demographically at the most risk (generally young adult males and older teenagers) is slowly contracting.

[Festivito]

13. Baby boomers get old, eyes and aim: downhill.

... Along with associated statistics.

[Corruption Winz]

19. Good news. Interesting that there hasn't been a consensus...

on why murder rates are down. Regardless, less death is rarely a bad thing, I suppose.

[usrname]

20. The iPod Hypothesis

My claim is that the ubiquitous iPod is a good cause for the drop in intra-urban hostilities. People just chill by themselves, listening to music on their ear buds and no one raises anyone's ire. Everyone's just peaceful. 10 solid hours of your favorite music is a power aphrodisiac.

[Moonwalk]

23. Dude! I think you've got something there! Steve Jobs....

...has saved humanity from itself.

I say we canonize him

[Moonwalk]

24. Better mental health meds. I'm not ruling out all the other reasons, iPods included, but....

...when we drafted men for war, then got them back with PTSD, and just funneled them back into society with no help, we ended up with a lot of domestic violence and murders (murder rates often went up when men came back from war--and the more drafted, the more those rates went up). And, of course, when violence is done to the kids or in front of the kids, it perpetuates itself.

I think the hard work of educating and changing how we deal with such problems is paying off. Teachers see a bruised kid and he's taken out of that abusive home and given help so he doesn't become an abuser. PTSD is recognized and--though this could be much better--given help. There is rehab for alcoholics and addicts. And, *most important* things like bipolar disease, schizophrenia, etc. are recognized, diagnosed, and treated with some meds that, often, really work. They aren't ignored, or dismissed, nor do doctors try to "talk" the patient back to normalcy. Fix such chemical imbalances, and crime rates will go down.

Kids who were previously labeled as having a "misconduct" disorder, for instance, are now recognized as "bipolar" (soon to be re-named Temper Dysregulation Disorder). These are kids who display bouts of sudden, uncontrollable, murderous rage, unpredictably and often for no apparent reason. They don't want to hurt others, and sometimes even forget what they've done for a while--and then regret it. But they can't control themselves, not even as much as most kids their age can. They hit, bite, fight, kick, destroy. Give them the right chemical cocktail, and they don't. Until they were diagnosed this way, parents couldn't get insurance to pay for the problem. Now they can.

Imagine how many of these sorts in the past (prior to 1990) without such chemicals and merely seen as having a "crazy temper" existed and filled the jails. Now they're not only getting the medicine they need, but an early self-awareness of their problem and how to deal with it. It makes all the difference for someone with such an issue to know it, understand it, and be able to do what can be done, rather than being given up on as hopeless.

[marasinghe]

25. domestic statistics, i see. guess one shouldn't raise the specters of Iraqis & Afghanis.

[usrname]

26. Globally..

Violence in the aggregate has gone down dramatically. Certainly, there are pockets where violence is plenty. But on the whole, it has gone down significantly. Everything points to a more civilized global society. Unless GOPs have their way and want to move us back to a more uncivilized society.

[Bruce Wayne]

32. A well armed society is a polite society, they say.

I would argue "a disarmed society" instead, but then again I'm hardly objective when it comes to guns.

[ern2112]

33. Yeah...um ok

Last edited Thu Aug 16, 2012, 10:34 AM - Edit history (2)

So......you actually believe that criminals will abide by this "disarmed society" then???? The second amendment is in place to specifically protect the citizens from the government....so when someone like Hitler comes along, we do not just acquiesce.

It is incredibly naive to believe that if they take guns away in America the crime rate and murders will go down. If you really believe that some "law" will stop "outlaws", you are not seeing the bigger picture. If someone breaks into your house with a gun, and oh yes....they WILL have a gun because they will acquire it on the black market..... I guess you figure on just laying down on the ground and letting them have anything they want....including your body? Is that really logical? These people have no regard for your life or rights. The restraint you use as a human being will NOT be returned to you by someone in your house with intent to steal or do you harm.

You take all guns away from law abiding citizens and you have fertile ground for criminals killing them. Its just that simple. How could anyone think this is just "ok" after the genocide we have seen in the last 100 years. Wow

[valerief]

28. Higher cancer rates? I hope that's not it. nt

[Bruce Wayne]

31. This is partly about an aging population. But also we're a gentler society.

You have to correllate this in part to the reduced level of corporal punishment of youths now deemed acceptable in society