Danish and Dutch researchers found in their study that the probability that a cancer patient will commit a crime in the decade following the diagnosis is 14% higher than for individuals without cancer, and this phenomenon was named the “Breaking Bad effect,” after the popular series.
It is the series in which the mild-mannered chemistry teacher Walter White becomes a drug baron after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Criminal history does not significantly affect the pattern. On the contrary, the strongest predictive factors of criminality are the financial situation of patients and the prognosis of the disease.
In Breaking Bad, the mild-mannered chemistry teacher Walter White becomes a drug baron after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
More specifically, the main factors influencing this pattern are the financial situation of patients, since even in countries such as Denmark, where healthcare is free, cancer reduces incomes and increases the risk of unemployment.
However, money is not the only factor that drives them. Violent crimes increase on average by 21% in the ten years following the diagnosis, while the authors find that delinquency rose more sharply among individuals with more severe forms of cancer.
The study was conducted by researchers from Copenhagen Business School, the University of Copenhagen and Tilburg University, and is based on administrative records covering the entire population of Denmark from 1980 to 2018.
Source: Economist
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