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Why is the US crime rate so high?

Mathematician

Mathematician

Reason, and reason again
This is a question I've been playing with for months now. When compared to countries like Norway, Iceland, and Japan -- our country's crime rate is absurdly high. It's not like the use of an extensive revenge system is what we need [Norway's crime rate is close to Saudi Arabia's]... So what is it? Our subcultures? Our War on Drugs? Our country's obsession with war? :shrug:
 
Booko

Booko

Deviled Hen
Our cultural desire for instant gratification? Our continued focus on "me! me! me!"? Maybe it's that were the epitome of materialistic civilization?

Those would be a few starting points, anyway.
 
J

jonny

Well-Known Member
GeneCosta said:
This is a question I've been playing with for months now. When compared to countries like Norway, Iceland, and Japan -- our country's crime rate is absurdly high. It's not like the use of an extensive revenge system is what we need [Norway's crime rate is close to Saudi Arabia's]... So what is it? Our subcultures? Our War on Drugs? Our country's obsession with war? :shrug:
Click to expand...

I think you need to look at the crime rate for individual states rather than the entire country. The crime rates in many of our states are likely very comparable to those in the countries you've listed. Start looking at the difference between the states with the low crime rates and the high crime rates and you might be able to actually get somewhere.
 
F

Faminedynasty

Active Member
No, no. It's none of that. It's the fact that we have a weak welfare state and treat our labor like sh*t.

The taxpayers have the choice whether they want to adequately fund education, see to it that everyone is employed in good jobs, eliminate homelessness and greatly reduce poverty.

We chose not to. The direct result is that our cities are warzones.

Now that I think of it, that could be considered a bit selfish and greedy, Scott.
 
Kungfuzed

Kungfuzed

Student Nurse
That darn DMCA has made criminals out of us all. I can't even download music and movies without my ISP sending me warning letters. Speed limits are also way too slow, forcing me to break the law just to feel like I'm getting somewhere in a timely manner. We need an autobahn and an internet free of laws.
 
J

jonny

Well-Known Member
Booko said:
I can't help but think these figures are apples and oranges, Jonny.
Click to expand...

You may be right. The property crime rate from the Norway page is 22.3/1,000. Might still be apples to oranges, but I think this might be a more accurate comparison.
 
J

jonny

Well-Known Member
From the stats I've looked at, the United States seems pretty close to other developed countries. Japan seems to be an exception. I think a more interesting discussion would be "Why is Japan's crime rate so low?" rather than "Why is the US crime rate so high?"

From my International Marketing classes, I remember that Japan was one of the most "masculine" countries in the world - meaning that the culture tends to be representative of traits that are considered more "masculine" (competitive, individualistic, etc).

Here's something I found on the subject:

http://www.scmr.com/article/CA608806.html said:
3. Masculinity/Femininity refers to the values more likely to be held in a society. Masculine societies are characterized by an emphasis on money and things. Feminine cultures are characterized by concerns for relationships, nurturing, and quality of life. Japan is an example of a masculine culture, Finland of a feminine one.
Click to expand...

Don't know if this contributes to the reason though, because I remember the US being a very masculine culture also.
 
Mathematician

Mathematician

Reason, and reason again
Booko said:
I can't help but think these figures are apples and oranges, Jonny.



This part seems more plausible, looking at the links.
Click to expand...

Small crimes like theft and property damage are hard to measure because of the different factors, but violent crimes are usually considered trustworthy, especially murder. In which case this study shows Norway and all of West Europe is way beneath where the US stands. Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, Germany, Iceland, Austria, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, and Italy have a smaller murder ratio than any state in the American union [New Hampshire, Maine, and North Dakota are tired for lowest with 1.4].
 
J

jonny

Well-Known Member
GeneCosta said:
Small crimes like theft and property damage are hard to measure because of the different factors, but violent crimes are usually considered trustworthy, especially murder. In which case this study shows Norway and all of West Europe is way beneath where the US stands. Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, Germany, Iceland, Austria, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, and Italy have a smaller murder ratio than any state in the American union [New Hampshire, Maine, and North Dakota are tired for lowest with 1.4].
Click to expand...

Why would stats from Wikipedia be more reliable than stats reported by the actual governments?
 
J

jonny

Well-Known Member
For what it's worth, I lived in Germany for two years. During that time I was held up by knifepoint once and assaulted on the streets twice. I've never been assaulted or held up in the United States. I had a roommate from England and he would always complain about the crime there (along with all his English friends that we hang out with). He commented pretty frequently on how he would never leave his doors unlocked in England (I rarely lock my house or my car here), and that if you left something on the ground and turned around for a second it would be gone.

Crime is more common in urban areas. If you don't like it - move.
 
Mathematician

Mathematician

Reason, and reason again
jonny said:
Why would stats from Wikipedia be more reliable than stats reported by the actual governments?
Click to expand...

Wikipedia didn't conduct the study. :sarcastic

For what it's worth, I lived in Germany for two years. During that time I was held up by knifepoint once and assaulted on the streets twice. I've never been assaulted or held up in the United States. I had a roommate from England and he would always complain about the crime there (along with all his English friends that we hang out with). He commented pretty frequently on how he would never leave his doors unlocked in England (I rarely lock my house or my car here), and that if you left something on the ground and turned around for a second it would be gone.

Crime is more common in urban areas. If you don't like it - move.
Click to expand...

In your own words, apples to oranges. Rural and urban are completely different. In urban areas there is a concentration of poverty [and with poverty comes crime]. I don't lock my doors when I drive around here, but if I go into Dallas, or Austin, or even San Antonio [in my opinion the best major city in Texas] -- heck yeah.
 
J

jonny

Well-Known Member
GeneCosta said:
Wikipedia didn't conduct the study. :sarcastic
Click to expand...

Exactly. Why would you rely on a second-hand source when you can go to the actual source?

GeneCosta said:
In your own words, apples to oranges. Rural and urban are completely different. In urban areas there is a concentration of poverty [and with poverty comes crime]. I don't lock my doors when I drive around here, but if I go into Dallas, or Austin, or even San Antonio [in my opinion the best major city in Texas] -- heck yeah.
Click to expand...
The US & Japan are also completely different. You want to compare low crime areas to high crime areas. There are places in the US with very high crime & places with very low crime. I'm sure that Japan's situation is similar.

I believe that poverty is probably the biggest problem, but that's just a gut feeling.

Do you think that poverty leads to crime?
 
Booko

Booko

Deviled Hen
jonny said:
From the stats I've looked at, the United States seems pretty close to other developed countries. Japan seems to be an exception. I think a more interesting discussion would be "Why is Japan's crime rate so low?" rather than "Why is the US crime rate so high?"

From my International Marketing classes, I remember that Japan was one of the most "masculine" countries in the world - meaning that the culture tends to be representative of traits that are considered more "masculine" (competitive, individualistic, etc).
Click to expand...

I would think it has more to do with the general Asian cultural habit of the entire family being shamed when one member does something wrong. Here the family makes excuses for the miscreant.

Though I think it likely there are many factors.
 
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