Where Have All the Criminals Gone?

In chapter 4 of Freakonomics, “Where Have All the Criminals Gone?” Levitt and Dubner discuss the relationship between increased crime rates and legalizing abortion amongst different states. They explain that without the option to get an abortion it will result in “undesired” births. These “undesired” births are resulting in higher crimes rates because they believe that these children are more violent because of who their parents may be. When different states began legalizing abortion these states also saw criminal activity diminish, thus implying that these “undesired” children were violent.

This chapter was one of the more interesting chapters we have read this semester. I think this relationship is very interesting, although I do believe legalizing abortion would contribute to a decrease in crime rates, I think many other factors can contribute to decrease in crime rates. Depending on your political views and your stance on the legalization of abortion, you may or may not consider abortion an illegal crime. If you do consider abortion an illegal crime then the crime rate never went down.

So I really believe this chapter should be more focused on how some may view the legalization of abortion, and then dive into the relationship between crime rates and abortion.