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Comment by sealeck | Hacker News Reader

I am very confused at how it is expected that books are likely to reduce crime – we have a very well-read set of criminals operating in our world today; they are called white-collar criminals, they have gone to the top institutions, they have read plenty of books and it does not seemed to have improved the virtue of their moral character beyond making their plots more audacious.

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Books are not likely to reduce crime. In this instance, they are highly likely to reduce recidivism. See my post elsewhere in this thread for the list of advocates and researchers who give well thought out, evidence-based arguments as to how this works. For most participants, it involves cultivating compassion, empathy, and understanding through storytelling and narratology that acts as a kind of simulation.

You counterexample would invalidate the idea that there is a direct causal mechanism between reading and pro-social behavior, but I don't think anyone is arguing that. Some anti-social behavior is a consequence of not being able to understand and to feel understood by other people. When you give people the tools to express themselves (and to understand others), it may make it easier for them to get what they want and need by talking instead of resorting to violence etc. The key here is that this obviously only works for SOME people. Not ALL crime can be explained by this idea, obviously.

Why it might not prevent white collar crimes, I have personally seen first hand that people from the lowest classes can easily break out of the mold and make a good living if they communicate and behave well (at least in my country in Eastern Europe).

People are much more likely to trust you with any kind of work.

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