For Crime, Is Anatomy Destiny?

[groovedaddy]

Poverty, greed, anger, jealousy, pride, revenge. These are the usual suspects when it comes to discussing the causes of crime. In recent years, however, economists have started to investigate a different explanation for criminal activity: physical attributes.

A small band of economists has been studying how height, weight and beauty affect the likelihood of committing — or being convicted of — a crime. Looking at records from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, they have found evidence that shorter men are 20 to 30 percent more likely to end up in prison than their taller counterparts, and that obesity and physical attractiveness are linked to crime.

“The profession has developed a large interest in biology,” what some refer to as anthropometric economics or history, said Gregory N. Price, an economist at Morehouse College and one of the authors of a paper on height and crime.

There is already a sizable stack of research that examines the connections between physical characteristics and the labor market. Economists have found, for example, that every inch of additional height is associated with a nearly 2 percent increase in earnings; that employees rated beautiful tended to earn 5 percent more an hour than an average-looking person, while those rated as plain earned 9 percent less; that obesity can cause a drop in white women’s earnings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/books/11crime.html?th&emc=th

[Flipper999]

1. Well, I'm glad I buck the trend

5' 4" (barely), and I've never been arrested for anything.

I also avoid the height-related wage gap mentioned, but that's largely due to the fact that everyone at my work makes the same amount as anyone else in their pay grade. The more control the bosses have over individual pay, the easier it is for them to quietly discriminate based on appearance.

[nebenaube]

2. Junk science from voodoo priests. n/t

[groovedaddy]

3. I can't believe it! You're saying economists are voodoo priests! I mean, look at

Alan Greenspan...;-)

[nebenaube]

4. I rest my case. n/t