Abstract
Programs targeted at high-risk youth are designed to prevent high-school dropout, crime, drug abuse, and other forms of delinquency. Even if shown to be successful in reducing one or more social ill, a key policy question is whether the cost to society from that intervention program exceeds its benefits. Although the costs of intervention programs are often available, the benefits are more illusive. This paper provides estimates of the potential benefits from “saving” a high-risk youth, by estimating the lifetime costs associated with the typical career criminal, drug abuser, and high-school dropout. In the absence of controlled experimental data on the number of career criminals averted, one can ask the reverse question—How many career criminals must be prevented before the program “pays for itself?” Based on a 2% discount rate, the typical career criminal causes $1.3–$1.5 million in external costs; a heavy drug user, $370,000 to $970,000; and a high-school dropout, $243,000 to $388,000. Eliminating duplication between crimes committed by individuals who are both heavy drug users and career criminals results in an overall estimate of the “monetary value of saving a high-risk youth” of $1.7 to $2.3 million.
REFERENCES
Barnett, W. S., Schweinhart, L. J., Barnes, H. V., and Wikart, D. P. (1993). Cost benefit analysis. In Significant Benefits: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 27, High Scope Press, Ypsilanti, MI, Chap. 7.
Blumstein, A., and Petersilia, J. (1995). Investing in criminal justice research. In Wilson, J. Q., and Petersilia, J. (eds.), Crime, San Francisco, Chap. 20.
Blumstein, A., Cohen J., Roth, J. A., and Visher, C. A. (eds.) (1986). Criminal Careers and Career Criminals, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
Canela-Cacho, J., Blumstein, A., and Cohen, J. (1997). Relationship between the offending frequency (λ) of imprisoned and free offenders. Criminology 35: 133–176.
Catterall, J. S. (1987). On the social costs of dropping out of school. High School J. 71: 19–30.
Chaplin, D., and Lerman, R. (1996). Dropping out: Public and private costs. Urban Institute Working Paper.
Clinton, W. (1996a). Economic Report of the President 1997, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Clinton, W. (1996b). The National Drug Control Strategy: 1996, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Cohen, M. A. (1995). Report to Urban Institute on the monetary value of saving a high-risk youth. Owen Graduate School of Management Working Paper, Vanderbilt University, Nov.
Cohen, M. A. (1988). Pain, suffering and jury awards: A study of the cost of crime to victims. Law Soc. Rev. 22(3): 538–555.
Cohen, M. A., Miller, T. R., and Rossman, S. B. (1994). The costs and consequences of violent behavior in the United States. In Reiss, A. J., Jr., and Roth, J. A. (eds.), Volume 4: Consequences and Control of Understanding and Preventing Violence, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, pp. 67–166.
Cook, P. J. (1986). The demand and supply of criminal opportunities. In Tonry, M. H., and Morris, N. (eds.), Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 1–27.
Craddock, S. G., and Rounds-Bryant, J. L. (1997). Characteristics and pretreatment behaviors of clients entering drug abuse treatment: 1969 to 1993. Am. J. Drug Alcohol Abuse 23(1): 43–59.
Cruze, A. M. et al. (1981). Economic Costs to Society of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Mental Illness—1977, Final Report submitted to Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, Report RTI/1925/00–14F, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC.
Freeman, R. B. (1996). Why do so many young American men commit crimes and what might we do about it? J. Econ. Perspect. 10: 25–42.
French, M. T., Rachal, J. V., and Hubbard, R. L. (1991). Conceptual framework for estimating the social cost of drug abuse. J. Health Soc. Policy 2: 1–22.
French, M. T., Zarkin, G. A., and Dunlap, L. J. (1996). The relationship between illicit drug use, absenteeism, and earnings at six worksites in the U.S. Working paper.
Greenwood, P. W. et al. (1996). Diverting Children from a Life of Crime: Measuring Costs and Benefits, Rand Corp., Santa Monica, CA.
Hansen, W. L. (1963). Total and private rates of return to investment in schooling. J. Polit. Econ. 71: 128–140.
Harrison, L., and Gfroerer, J. (1992). The intersection of drug use and criminal behavior: Results from the national household survey on drug abuse. Crime Delinq. 38(4): 422–443.
Harwood, H. J. et al. (1984). Economic Costs to Society of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Mental Illness: 1980, Final Report submitted to Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, Report RTI/2734/00–01FR, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC.
Haveman, R. H., and Wolfe, B. L. (1984). Schooling and economic well-being: The role of nonmarket effects. J. Hum. Resources 19: 377–407.
Hser, Y. I., Anglin, D., and Powers, K. (1993). A 24-year follow-up of California narcotics addicts. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 50: 577–584.
Kleiman, M. A., Smith, K. D., Rogers, R. A., and Cavanagh, D. P. (1988). Imprisonment-to-offense ratios. Botec Analysis Corp. Working Paper 89–06–02, Aug. 5.
Kolb, J. A., and Scheraga, J. D. (1990). Discounting the benefits and costs of environmental regulations. J. Policy Anal. Manage. 9: 381–390.
Kouzis, A., Eaton, W. W., and Leaf, P. J. (1995). Psychopathology and mortality in the general population. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 30: 165–170.
Kusserow, R. P. (1990). Crack Babies, OEI–03–89–01540, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Langan, P., and Graziadel, H. A. (1995). Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1992, NCJ-151167, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.
Lesser, J. A., and Zerbe, R. O. (1994). Discounting procedures for environmental (and other) projects: A comment on Kolb and Scheraga. J. Policy Anal. Manage. 13: 140–156.
Loeber, R., and Snyder, H. N. (1990). Rate of offending in juvenile careers: Findings of constancy and change in lambda. Criminology 28: 97–109.
Maguire, K., and Pastore, A. L. (eds.) (1994). Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1993, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, USGPO, Washington, DC.
Maguire, K., and Pastore, A. L. (eds.) (1995). Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1994, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, USGPO, Washington, DC.
Michael, R. T. (1973). Education in nonmarket production. J. Polit. Econ. 81: 306–327.
Miller, T. R., Cohen, M. A., and Wiersema, B. (1996). Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look, National Institute of Justice Research Report NCJ-155282, Feb.
Nagin, D. S., Farrington, D. P., and Moffitt, T. E. (1995). Life-course trajectories of different types of offenders. Criminology 33: 111–139.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (1996). Pregnancy & Health Survey: Drug Use Among Women Delivering Livebirths, 1992–93, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD.
Nurco, D. N., Hanlon, T. E., and Kinlock, T. W. (1991). Recent research on the relationship between illicit drug and crime. Behav. Sci. Law 9(3): 221–242.
Office of Management and Budget (1992). Guidelines and discount rates for benefit-cost analysis of federal programs. Circular No. A-94. Revised Transmittal Memorandum No. 64. Fed. Register 57: 53519 (Nov. 10).
Office of National Drug Control Policy (1991). What America's Users Spend on Illegal Drugs, ONDCP Technical Paper (June).
Rajkumar, A. S., and French, M. T. (1997). Drug abuse, crime costs, and the economic benefits of treatment. J. Quant. Criminol. 13(3): 291–324.
Reuter, P., MacCoun, R., and Murphy, P. (1990). Money from Crime: A Study of the Economics of Drug Dealing in Washington, DC, Rand Corp., Santa Monica, CA.
Rice, D. P., Kelman, S., Miller, L. S., and Dunmeyer, S. (1990). The Economic Costs of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Mental Illness: 1985. Report submitted to the Office of Financing and Coverage Policy of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, U.S. Department of Health Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Institute for Health & Aging, University of California, San Francisco.
Rodgers, G. B. (1993). Estimating jury compensation for pain and suffering in product liability cases involving nonfatal personal injury. J. Forens. Econ. 6: 251–262.
Snyder, H. N., Sickmund, M., and Poe-Yamagata, E. (1996). Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1996, Update on Violence, Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC.
Thornberry, T. P., Huizinga, D., and Loeber, R. (1995). The prevention of serious delinquency and violence. In Howell, J. C., Krisberg, B., Hawkins, J. B., and Wilson, J. J. (eds.), Sourcebook on Serious, Violent and Cronic Juvenile Offenders, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Tracy, P. E., Wolfgang, M. E., and Figlio, R. M. (1990). Delinquency Careers in Two Birth Cohorts, Plenum Press, New York.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce (1990). Employee Benefits 1990 Edition (annual updates available), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, DC.
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (1994). Drugs and Crime Facts, 1993, NCJ 146246, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (1992). Drugs, Crime, and the Justice System, NCJ 133652, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Viscusi, W. K. (1993). The value of risks to life and health. J. Econ. Lit. 31: 1912–1946.
Wright, D., Gfoerer, J., and Epstein, J. (1995). Ratio estimation of hard-core drug use. Paper presented at the Joint Statistical Meetings, Toronto, Canada, Aug. 14–15, 1994.
Zamula, W. (1987). Social Costs of Drownings and Near-Drownings from Submersion Accidents Occurring to Children Under Five in Residential Swimming Pools, Directorate for Economic Analysis, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cohen, M.A. The Monetary Value of Saving a High-Risk Youth. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 14, 5–33 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023092324459
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023092324459