The Nation - News from Oct. 27, 1986

The United States experienced a “tidal wave” of crime in the 1960s and 1970s, but a sharp decline can be expected for the rest of this century, according to a study in the October issue of American Demographics. The study, by Morton Owen Schapiro of Williams College of Massachusetts and Dennis A. Ahlburg of the University of Minnesota, said murder, robbery, burglary and auto theft will drop substantially during the next 15 years. With most crimes committed by young men in the age group 15 to 29, the study attributed the rise during the 1960s and 1970s to the resulting growing numbers in that age group after the baby boom.