Old Geezer Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 Why are crime rates for many violent crimes higher in the US than in Europe? Wouldnt the opposite follow from a country with fewer Socialist Policies and Higher Incarceration rates for violent criminals? what explains this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AisA Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 Could you elaborate on which crimes you mean and in which countries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationalBiker Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 When I want a source for comparative stats between different countries, I go to: www.nationmaster.com (edited due to serious blunder on MY part, sorry) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_tot_cri_cap Granted, the US is high on the list, but UK beats it out as well as Finland and Denmark, with the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and France nipping at the US's heels. (edited due to serious blunder on MY part, sorry) Now if we look at Murders per capita, we are RELATIVELY high on the list compared to the UK (and most European countries), but only .04 per 1000 as opposed to .01 per 1000 in actual numbers. In Assaults per capita, we are much closer at 7.7 per 1000 (US) vs. 7.5 per 1000 (UK). There's a lot more comparative information on that web site for those interested in perusing. VES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainoffire Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 I presume he is referring to crimes such as assault, murder etc and the rates of them in countries such as England, Sweeden when compared to the US Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidV Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 That website happens to be a good indicator of why “crime rates” are not a valid indicator of the actual crime levels in a country. According to nationmaster.com, the crime rates in America are four times those of Russia. Obviously, the reality is opposite, but official statistics are based on reported rather than actual rates of crime. Since the rate of reported crime is inversely related to criminal activity, statistics based on reported crime rates are deeply flawed. In reality, I suspect that the US is one of the safest nations on the planet in terms of criminal activity, and THE safest in terms of initiation force against citizens, if we include the government. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainoffire Posted April 24, 2004 Report Share Posted April 24, 2004 Since the rate of reported crime is inversely related to criminal activity, statistics based on reported crime rates are deeply flawed. I'm not sure I follow this point -could you calrify for me please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_Halley Posted April 24, 2004 Report Share Posted April 24, 2004 The more control crime has over an area, the less likely that there are honest people to report a crime, and the less likely that those honest people will be safe in doing so. So, the more crime there is, the more it becomes unlikely that any given crime will be reported. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainoffire Posted April 25, 2004 Report Share Posted April 25, 2004 Ok, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidV Posted April 25, 2004 Report Share Posted April 25, 2004 The more control crime has over an area, the less likely that there are honest people to report a crime, and the less likely that those honest people will be safe in doing so. So, the more crime there is, the more it becomes unlikely that any given crime will be reported. Or, from a positive perspective, the more effective the police is in punishing criminals, the more likely it is that crimes will be reported. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Geezer Posted April 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Or, from a positive perspective, the more effective the police is in punishing criminals, the more likely it is that crimes will be reported. GC, with the exception of the FBI run Uniform Crime Report, many of the other major crime statistics reflect self-report questions, (Have you been raped in the last year?) etc. Do you see a reason why Crime Victimization surveys would reflect a difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidV Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 GC, with the exception of the FBI run Uniform Crime Report, many of the other major crime statistics reflect self-report questions, (Have you been raped in the last year?) etc. Do you see a reason why Crime Victimization surveys would reflect a difference? A. The statistical comparison above is not based on self-reporting. B. Self reporting statistics can be even more biased than official crime reports. How many valid self-reports do you expect from Russia, Nigeria or Rwanda, or the various lobbying groups that usually produce them? Even in civilized countries, the self-reports can be widely skewed. Are you familiar with the infamous “one in four college-age women has been raped” statistics? The actual survey question asked was something liked “have you ever felt threatened by a man?” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshRyan Posted May 9, 2004 Report Share Posted May 9, 2004 [Edit] Moved thread from "Metaphysics and Epistemology" forum to "Political Philosophy" forum. [/edit] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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