Research Insights: Does the Framing of Information on Crime Rates Affect Citizens' Preferences for Anti-Crime Policies?
Peer Reviewed
Date issued
Feb 2021
Publication
Subject
Social Media;
Crime Prevention;
Crime Rate
JEL code
D72 - Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior;
D80 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty: General;
H80 - Miscellaneous Issues: General
Country
Panama
Category
Catalogs and Brochures
Anti-crime policy preferences can be swayed by the framing of crime rate information. Both framing information as an upward trend in crime or a downward trend in crime increased demands for punitive policies as opposed to social policies, when compared to a control group that received no information. Individuals with no previous information about crime rates were more affected by the treatments than those who were familiar with crime rates in the country.
