NCJ Number
177863
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Dated: May/June 1999 Pages: 259-274
Date Published
1999
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study compared the characteristics of nations with low violent crime rates (LVC) with those of nations with high violent crime rates (HVC).
Abstract
The research goal was to study a sufficient number of nations to yield results with good generality, while allowing for a sufficient degree of in-depth analysis and verification of data quality and amounts of crime. A nation was classified as LVC or HVC if at least two sources indicated the nation was low or high on violent crime relative to most other nations in the same geographic region, and no source indicated otherwise. Two primary data sources were used to compare and contrast LVC and HVC nations: the online Library of Congress "Country Study Books" and the U.S. Department of State 1993 and 1994 "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices." These information sources were examined to compare and contrast LVC and HVC nations, looking for systematic differences while recognizing differing social and historical contexts. Six LVC nations were compared and contrasted with six HVC nations. Analysis resulted in five categories of factors that distinguished LVC from HVC nations: social integration versus disorganization, economic stress versus support, care versus abuse of children, official/approved violence, and the degrees of corruption and efficiency of the criminal justice system. Using structural and cultural contexts relevant to violent crime, these factors were integrated into a model of cross-national violent crime variation. 1 table and 84 references