Misconceptions about Crime - mental_floss on YouTube (Ep. 13)

Hi, I'm Elliot and this is Mental Floss on YouTube

Today I'm going to talk about some misconceptions about crime. Misconception number one, pleading insanity is often successful

The insanity defense is actually not that effective. According to a 1991 study done by the National Institute of Mental Health

people plead insanity in less than 1% of court cases and it only works 25% of the time

The insanity defense is also banned in three states, Montana, Idaho, and Utah

Plus, according to Dr. Ewing, who wrote insanity, murder, madness, and the law

those who succeed at pleading insanity are often sent away for longer than those who pled guilty

The difference is that they spend that time in a locked-down psychiatric facility as opposed to prison

Misconception number two, violent crime is on the upswing in the U.S. In the United States, violent crime has actually been cut in half since 1993

Good job, you guys. In 2012, the FBI reported that there were 387 violent incidents per 100,000 people

That has decreased from 747 in 1993. The homicide rate alone has declined by 51%, and the robbery rate has declined by 56%

Misconception number three prison population is increasing because more people are going to prison Prison population is increasing In fact the number of incarcerated Americans tripled between 1980 and 2010 Currently we have around 731 incarcerated people per every 100 which is by far the highest incarceration rate of any country

But it's not as simple as more and more people are just going to prison. In fact, the U.S. does not have the most people sent to prison per capita in the world

The reason that the incarceration rate in the U.S. is the highest is because of the long prison sentences

For example, according to the Washington Post, 140,000 prisoners or one of 11 inmates are incarcerated for life with no chance of parole

Misconception number four, the reason violent crime is declining is because so many criminals are incarcerated

According to the Wall Street Journal, experts have not come to an agreement on how the massive number of prisoners affects the decrease in crime rates

William Spellman and Stephen Levitt, who study prison and crime rates in the U.S., claim that those prisoners probably account for around 25% of the decrease in crime

Other possible reasons cited for the crime decline include better security systems

stationing police resources in high crime areas, and even the recent decline in cocaine use

Basically, we don't know for sure why crime is decreasing, but it's probably a combination of factors

And it's probably a really good thing, you guys. Misconception number five, it's impossible to get tried twice for the same crime

The U.S. Constitution does protect against someone being tried twice for the same crime

known as Double Jeopardy, a great movie by the way. But in 1992 the Supreme Court determined that quote offense and a conspiracy to commit that offense are not the same offense for double jeopardy purposes Basically you can be tried for a crime as well as the conspiracy to commit the same crime

Mistrials and hung juries will also result in being tried again for the same crime. So take that, murderers

Misconception number six, collecting and identifying DNA is easy and fast. People who collect DNA have a lot of stuff to think about

They have to be very careful so the DNA isn't contaminated by the DNA of another person

they have to use paper bags because plastic bags can trap moisture and compromise the DNA

and they have to make sure it stays at room temperature. It's still a pretty rare form of evidence, too

The amount of crimes that have been solved by DNA are actually less than 1%. Misconception number seven, a single person handles the bulk of a crime investigation

You can blame TV for this misconception. It's more dramatic and fun if your favorite character is doing everything they can to catch the bad guy

but that's not how it works in real life. The person who collects DNA at a crime scene is not the same person who will yze it in a lab, Dexter

And that's totally separate from people who are doing the detective work, Dexter. Basically, if you're going to pursue a career in criminal justice, you're going to have to choose a specialty, not killing people, Dexter

Misconception number eight, released prisoners always end up going back to jail. Many do According to one study around two of released inmates end up committing another crime within three years known as recidivism But there actually evidence that certain programs can lower that number For example in 2006 the Kentucky Department of Corrections got a million grant to implement cognitive behavioral therapy programs

in prisons in the state. Within two years, the state saw a 5% decrease in recidivism

Misconception number nine, you would never suspect a white-collar criminal. When we read about white-collar crime

it's often a story about how no one saw it coming. Sometimes, the stories emphasize

how everyone thought the criminal was such a good person, but actually 40% of white-collared criminals already have a criminal record

What? Misconception number 10, legalizing marijuana leads to an increase in crime

Now, we are not trying to take a stance on marijuana legalization because there's enough of that on the internet

but I can tell you about a 2014 study done at the University of Texas at Dallas

The study looked at crime rates for every state in the U.S. between 1990 and 2006

This time period included the legalization of medical marijuana in 11 states, which did not experience an increase in crime

and the researchers actually claim that the legalization of medical marijuana may be correlated with a decrease in violent crimes

How about that