Punishment is not the only factor influencing crime rate. Your argument is like saying that because the climate in a given peacock habitat is 4 degress below what is optimal for peacocks to mate, and the rate of increase in peacock population in that area is higher than average, temperature must actually not be a factor in peacock mating. You fail to account for other variables.
This is especially material in light of the fact that other variables, most notably our cultural diversity, do in fact have strong and unique roles in determining the United States' crime rate.
I have provided a verifiable, simple-to-understand cause/effect pair that is directly analogous to the matter at hand, which is whether the degree of negative reinforcement determines the degree of behavioral correction. I say my example stands. |
