crime

Longer prison sentences, the result of public policy shifts over the past 30 years, may effectively discourage crime and repeat offenders. However, increased lengths of incarceration may have significant implications for convicted persons as they attempt to reintegrate into society after release.

Many societies that feature democratic forms of governance on the surface suffer from a variety of ills that can chip away at citizens’ trust in their current form of government. Corruption, crime and bribery plague much of the developing world. But precisely which factors are essential to the growth and continued prosperity of democratic institutions is a longstanding debate in the social sciences.

Television and radio anti-drug campaigns — including the well-known “This Is Your Brain on Drugs” and “Just Say No” ads from the 1980s — have long warned youth about the perils of illicit substances. Millions of dollars have been spent on such efforts, but are they effective? Drugs continue to be a significant public health problem among youth, and the patterns of usage continue to evolve.

Because sex crimes tend to be under-reported, the full extent of the problem in the United States is not always apparent. The National Violence Against Women Survey found that, on average, 17.6% of women and 3% of men in the United States will be raped in their lifetimes.