Title: Crime drop - Wikipedia
Headings: Crime drop
Crime drop
Contents
Historical context
Decline since the Middle Ages in Western Europe
Increase between the late 1950s and early 1990s
Global level
Homicide rates as comparative value
Decline since the early 1990s
Development by region
Germany
United States
Proposed explanations
Lead
Air pollution
Abortion
Drug use and demand
Economic factors
Immigration
Incarceration
Policing
Security hypothesis
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Content: Increase between the late 1950s and early 1990s
Unweighted mean of England&Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland. Homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants. In the second half of the 20th century, most countries of the Western World faced an increase of violent crime, like assault, robbery, and homicide. In some countries, this period started in the late 1950s and in some in the early 1960s. It took until the early 1990s to overcome this rise. Numerous attempts have been made to explain this period, but no general agreement has been reached, as some of these explanations contradict each other. Irrespective of the reason for the increase, this period appears as a relatively short deviation of the long-term decline beginning centuries ago and continuing after the early 1990s. Global level
Homicide rates as comparative value
Because of its relative unambiguousness and its small dark figures, intentional homicide is particularly amenable to long term and geographic (cross-national) comparisons. Homicide is an act that meets with virtually universal condemnation, and homicide statistics are accordingly considered to be relatively reliable and valid – both at the national level and for longitudinal and cross-national comparisons. As a readily measurable indicator, homicide is both a reasonable proxy for violent crime and a robust indicator of levels of violence within states.