Education and Crime Prevention: Impacts, Mechanisms, and Policy Implications for Latin America and the Caribbean

Drawing on evidence from a broad range of policies and interventions including compulsory schooling reforms, improvements in school quality, early childhood education, extended school days, extracurricular programs, summer employment programs, and conditional cash transfers this paper systematically reviews the causal evidence on the relationship between education and crime to inform policy design in Latin America and the Caribbean. The review covers 81 studies and organizes the evidence into nine categories of educational policies and programs. It compares effects across crime outcomes, examines the mechanisms through which the interventions operate, and, when possible, summarizes their costs and cost-effectiveness. Overall, educational interventions tend to reduce criminal involvement, although their effectiveness varies substantially across policies and outcomes. The literature points to multiple mechanisms beyond the traditional channels of higher opportunity costs of crime and incapacitation, including socio-emotional skill development, peer effects, and household dynamics. However, relatively few studies examine the economic returns to educational interventions or incorporate crime-reduction benefits into cost-benefit analyses, which may lead to an underestimation of their social value. Finally, the evidence base is heavily concentrated in the United States, highlighting the need for more rigorous research in underrepresented regions and greater attention to contextual factors that may influence policy effectiveness. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for the region, emphasizing implementation conditions, targeting criteria, and priorities for future research.