Are us-americans criminals?

[horizon_mj1]

Originally Posted by gnomon

It's the drug war.

The largest spike in prison, jail and probation in this country is due to non-violent drug offenders serving inane sentences.

There is also the federal criminal code. The code is large enough and convoluted enough that leads many lawyers to note that every one of us is in violation of the federal criminal code at some point in our lives. Most of us pretty much every day.

And here come's Caylee's Law. More stupidity on the idiot bonfire called criminal justice in the United States. Stupid laws named after dead kids.

Add on the private prison industry and you get a system in which the need for prisoners perpetuates a bad criminal justice system in this nation.

You are not kidding when you write "stupidity" within the CJ System of the US (personally I blame Legislation; do you know how many really stupid laws still exist? I mean REALLY!?) The drug laws are an excuse for "Big Brother" to snoop (and let's not forget just the mention of AlQueda) and lazy excuses of economy marring the Truth of a Government who does not know how to run itself.

[Marble]

Originally Posted by Kathryn

As has been stated, in the US there are pockets of high crime, concentrated in certain socioeconomic groups and areas. The vast majority of our beautiful and diverse country is very safe with low crime rates, especially when it comes to violent crime. In fact, violent crime has gone down slowly each decade.

Am I wrong or has America the highest rate of serial killers?
Wikipedia has a list of serial killers by country and an extra site for serial killers in the USA.
But I admit that serial killers are a special breed of criminals.

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by Mr Spinkles

It's interesting to note that the U.S. also has a high intentional homicide rate.

From the article: "A recent study undertaken by the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development estimated that there were approximately 490,000 intentional homicides in 2004. The study estimated that the global rate was 7.6 intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants for 2004, the last year for which comprehensive data is available."

For 2004, they have the murder rate for the U.S. listed as 5.5 per 100,000. I'm curious as to why you would say the U.S. has a high homicide rate when the data clearly shows that the global homicide rate is nearly 40% higher than that of the U.S?

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

From the article: "A recent study undertaken by the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development estimated that there were approximately 490,000 intentional homicides in 2004. The study estimated that the global rate was 7.6 intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants for 2004, the last year for which comprehensive data is available."

For 2004, they have the murder rate for the U.S. listed as 5.5 per 100,000. I'm curious as to why you would say the U.S. has a high homicide rate when the data clearly shows that the global homicide rate is nearly 40% higher than that of the U.S?

I guess it depends where you want to set the bar of "high" versus "low". Seeing how the US' homicide rate puts it in between Iraq (7.6) and Afghanistan (3.4), I'm not sure how proud you should be of it.

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by 9-10ths_Penguin

I guess it depends where you want to set the bar of "high" versus "low". Seeing how the US' homicide rate puts it in between Iraq (7.6) and Afghanistan (3.4), I'm not sure how proud you should be of it.

It has nothing to do with a matter of pride. The fact is that a random human living in any country that is not the U.S., has a greater chance of being murdered than a random human living in the U.S. Seems rather arbitrary to label this as "high."

And, it's doubtful the homicide rates of either Afghanistan or Iraq are nearly as accurately reported as those of the U.S, making your rhetoric even less meaningful.

[horizon_mj1]

Originally Posted by 9-10ths_Penguin

I guess it depends where you want to set the bar of "high" versus "low". Seeing how the US' homicide rate puts it in between Iraq (7.6) and Afghanistan (3.4), I'm not sure how proud you should be of it.

You have to view the "classification of homicide" in order to perceive this correctly

[Mr Spinkles]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

From the article: "A recent study undertaken by the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development estimated that there were approximately 490,000 intentional homicides in 2004. The study estimated that the global rate was 7.6 intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants for 2004, the last year for which comprehensive data is available."

For 2004, they have the murder rate for the U.S. listed as 5.5 per 100,000. I'm curious as to why you would say the U.S. has a high homicide rate when the data clearly shows that the global homicide rate is nearly 40% higher than that of the U.S?

I was comparing the U.S. to Canada, Australia, and European countries. The question is, what policies might the U.S. implement which would result in less incarceration and less crime? (Or: what social factors in the U.S. lead to more incarceration and more crime?) To answer this question, we should compare the U.S. to countries with comparable GDP, culture, government, population, political stability, etc. Commando raids and kidnappings may reduce violence in Baghdad, sectarian conflict may be the cause of violence in the Sunni triangle, but these are not going to be solutions or explanations for crime in Detroit. We're more likely to find solutions/explanations for Detroit and LA by examining Toronto, or Madrid or London, don't you think?

[Father Heathen]

Originally Posted by Marble

Am I wrong or has America the highest rate of serial killers?
Wikipedia has a list of serial killers by country and an extra site for serial killers in the USA.
But I admit that serial killers are a special breed of criminals.

What element of U.S. culture do you suppose creates serial killers?

[horizon_mj1]

Originally Posted by Father Heathen

What element of U.S. culture do you suppose creates serial killers?

Serial killers have a psychological predisposition (some of which has been proved through extensive Scientific research) cultural elements may play a role in this predisposition allowing for the psychosis in which "makes" a serial killer surface. This was always one of my favorite areas of study in JT and CJ.

[xkatz]

I blame Obama.