Publication: Reducing Crime and Violence: Experimental Evidence on Adult Noncognitive Investments in Liberia
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2016-04
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Date
2016-05-04
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Abstract
The paper shows that self-control, time preferences, and values are malleable in adults, and that investments in these skills and preferences reduce crime and violence. The authors recruited criminally-engaged Liberian men and randomized half to eight weeks of group cognitive behavioral therapy, fostering self-regulation, patience, and noncriminal values. They also randomized $200 grants. Cash alone and therapy alone dramatically reduced crime and violence, but effects dissipated within a year. When cash followed therapy, however, crime and violence decreased by as much as 50 percent for at least a year. They hypothesize that cash reinforced therapy's lessons by prolonging practice and self-investment.
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“Blattman, Christopher; Jamison, Julian C.; Sheridan, Margaret. 2016. Reducing Crime and Violence: Experimental Evidence on Adult Noncognitive Investments in Liberia. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7648. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24222 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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