It may affect the nervous system, brain chemistry, cause inflammation or may affect the thought process of individuals leading to criminal activity as they are not thinking normally

Ohio State University, Columbus

- Biology
- Rational Choice Theory
- Psychology

Possible Factors to Causing the Correlation Between Crime and Pollution

- Biology is at least a partial factor in criminality whether its the independent variable or a co-factor

Modern Biological Theory Definition

Herrnstadt, E., &amp; Muehlegger, E. (2015, December 14). Air Pollution and Criminal Activity: Evidence from Chicago Microdata. NBER. https://www.nber.org/papers/w21787. 

Air Pollution and Criminal Activity: Evidence from Chicago Microdata Citation

The Biological Response to Pollution and How it May Cause Crime

If the weather is poor, less people will be out and about therefore there will be less opportunities to commit crimes creating more costs to commit crimes than benefits

Pollution and its Effect on Rational Choice Theory to affect Crime Rates

Irritation and pain, headaches, and eye and respiratory issues may cause discomfort which may lead to crime; mental tolerance is lower, therefore inhibition is weakened skewing people into to uncharasitcal criminal behavior

The Psychological effect of Pollution and its Effect on Crime

The lead-crime hypothesis is a theory in criminology and public health that posits a causal link between early childhood lead exposure and increased rates of violent crime later in life. The mechanism is believed to be lead's neurotoxic effects on brain development, which can result in learning disabilities, reduced impulse control, and increased aggression. This hypothesis is supported by ecological studies that show a strong correlation between the rise and fall of leaded gasoline use and subsequent trends in violent crime rates with a time lag of about two decades.

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