Does Strengthening Self-Defense Law Deter Crime or Escalate Violence? Academic Article

abstract

• From 2000 to 2010, more than 20 states passed so-called "Castle Doctrine" or "stand your ground" laws. These laws expand the legal justifi cation for the use of lethal force in self-defense, thereby lowering the expected cost of using lethal force and increasing the expected cost of committing violent crime. This paper exploits the within-state variation in self-defense law to examine their effect on homicides and violent crime. Results indicate the laws do not deter burglary, robbery, or aggravated assault. In contrast, they lead to a statistically signifi cant 8 percent net increase in the number of reported murders and nonnegligent manslaughters.

authors

• Hoekstra, Mark

published proceedings

• The Journal of Human Resources

altmetric score

• 82.674

author list (cited authors)

• Cheng, C., & Hoekstra, M.

citation count

• 11

complete list of authors

• Cheng, Cheng||Hoekstra, Mark

publication date

• January 2013

publisher

• University of Wisconsin Press  Publisher

published in

• The Journal of Human Resources  Journal

keywords

• 38 Economics
• 3801 Applied Economics

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.3368/jhr.48.3.821

start page

• 821

end page

• 854

volume

• 48

issue

• 3

URL

• http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.3368%2Fjhr.48.3.821