Rate of Violence Essay

Describe the rates of violence (murder, aggravated assault, rape, robbery) in the United States, and compare them to at least 2 other industrialized countries. When it comes to †Homicides/murder† and †Rape† there still is a difference when you compare Sweden and Albania. â€Å"Homicides/murder† happened most infrequent in Finland and England, but about six times as often in Sweden compared with that. â€Å"Theft totally† was about twice as frequent in Sweden, when you compare to the other Nordic countries, and also more frequently than in England. Narco-criminality in Norway is about three times as frequent, when you compare with the other Nordic countries. The long coastline play an important role. Here is no available registrations for USA. Robberies during the period were down 10. 7%, motor vehicle thefts and arson declined 9. 7%, rapes were down 6. 2%, aggravated assaults were down 3. 9%, and burglaries dropped 1. 4%. The FBI report does not give reasons for the drop in crime, but criminologists have recently indicated an aging population, along with ramped-up law enforcement, have contributed to the decline in recent years. The trend has surprised experts who have historically seen crime increase during difficult economic periods Discuss some of the difficulties of comparing crime rates across countries. Different definitions for specific crime types in different countries: The category in which any incident of victimization is recorded relies on the legal definition of crime in any country. Should that definition be different, and indeed this is often the case, comparisons will not in fact be made of exactly the same crime type. This is particularly the case in crimes that require some discretion from a police officer or relevant authority when they are identified. For example, the definitional difference between serious or common assault in different legal jurisdictions may be different, and this will be reflected in the total number of incidents recorded. Different levels of reporting and traditions of policing: Different societies across the globe have been shown to have different levels of reporting of criminal incidents. This relates closely to levels of development in any society, most clearly reflected in accessibility to the police. Thus factors such as the number of police stations or telephones in any society impact upon reporting levels. The level of insurance coverage in any community is also a key indicator of the likelihood of citizens approaching the police as their claim for compensation may require such notification. In addition, in societies where the police are or have been mistrusted by the population, most specifically during periods of authoritarian rule, reporting levels are likely to be lower than in cases where the police are regarded as important members of the community. Different social, economic and political contexts: Comparing crime data from societies that are fundamentally different may ignore key issues present in the society that impact upon levels of reporting. For example, different social norms in some societies may make it almost impossible for women to report cases of rape or sexual abuse, while in others, women are encouraged to come forward.