New Mexico True

New Mexico is a violent state. It ranks among the worst for women murdered by men, child abuse and neglect are almost twice as common as they are nationwide, and its rate of suicide is one of the highest of any state. Last year, Albuquerque’s homicide rate shattered previous records, a 46% jump from 2020, and the state’s reached heights not experienced since 1986.  (A Missing Ingredient, The NM Political Report)

 New Mexico ranks at the top of quite a few lists of social disfunction, including violence and suicide.  That dubious honor will figure prominently in the State's upcoming elections, including that for the governor. The main remedy which will be proposed and debated by all candidates will be a higher rate of incarceration of offenders.  

If the politicians' knee-jerk rhetoric about crime and violence had any validity, one would expect that the U.S., with both the most people in jail and the highest rate of imprisonment of any country, ought to be one of the safer places to reside on the planet.  Similarly, it might seem logical to conclude that New Mexico's great increase in incarcerations over the past forty years should have substantially reduced crime and violence.

The actual trajectory of crime and violence in New Mexico and the U.S. belies the reigning political philosophy.  

The above cited article  in the NM Political Report looks at two potent contributors to the State's out of control crime and violence: the association of alcohol consumption with violence, and the intertwined issue of childhood trauma.  The assembled facts and analysis are worth considering.

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Update:

Ted Alcorn has written an excellent followup to the above, Every door is the right door, with a very optimistic report on the prospects for improved access to effective alcohol abuse counseling.