[En Passant]

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My big problem with all of these theories is they fail to take into account natural cultural maturation. The black communities (let's be honest what we're talking about here) in all the major cities in the country have steadily growing up out of a fairly chaotic situation since the great migration to cities from the rural south. It only makes sense that the situation will become more stable over time.

Another cultural maturation is racial relations. Which no matter what anyone says are improving all the time as more and more communities become integrated, and more and more blacks make it to the middle class. And stuff like the Rodney King riots make everyone take a step back and reflect on how to avoid a repeat.

Also common sense suggests to me the stabilization of the crack situation is the biggest single contributor to this particular crime drop. Crack hit NYC hard in the mid 80s. You have crackheads going nuts and gangsters fighting over new turf and distribution channels. By the 90s most of the crackheads are dead, in jail or reformed, and the stream of new crackheads coming online is nothing compared to the 80s. And the gangsters have established turf and distribution.

And finally didn't the economy improve a ton by the mid 90s? And hasn't this been historically the single biggest factor in crime levels?

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But we aren't talking about the black community. We are talking about the poor community, not just blacks.

Also, there are many factors for why the crime rate droped. The authors are saying Roe v. Wade is the biggest reason.