The Obsolescence of Crime Forms

Little attention has been paid to why offenses become obsolete or obsolescent. In the context of attempts to reduce crime, it is necessary to consider reasons for past successes. This paper presents a preliminary classification of reasons for the obsolescence (legal abolition, court action, action by police and customs officials, economic and social change, and population density) of 24 offenses (e.g., bribery of voters, eavesdropping, "furious driving," and sqfebreaklng.) The Issue of how new offenses are created may bear on their eventual prevention. It appears that deliberate preventive action is only rarely successful, and that obsolescence is largely the unintended consequence of economic and social change.