From Yahoo News - (24 April 2012)
Maine is the most peaceful state in America & Louisiana the least, according to rankings by an Australian think tank called the Institute for Economics and Peace.
The rankings are based on the
prevalence of violent crimes, homicides, police employees, size of the
prison population and small arms availability.
Overall, 2011 was the most
peaceful year the United States has experienced in 20 years. Homicides
and violent crimes both dropped by more than 3 percent last year, while
the murder rate has plummeted a staggering 50 percent since 1991, when
the survey first started. However, prison violence which is not counted
in the report has risen dramatically as the number of people behind bars
has also grown. (The United States has a higher percentage of its
population incarcerated than any other country.) Almost half of all
forcible rapes occur in prison.
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire,
Minnesota & Utah were the top five most peaceful states. Louisiana was
the least peaceful, followed by Tennessee, Nevada, Florida and Arizona.
The Cambridge-Newton-Framingham
area of Massachusetts ranked as the most peaceful metro area, while
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn was ranked the least peaceful.
The report found that out of
dozens of environmental, economic and health factors, the percentage of
children living in two-parent families was the factor most correlated to
peacefulness. The more children living in single-parent families, the
less peaceful a state was. Poverty was also a strong indicator. None of
the top 10 most peaceful states had a poverty ranking that cracked 10
percent.
The report estimates that the
average taxpayer pays $3,257 per year on violence and violence
containment, while the total economic cost is $460 billion. The cost of
violence includes the health costs of victims of violent crimes and
homicides, incarceration costs and other factors.
New York, California & Michigan
showed the biggest improvement in peacefulness from 1991, while
Montana, North Dakota & South Dakota showed the biggest swing away
from peacefulness over the same period.
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