Working Paper: NBER ID: w14279
Authors: Timothy Brezina; Erdal Tekin; Volkan Topalli
Abstract: A number of researchers point to the anticipation of early death, or a sense of "futurelessness," as a contributing factor to youth crime and violence. Young people who perceive a high probability of early death, it is argued, may have little reason to delay gratification for the promise of future benefits, as the future itself is discounted. Consequently, these young people tend to pursue high-risk behaviors associated with immediate rewards, including crime and violence. Although existing studies lend empirical support to these arguments and show a statistical relationship between anticipated early death and youth crime, this support remains tentative. Moreover, a number of questions remain regarding the interpretation of this relationship, the meanings that offenders attach to the prospect of early death, and the causal mechanisms that link anticipated early death to youth crime. In this paper, we address the limitations of previous studies using a multi-methods approach, involving the analyses of national survey data and in-depth interviews with active street offenders.
Keywords: Youth Crime; Anticipated Early Death; Multimethods Approach
JEL Codes: K0; K42
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| anticipated early death (I12) | youth crime (K42) |
| anticipated early death (I12) | lack of future orientation (D15) |
| lack of future orientation (D15) | youth crime (K42) |
| community-level factors (hopelessness) (I32) | anticipated early death (I12) |
| socioeconomic status (P36) | youth crime (K42) |
| family background (J12) | youth crime (K42) |
| community violence (D74) | youth crime (K42) |