LAW and ECONOMICS (Semester II)

CRIMES The paper is an attempt to quantify the relationship between the magnitudes of crimes in a country to the various factors that affect the rate of crime. It has used data on the level of expenditure on law and order along with level of education, unemployment and urbanization which are said to influence the criminal activities.

~ 2 ~

CONTENTS

Introduction.......................................................................................3

(understanding the basic concept of crime and criminal activities in our day to day life; understanding its effect on the society)

What is

crime?................................................................................................6

(definition of crime; theoretical types of crimes)

Roots of crime....................................................................................8

(factors affecting criminal activities; economic, social and mental status of individual is as factors; also according to criminology, different factors responsible; public nature of crimes)

Economic Analysis of Crime.............................................................11

(difference between crimes and torts; empirical statistics of relationship between crime and various factors affecting it; public expenditure on law and order, education and unemployment; graphs to support)

Quantitative Analysis of Crimes.......................................................15

(quantifying the relation between crimes and factors affecting together; examples of countries different in socio economic and political structure; use of regression and equations to prove)

Conclusion.......................................................................................20

(concluding remarks on crimes, factors relating to crimes; policies to be used for fighting crimes)

Bibliography....................................................................................22

~ 3 ~

INTRODUCTION

Every day the morning papers bring news of dacoities and murders,

kidnappings and rapes, hold-ups of trains and hijackings of planes,

adulteration of foodstuffs, drugs and even of poisons. All this makes one sit

up and wonder whether crime is inseparable from civilized life. We appear to

live on an earth of well-dressed gangs.

Men have been barbarians much longer than they have been civilized. They

are only precariously civilized and deep within them there is the propensity,

persistent as the force of gravity to revert to our first natures. Small wonder

that under stress and strain the most civilized people are as near barbarism

as the most polished steel is to rust. Nations, like metals have only a

superficial brilliancy.

Compared with our wonderful progress in physical service and practical

applications, our system of government, of administering justice of national

education, and our whole social and moral organization, remains in a state

of barbarism.

The wealth and knowledge and culture of the few do not constitute

civilization. Shaw has castigated our superficial civilization in words bitter

but true. "Our laws make law impossible; our liberties destroy all freedom;

our property is organized robbery; our morality is an impudent hypocrisy;

our wisdom is administered by inexperienced or mal-experienced dupes, our

power wielded by cowards and weaklings, and our honour false in all its

points."

Crime and violence are inherent in our political and social system. "The poor

are always with us" said Christ and the believer reconciled himself to his lot.

But the time comes when it is asserted that poverty is man-made and stems

from the inequity of the wicked system that obtains. The covert crime begets

the overt crime.

The biggest of all crimes that we associate with this civilization is the horror

of war. War today is murder on a gigantic scale. At one time it was thought a

few hundred corpses would be enough; then came a time when thousands

were still too few and today we cannot even count all the dead wherever we

look. And the irony is that this large-scale killing, this organized butchery is

eulogized in glowing terms, and Victoria Crosses are awarded. Besides,

being organized murder, war is also organized loot.

~ 4 ~

All efforts are directed towards crippling the economy of the enemy. The

atom bomb was thrown not on Tokyo, the capital of Japan but on

Hiroshima, the industrial hub of that country. The outcome of war in the

modern world is un payable debts, repudiations, ruined investments, the

utter disorganization of finance, the collapse of the monetary system, the

disappearance of the greater part of foreign trade, and, usually, on top of it,

revolution from below. Here then is a crime, which does not pay.

The crimes of extreme civilization are probably worse than those of extreme

barbarism, because of their refinement, the corruption they presuppose and

their superior degree of intellectuality. The barbarian hacked the enemy to

pieces; the civilized man tortures him mentally, wins him financially and

then, if necessary liquidates him physically. Politicians are past masters in

this sordid game. The barbarian was cruel but open-handed, his descendant

today is no less cruel but hypocritical.

The barbarian was a beast, with beastly appetites. He was a tiger, an ape, a

camel, a goat in turn, whatever suited the occasion. After all it was a

struggle for survival, for him. He acted like an automaton. There was no

consciousness of crime. The modern civilized man perpetrates crime

deliberately. He hoards foodstuffs with a view to selling them at the

opportune moment. And in the meantime millions are starved to death.

Bengal famine was a glaring example of this sordid game.The civilized man

stabs in the dark. His crimes wear a thick cloak.

The crime is a result of various things in our life, the first biggest and the

greatest one is called money, an expression is that ―money is root of all evil".

Many people who are in need of money, they commit different types of

crimes just to avail money. And the second one and most popular is

revenge, in this circumstance most people do not want to call the police,

mostly such types of incidents are happened in upper Sindh.

Poor people commit some small crimes because of money; they may steal

and snatch things like mobiles and bikes. Some people used to be beggars,

some people were workers but none of them was born as a criminal.

Poor people who have aim, mission and destiny in his life, they can become

transcendental person without commit any crime but fame, painstaking and

hard work is needed. Not only poor people commit crimes but also rich

people are busy in commit crimes and to breach law and legislation,

although they are already rich. They accumulate money through many ways

against humanity. They give the priority to accumulate lots of money

through some faster methods such as grog‘s, trade and smuggling etc....

~ 5 ~

they should use their money in useful projects for the sake of healthy,

prosperous and peaceful society.

People, who commit small crimes, are not like great and dangerous crimes.

The punishment of small crimes is small and lower level. a criminal of a

small crime have to be sentenced to prison for months or just to pay money

as a compensation ( fine ) or any other punishment according to the stand

point of the judge. And on the other hand, huge crimes require a strong

punishment such as almost represented in torture and murdering crimes.

The punishment of such crimes is sentence to imprisonment of life or

sentence to death to make criminals afraid and timed of committing these

crimes against human rights. These persons with their dreadful crimes do

not have the right to reside side to side with other peaceful people.

Justice is a small word, but it has a great and transcendental meaning as it

play an important role in crimes and punishment. A judge has to take the

balance of each criminal to be perfectly matched with his crime. Justice also

makes criminals be afraid, timed and coward of each punishment. Such

punishments become compel to the criminal to think hundreds of times

before committing any crime.

Now, we have to plane to eliminate these types of crimes from our peaceful

society, and to make jurisdiction in order to law according to constitution of

Pakistan. restoration of justice in all over the world under the supervision of

law to give the rights to each desire person, sovereign to the institutions and

departments as they do their properly and we have to promote law

education to every one as we serve the nation as well as individual rights

and lawyers use their knowledge and power of law to defeat culprits, to

execute proper punishment for contempt of law and order.

Generally, crimes are considered the biggest problem in our daily life. all

classes of people commit crimes but on one of them has the right to do.

Crime is a bad phenomenon that appeared in all ages and it is prevalent till

now.......

~ 6 ~

WHAT IS CRIME?

What is crime?

This seems to be a straightforward question that should have a

straightforward answer but it isn‘t. A crime in and of itself is defined as: is

any act or omission (of an act) in violation of a public law forbidding or

commanding it, but this does not cover the whole aspect of defining crime.

There are two types of crimes classified as felonies (serious) and

misdemeanors (less serious). What is interesting about these types of crimes

is that the laws that govern crimes vary from state to state and that the

crime is not even considered a crime unless it is precedented.

From a Legal standpoint crime consists of two elements: an act called "actus

reus" and a mental state called "mens rea." It is up to a prosecutor to make

the case beyond a reasonable doubt; they represent the state and must

convince a judge and a jury of the guilt of the person who committed the

crime.

Crimes can be classified into two basic groups; "mala in se" which are

crimes that are wrong in and of themselves, rape, murder, assault, etc., and

"mala prohibita" it‘s wrong because it is prohibited, it infringes upon others‘

rights because it is prohibited; drunk driving and such. To clarify further

there are crimes against the state as in treason or sedition, crimes against

people like murder, assault, rape, and kidnapping. There are crimes against

habitation like burglary, arson and home invasions. Further, there are

crimes against property; theft, larceny, robbery, vandalism, forgery,

extortion, fraud, and embezzlement. There are crimes against public order;

disorderly conduct, vagrancy, incitement to riot, motor vehicle offenses, and

alcohol and drugs. There are crimes against administration of justice;

contempt of court, resisting arrest and escaping from jail. Finally there are

crimes against public morals; prostitution, gambling, obscenity, and incest.

But keep in mind; it‘s still not a crime until it has been classified as one.

Crime should not be confused with criminal law and there is not an easy

way to define this. In the above paragraphs I have tried to define what a

crime is. Criminal law however, it defines what crime is and all the elements

thereof. There are people who don‘t know the difference between right and

wrong, they don‘t suffer from a conscience like most of us do. They put their

own needs and wants above everything else. The things they do are the

essence of the crime itself, what the law does about it is the difference.

~ 7 ~

Crime is basically public in nature: crimes can be seen as harming or

wronging ‗the public‘ —‗the public‘ being understood either a set of

individuals among whom we cannot identify determinate individual victims,

or collectively with shared goods that crime impairs. First, ‗public order‘

offences involving violent, riotous conduct are injurious to the public in that

they pose a threat of serious harm to any of the indeterminate number of

individuals in the area, and might threaten to undermine that shared sense

of assured security on which our civic life depends. Second, some crimes

attack or threaten the polity's own institutions, and thus threaten or harm

‗the public‘ collectively. This category includes such crimes as perjury,

attempts to pervert the course of justice, the offering of bribes to, or their

acceptance by, public officials, and various kinds of electoral malpractice. In

some such cases a determinate individual might be wrongfully harmed.

Third, other kinds of wrongful conduct are apt for criminalisation because

they involve serious unfairness towards one's fellow citizens.

~ 8 ~

ROOTS OF CRIME?

Individuals need to be responsible for their own actions. An understanding

of root causes cannot and should not be seen as a way to absolve us from

personal accountability. However, while individuals have an obligation to act

responsibly and with respect for their fellow citizens, communities have a

responsibility to address those conditions, which hinder healthy

development and can become the breeding ground for crime. The root

causes of crime are well documented and researched. Crime is primarily the

outcome of multiple adverse social, economic, cultural and family

conditions. To prevent crime it is important to have an understanding of its

roots.

These are complex and interrelated, but can be summarized in three main

categories:

• Economic Factors/Poverty

• Social Environment

• Family Structures

Economic Factors/Poverty

In addition to lack of financial resources, poverty manifests itself in a lack of

educational opportunities, lack of meaningful employment options, poor

housing, lack of hope and the prejudice against persons living in poverty.

Low family income and poor housing often amplify poor parental

supervision, marital disharmony, inconsistent care, poor nutrition, chronic

health care problems, poor school performance and psychological disorders.

Unsatisfactory living conditions are particularly stressful during pregnancy.

Fetal development is negatively affected by maternal stress. Such stress has

shown to be closely related to ill-health, neurological problems, slow

development and behaviour disturbances in children. While there is not

direct cause and effect relationship between poverty and crime, the

conditions arising out of poverty combine to create "high" risk populations

who are over-represented in the criminal justice system.

Many studies find that a high number of youth and adults admitted to

correctional facilities are unemployed. Persistent unemployment often

creates a sense of despair, particularly amongst youth and can provoke

angry expression including theft, substance and alcohol abuse, as well as

child and family violence. Similarly, unemployed men released after terms of

~ 9 ~

incarceration are more likely to re-offend. Failure in school and an unstable

job situation can combine to continue an individual's involvement in crime.

Social Environment

Our social structure mirrors to citizens and communities what we value and

how we set priorities. Social root causes of crime are: inequality, not sharing

power, lack of support to families and neighbourhoods, real or perceived

inaccessibility to services, lack of leadership in communities, low value

placed on children and individual well-being, the overexposure to television

as a means of recreation. While crime rates for females have increased in

recent years, males are much more likely to be involved in crime. The

research points out that crime usually involve aggression, risk taking an

predatory behaviour.

Family Structures

It is believed that families are uniquely placed in contributing to raising

healthy responsible members of society. But the task of putting children

first goes well beyond the family to include communities and society.

Dysfunctional family conditions contribute to future delinquency.

These conditions include:

• Parental inadequacy

• Parental conflict

• Parental criminality

• Lack of communication (both in quality and quantity

• Abuse and neglect of children

• Family violence

• Lack of respect and responsibility

In criminology, examining why people commit crime is very important in the

ongoing debate of how crime should be handled and prevented. Many

theories have emerged over the years, and they continue to be explored,

individually and in combination, as criminologists seek the best solutions in

ultimately reducing types and levels of crime. Here is a broad overview of

some key theories:

Rational choice theory: People generally act in their self-interest and

make decisions to commit crime after weighing the potential risks

(including getting caught and punished) against the rewards.

~ 10 ~

Social disorganization theory: A person‘s physical and social

environments are primarily responsible for the behavioral choices that

person makes. In particular, a neighborhood that has fraying social

structures is more likely to have high crime rates. Such a neighborhood

may have poor schools, vacant and vandalized buildings, high

unemployment, and a mix of commercial and residential property.

Strain theory: Most people have similar aspirations, but they don‘t all

have the same opportunities or abilities. When people fail to achieve

society‘s expectations through approved means such as hard work and

delayed gratification, they may attempt to achieve success through

crime.

Social learning theory: People develop motivation to commit crime and

the skills to commit crime through the people they associate with.

Social control theory: Most people would commit crime if not for the

controls that society places on individuals through institutions such as

schools, workplaces, churches, and families.

Labeling theory: People in power decide what acts are crimes, and the

act of labeling someone a criminal is what makes him a criminal. Once a

person is labeled a criminal, society takes away his opportunities, which

may ultimately lead to more criminal behaviour.

Biology, genetics, and evolution: Poor diet, mental illness, bad brain

chemistry, and even evolutionary rewards for aggressive criminal

conduct have been proposed as explanations for crime.

~ 11 ~

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF CRIME

Two important determinants of crime rates in economic theories of crime are

deterrent effects and legal income opportunities. The society experiences a

lot of unlawful activities by the public and also by those who form the

government. The harms caused by them are sometimes less harmful and at

times inflict a lot of harm on the society as such. There are certain

characteristics of these actions that make them fall under the different

categories of torts (harm caused by one to another) and crimes (harm

caused by one to the society). The basic difference between the two is that

the harm is not private in the case of crimes and therefore, due to the high

cost being transferred to the public, the basic aim of the judicial system is

therefore not to compensate for such loss but deter such activities. This in

criminal law is done by punishments in the form of fines and imprisonment

to the accused.

Tort law achieves inefficient incentives by compensating for their actions in

case of crimes because pricing crime is not possible at all times. For

example: an injury that leads to death of a person cannot be compensated

by payment to the other‘s family for loss of life. Also since the act will lead to

terror amongst others for their loss of live, the system should try to deter

such activities.

Here, in this paper we try to see how these criminal activities are influenced

by the various factors affecting it. As we know, the crime in cities is very

closely related the unemployment prevalent. The following diagram shows

~ 12 ~

Correlation between crime rate and unemployment rate in New Zealand for

over a decade (The Standard, May 21, 2009). A low unemployment society

enjoys lower crime rates and lower overheads that accompany high crime

rates. If you have ever been to South Africa you will know that the security

business is one of the fastest growing sectors and high income-earners live

―trapped‖ lives behind large policed fences – which protect their gardens and

housing.

By providing jobs at reasonable wages (so the minimum wage should allow

for a socially-acceptable standard of living) to those who want to work the

state is also ensuring lower crime rates exist. Also if the studies of

unemployment and crime are correct then what will future crime rates be

like in Spain and Greece and the UK as youth unemployment sky-rockets.

In Spain, there are now around 50 per cent of available youth unemployed.

Crimes impose various costs on the society; gains they make and the harm

suffered by victims. The harms are generally greater in magnitude to the

gains by the criminal and thus, the government or the third party must

spent resources on preventing such activities. The governmental role in

reducing crimes is mainly because the harm caused by them is on the

society as a whole. They basically spend on enforcement of law and order;

Law enforcement is the collective term for professionals who are dedicated to

upholding and enforcing the laws and statutes that are currently in force in

a given jurisdiction. There are law enforcement jobs that focus on local

settings, while others are focused more on upholding and enforcing national

laws. In addition to enforcing laws, the function of legal enforcement also

involves managing the punishment process for people who are convicted of

crimes, up to and including managing the process of incarceration.

At its core, law enforcement seeks to achieve two goals. First, enforcement

professionals seek to prevent the occurrence of a crime that is in some way

damaging to another human being or to society as a whole. Second, people

employed in some enforcement capacity will seek to ensure suspected

criminals are tried in a manner that is in compliance with local laws.

Various officials will also assign some form of punishment or imprisonment

that is considered equitable for the type of crime committed, while also

seeking rehabilitation of criminals when and as possible.

Law enforcement by government includes spending on legislations and

making of laws and various provisions for implementing these laws; police

officers and judges, buildings of courts, jails; prosecutors, lawyers and the

staff involved in maintaining law and order. On comparing the data for

United Kingdom on crimes and expenditure on law and order, we can see

that when the expenditure fell in 2001-03, the crime rates increased to

around 6%.

~ 13 ~

Education and crime have a unique, inverse relationship, wherein the lower

a person's education, the more likely they are to engage in criminal

activities. Education (as well as job training) develops formal labour market

skills, which raises the opportunity costs of crime commission. This has

been supported by ample research that, in recent years, has been broken

down even further into socioeconomic status, race, gender and even mental

capacity. It has been proven, by surveys conducted on convicts when they

were released from prison that ―41% of the prisoners who did not participate

in education returned to prison opposed to the 33% who did participate in

correctional education.‖ (Stephen Steurer, Education Reduces Crime).

Education increases wage rates (and reduces the likelihood of

unemployment), it increases the opportunity costs of crime and will tend to

reduce post-school criminal activity. Higher wages raise the opportunity

costs of crime in two distinct ways. First, since crime may require time to

commit, that time cannot be used for other productive purposes like work.

Here, it is useful to think of all of the time involved in planning a crime,

locating a target and, potentially, evading detection and arrest. Second, each

crime committed entails an expected period of incarceration, which is more

costly for individuals with better labour market opportunities and wages.

Education may also teach individuals to be more patient. This will

discourage crime, since forward-looking individuals place greater weight on

any expected punishment associated with their criminal activities.

Education may also affect preferences toward risk. To the extent that

schooling makes individuals more risk averse, it will tend to discourage

crime.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

public expenditure

crime rates

~ 14 ~

The above table shows the falling probability of crime and therefore

imprisonment with increase in years of schooling.

Almost 50 percent of people worldwide live in cities as of 2008, according to

the United Nations News Centre. People migrate to cities from rural areas to

start a family and search for more secure job opportunities. Urbanization

changes the economic, social and political setup of a country or region. This

has several major negative impacts. Urbanization leads to a deficit in jobs.

Businesses and governments cannot produce enough jobs to meet the

demand of a fast-growing population. Unemployment rates soar as a result,

causing people to apply for government-funded programs and benefits. The

government loses money, reducing the amount of energy, health care,

education, public transportation, waste management and physical security

offered. Poverty spreads and stunts economic growth. The increased poverty

and unemployment leads to lesser opportunities with people and thus more

crime.

~ 15 ~

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF CRIME RATES

Now since we know that crimes are influenced by the level of public

expenditure on law and order, education, unemployment and urbanization.

In this section we try to find out the magnitude of the effect of these factors

on the crime rates in the countries. Since the data of not all countries were

available, we took countries like United States, United Kingdom and Japan.

The data for these countries was available on OECD Factbook, 2012 for

public expenditure on law and order; education, unemployment and

urbanization on the World Bank Data and for the crime rates, the Eurostats

were referred.

The basic point to only go for these factors was that empirically it has been

found that there exists a very strong relationship between crime rates and

these factors taken individually. Here, we will work out on a model of

various countries to reduce crime rate.

1. United States

USA stands with the highest rates of crime in the world. It is attributed to

its increased population and growing unemployment. In the long term,

violent crime in the United States has been in decline since colonial

times. However, during the early 20th century, crime rates in the United

States were higher compared to parts of Western Europe. For example, 198

homicides were recorded in the American city of Chicago in 1916, a city of

slightly over 2 million at the time. This level of crime was not exceptional

when compared to other American cities such as New York, but was much

higher relative to European cities, such as London, which then had three

times the population but recorded only 45 homicides in the same year. The

following is the data for USA for the years 1997 – 2007:

year public expenditure education unemployment urbanization crime rates

1997 5.4 17.1466 4.900000095 77.9856 11.634

1998 5.2 17.1644 4.5 78.3534 11608

1999 5.2 17.1466 4.199999809 78.7212 11.877

2000 5.1 15.16828 4 79.089 11.879

2001 5.3 15.24861 4.699999809 79.4174 11.827

2002 5.7 14.4024 5.800000191 79.7458 11.679

2003 6 13.72475 6 80.0742 11.565

2004 6.2 14.71233 5.5 80.4026 11.467

2005 6.2 14.13047 5.099999905 80.731 11.295

2006 6.2 13.81269 4.599999905 81.0134 11.168

2007 6.3 13.06519 4.599999905 81.2958 10.639

~ 16 ~

Here, the public expenditure on law and order and education is a percentage

of the total public expenditure; the unemployment rate is the ratio of the

total unemployed to the total labour workforce; and the level of urbanization

is the percentage of the population living in centres characterised as urban.

For the above data, a regression analysis of the variables law and order,

education, unemployment and urbanization will give us an equation

relationship between them and crime rates in USA. Using excel, the

following equation was created:

C = -90604.94412 - 392.3111373P +1628.956821E +148.2233092U + 861.1376567Z

where P = public expenditure on law and order

E = Level of education

U = unemployment

Z = extent of urbanization

The equation shows that crime rate has a negative relationship with public

expenditure on law and order, i.e. as government expenditure rises, crime

rate falls. It is given by the negative (-) sign in front of coefficient of law and

order. Also, as unemployment rises, the crime rate rises and is absolutely

consistent with the theory. The level of urbanisation also decides the level of

crime and in this case, crime rates are positively related to the urbanization.

The variable which is inconsistent with the theory is education in this case

as it shows a positive relation; as level of education rises, the crime rate also

rises. This can be explained by the white collar crimes synonymous with the

full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals.

It‘s not a victimless crime. A single scam can destroy a company, devastate

families by wiping out their life savings, or cost investors billions of dollars

(or even all three, as in the Enron case). Today‘s fraud schemes are more

sophisticated than ever, and we are dedicated to using our skills to track

down the culprits and stop scams before they start. Therefore the white

collar crimes require a certain level of sharpness in the field and therefore

education is positively related to crime rates to the extent of white collar

crimes.

The above equation, thus tells us the crime rates increase by 1% when the

public expenditure falls by 0.392%; unemployment by 0.148% and

urbanisation by 0.861%. Here, we do not talk about the efficiency of the

police and courts. So, to reduce the crimes in US, the public expenditure on

law has to be increased and looking at the ongoing unemployment situation

in the country, it can be a serious issue as far as breaking of rules and laws

is concerned. Many Americans are already painfully aware that violent crime

is experiencing a massive upsurge in the United States. As the U.S.

~ 17 ~

economy has tanked and as unemployment has skyrocketed, many

Americans have found themselves becoming increasingly desperate. Hard

economic times usually lead to an increase in crime, but what is happening

across the U.S. now is absolutely stunning.

2. United Kingdom

The following is the data for United Kingdom is given as follows for the year

1997 -2007:

year public expenditure education unemployment urbanization crime rates

1997 4.9 11.4034 7 78.4722 5.298

1998 4.6 11.01158 6.099999905 78.5318 5.167

1999 4.5 11.02754 5.900000095 78.5914 5.552

2000 4.7 11.99855 5.5 78.651 5.975

2001 4.6 11.93781 4.699999809 78.7222 6.014

2002 4.7 11.53052 5.099999905 78.7934 5.638

2003 4.9 11.78244 4.800000191 78.8646 5.555

2004 5 11.90883 4.599999905 78.9358 5.428

2005 5 11.74805 4.599999905 79.007 4.951

2006 5.1 11.05205 5.400000095 79.1072 4.703

2007 4.9 11.26112 5.199999809 79.2074 4.339

On regressing the above variables on crime rates, we get the following result:

C =137.5041381 -0.494033696P +0.533482903E +0.282720743U +1.705777057Z

The above equation is consistent to the theory of crimes to the extent that

crime rates increase as the level of public expenditure on law and order falls.

Also as education level rises, the crimes increase and mostly consist of white

collar crimes; but this in no case means that reducing the level of education

will reduce crimes. It can happen that the positive relation can be attributed

to the jobless educated; even when the level of education is high but less

opportunities for work, the youth turns to quicker methods of making

money and end up with criminal activities. Here urbanization also has a

positive impact on crimes.

For the given equation, for reducing crimes by 1%, public expenditure on

law and order must rise by 0.494%. An increase of unemployment by

0.2828% leads to increase in crime rates by 1%. The unemployment in the

state of UK due to the current recession and crisis thus requires a lot of

attention not only due to its bad effect on growth of economy but also on the

level of crimes and thus the society.

~ 18 ~

3. Japan

The statistics for the country of Japan as collected by the World Bank are

given as follows:

year public expenditure education unemployment urbanization crime rates

1997 2.3 9.26679 3.400000095 78.2692 2.166

1998 2.4 10.48587 4.099999905 78.3958 2.443

1999 2.4 10.54184 4.699999809 78.5224 2.736

2000 2.4 10.58647 4.800000191 78.649 2.854

2001 2.4 9.6656 5 80.1148 2.79

2002 2.4 9.79781 5.400000095 81.5806 2.563

2003 2.4 9.48258 5.199999809 83.0464 2.269

2004 2.4 9.50808 4.699999809 84.5122 2.051

2005 2.5 9.41125 4.400000095 85.978 1.909

2006 2.3 9.40536 4.099999905 86.8906 1.818

2007 2.4 9.4033 3.900000095 87.8032 1.801

Crime in Japan is lower than in many other first world countries. While

crime is still infrequent in Japan, the past decade has seen increasing

crime. The lack of crime can be explained by the Japanese concept of the

Insider vs. the Outsider and putting the group well-being above that of the

individual. This country has therefore been chosen against two developed

countries of the west with high rates of crime and to make a comparison

between the three. On regressing the above variables on crime rates, we get

the following result to be interpreted:

C =5.427863206 -0.190044944P +0.168786428E +0.285842071U -0.068235295Z

The resulted equation is consistent with the theory of crimes. As the public

expenditure on law and order rises, the level of criminal activities in the

country has fallen. Also it is worthwhile to see that being a very peaceful

county intrinsically; it has to spend less than other violent countries like US

or UK. While such countries 0.39%- 0.49% for reducing crime by a unit,

Japan only needs to spend a very less of around 0.19% extra. The lesser

level of crime is attributed to the fact that committing a crime, which

negatively impacts the overall group, also causes the criminal to become an

Outsider. This desire to remain part of the Inside group, and/or not to

appear different, is the crux which keeps the criminal activity to a

minimum. Additionally, the laws when caught are harsh and swift. The

levels of unemployment and urbanization also affect crimes and have a

positive impact on crime rates.

Through a study of the three very different countries with different histories,

social background and current economic status, we find out that the crimes

~ 19 ~

rates are affected by social (urbanization and education), economic

(unemployment) and political (level of public expenditure on law and order)

factors. In this section, we tried to quantify the relations and thus can

conclude that crime rates are always negatively impacted by law and order

expenditures but the level of social factors has an ambiguous effect on the

criminal activities. The level of unemployment not only degrades the

economic activity of the country and thereby effecting economic growth but

can also lead to serious law breaking issues. Any increase in unemployment

can lead to a recession and then a more alarming situation by increasing

disturbances and tensions in the society through crimes.

~ 20 ~

CONCLUSION

When informal relationships and sanctions prove insufficient to establish

and maintain a desired social order, a government or a state may impose

more formalized or stricter systems of social control. With institutional and

legal machinery at their disposal, agents of the State can compel

populations to conform to codes and can opt to punish or attempt to reform

those who do not conform. Authorities employ various mechanisms to

regulate (encouraging or discouraging) certain behaviours in general.

Governing or administering agencies may for example codify rules into laws,

police citizens and visitors to ensure that they comply with those laws, and

implement other policies and practices that legislators or administrators

have prescribed with the aim of discouraging or preventing crime. In

addition, authorities provide remedies and sanctions, and collectively these

constitute a criminal justice system. Legal sanctions vary widely in their

severity; they may include (for example) incarceration of temporary

character aimed at reforming the convict.

Depending on the context of the paper, we also tried to find out the factors

affecting the extent of crimes and criminal activities. We also answered a few

questions relating to (1) What prompts individuals to get involved in crime?

(2) Why do certain individuals offend more frequently than others? (3) Why

do some individuals remain in crime longer than others? (4) Why are some

offences more common than others? (5) Why are certain areas more crime-

prone than others? and (6) Why is crime higher at some time periods than

others?

There is no single factor or set of factors which causes an individual to

become involved in crime. Being criminal is not like having a disease. Crime

rises or falls over time in response to a wide variety of factors. Economic

factors (e.g. unemployment) appear to play an important role in shaping

trends in property crime. Alcohol consumption and unemployment appear to

influence levels of violent crime. Other potential influences on overall levels

of crime include the availability of firearms, rates of family breakdown, the

percentage of sole parent families living in poverty, levels of geographic

mobility and the percentage of females in the labour force.

Because crime is not the result of any single factor or combination of

factors, it makes no sense to seek to control crime by any single strategy or

set of strategies. A mix of strategies will always be appropriate. The

emphasis on particular strategies should vary according to the nature of the

~ 21 ~

crime problem at hand, the available options for influencing the problem

and the urgency with which change is required. Governments anxious to

maximise their control over crime are better off trying to influence as many

factors as possible, rather than concentrating all their efforts on one or two

factors.

Therefore the most effective methods to combat crime are: prevention

through deterrence and forestallments, effective law enforcement, and

rehabilitation and treatment of criminals. Here are a few quotes on crimes

and fighting them:

"A key step in reducing crime would be to legalize and regulate forms of crime that

are engaged in voluntarily by all parties involved: notably, the production, trade in

and consumption of drugs. The state should not prohibit, but regulate production,

distribution and consumption, in such a way that the chance of damaging side

effects is minimized. The most important goal of regulation should be to restrict the

option of drug use to adults: for anyone younger than eighteen consumption should

be strictly off-limits."

"A major way to fight crime would be reform prison systems by having them live

up to their official label: correctional facilities. Prisons should focus on

rehabilitation, particularly for first- time offenders. Rehabilitation should instill or

strengthen the basic norms, values and attitudes that keep a person from doing

harm to others and society as a whole, and prepare for a successful (re)entry in

economic life."

~ 22 ~

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au

law.jrank.org

plato.stanford.edu

en.wikipedia.org

www.independent.co.uk

www.jstor.org (Rates of Crime and Unemployment: An Analysis of

Aggregate Research Evidence, Theodore G. Chiricos)

books.google.co.in (Controlling Crime By Eugene McLaughlin, John

Muncie)

Data for analysis in the paper has been collected from:

http://stats.oecd.org/OECDStat_Metadata

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov

The World Bank: Data (data.worldbank.org/)