Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence

Teaching impulse management skills to at-risk youth could help stem gun violence, according to this stimulating study. Public policy scholar Ludwig (coauthor of Gun Violence) notes that while poverty and segregation contribute to higher rates of gun violence in low-income neighborhoods, those factors alone can’t explain why violent crime rates differ by season and between comparably disadvantaged neighborhoods. The missing variable, Ludwig contends, is what behavioral economists call “System 1 thinking”—quick and automatic cognition that occurs subconsciously. He posits that people living in poor areas learn to “fight back hard,” developing strong defensive reflexes. Subjected to “zero-tolerance” policies at school and by law enforcement, underprivileged youth also lack the opportunities to learn how to moderate such reflexes before experiencing dire consequences. Examining trends in crime data, Ludwig notes that more gun crimes happen in less populated neighborhoods with fewer “eyes on the street”—the same types of settings where, studies have shown, lack of social deterrence makes System 1 errors more prone to happen. He also points to how programs that teach impulse management to at-risk youth have been shown to reduce arrests for violent crime by 50%. Meticulous and persuasive, this is a thought-provoking look at the deeply intertwined natures of income inequality and violence. (Apr.)