The causes and costs of crime and a controversial cure

In spite of recent modest decreases, the epidemic of crime that began in th e United States in the early 1960s has left us with a rate of violent crime that is still some 300% higher than it was 40 years ago. The usual suspect s-poverry, the easy availability of street drugs and handguns, violent tele vision programs-cannot account for this ominous trend. The fact that Africa n Americans are responsible for nearly half of this violence, although they constitute only about one-eighth of the U.S. population, is the principal reason why the great improvement in race relations made over the past half- century has reached an asymptote. White fears, and Black resentment of thes e fears, are a grave threat to further progress. It is argued here that the main reason for this epidemic of crime and violence is the rapid recent in crease in the proportion of the young people aged 15 to 24 who have grown u p unsocialized. It is argued Further that most of these feral youngsters ar e sociopaths, defined as genetically normal children whose failure of socia lization was due to their being domiciled with an immature, overburdened, u nsocialized, or otherwise incompetent parent or parents.