Associations : Moonlight up | Crime up [new study]

On a broad, bright, moonlit* night would you expect outdoor crime rates to be higher or lower than on an overcast night with little or no moonlight?

Numerous investigations have shown that, as a general rule, increasing environmental light levels can lead to a decrease in outdoor crime rates. By extension then, one might think that bright moonlit nights would feature less crime than when it’s overcast. But one might be wrong. A new study by Jacob Kaplan at the University of Pennsylvania – Jerry Lee Center of Criminology, and published via the Social Science Research Network comes to a conclusion that some might find counterintuitive.

“The findings indicate that a small amount of light can increase crime.

[e.g. from the Moon]

The mechanisms for why this is so are unclear.”

See : The Effect of Moonlight on Outdoor Nighttime Crime

Also see : Associations : Ultra Violet Radiation and the number of days it takes to get a misaddressed letter back.

*Note : Strictly speaking, moonlight is actually sunlight (that’s been reflected by the Moon)

Image credit : Tomruen via Wikipedia