Title: Education and Crime - Criminal Justice - IResearchNet
Headings: Education and Crime
Education and Crime
IV. Education’s Impact on Crime
A. Education as Crime Prevention
B. The Connection Between Intelligence (IQ) and Crime
C. Education and Recidivism

Content: Most empirical studies have addressed the relationship between education and crime. Some have found that adolescents who are involved in paid employment or attend K–12 education are less likely to engage in criminal behavior. This suggests that a reduction in criminal behavior contributes largely to the social rate of return for the monies spent on education in the United States. There is much debate on the correlation between the money spent on education and the quality of education and its resultant overall impact on criminal behavior. Not all studies find that more highly educated people are less likely to engage in criminal behavior, however. Some researchers argue that a country’s average education level does not necessarily have a statistically significant effect on the number of violent crimes (e.g., homicides and robberies). As discussed earlier, many have also argued that increased levels of education actually facilitate the criminal behavior in some individuals because of their increased abilities and knowledge (e.g., computer fraud, pyramid schemes). The following is a list of empirically supported findings about the connections between crime prevention and education: Most studies have found that graduation rates are generally associated with positive public safety outcomes and lower crime rates for communities. States with higher levels of educational attainment also have crime rates lower than the national average.