CRIME INVESTIGATION IN VENEZUELA - PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES (FROM CAPITULO CRIMINOLOGICO 5, P 9, 11-22, 1977)

• NCJ Number: 68037
• Author(s): L ANIYAR DE CASTRO
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Best Practice/State-of-the-Art Review
• Language: Spanish
• Country: Venezuela
• Note: LECTURE PRESENTED TO THE FIRST SEMINAR ON CRIMINOLOGY OF THE CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES, GUADELOUPE, DECEMBER 1976

Annotation

PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES OF CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN VENEZUELA ARE ANALYZED AGAINST THAT COUNTRY'S SOCIOCULTURAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND AND FROM A RADICAL CRIMINOLOGIST'S VIEWPOINT.

Abstract

VENEZUELA EXHIBITS THE CRIME PATTERNS TYPICAL OF THE WESTERN WORLD, WITH A PREDOMINANCE OF GOLDEN AND DARK FIGURES OF CRIME: WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES ARE NOT ONLY ALMOST NEVER PROSECUTED, BUT NOT EVEN MENTIONED IN GOVERNMENT STATISTICS. AMONG CONVENTIONAL CRIMES, THE FOLLOWING ARE PREVALENT: ILLEGAL ABORTION; DRUG TRAFFIC (MOSTLY CENTERED IN CARACAS) VEHICLE THEFT; ARMED ROBBERIES; BAD CHECKS (ALMOST ALWAYS SETTLED OUT OF COURT); SMUGGLING (POLICE ARREST THE LOWEST-ECHELON DEALERS, BUT NEVER TOUCH THE TRAFFIC BOSSES); BANK ROBBERIES; BURGLARIES, AND TRAFFIC-RELATED OFFENSES. THE REAL CRIME PROBLEM IS, HOWEVER, CORRUPTION OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND ECONOMIC CRIME, CAUSED BY THE EASY AVAILABILITY OF ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF PETROLEUM MONEY, AS WELL AS BY THE MATERIALISTIC VALUES PREVAILING IN THIS CAPITALISTIC, WESTERN-STYLE DEMOCRACY. THE CRIMINOLOGICAL PHILOSOPHIES ADOPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT ARE THOSE DERIVED FROM ITALY, FRANCE, AND THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES, NOT SUITABLE TO VENEZUELAN SOCIOCULTURAL REALITIES. THE CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN VENEZUELAN UNIVERSITIES AND, ODDLY ENOUGH, IN SOME GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED INSTITUTES, REFLECTS PROGRESSIVE AND REALISTIC PHILOSOPHIES, HOWEVER. SINCE IT IS MOSTLY ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT IN ORIENTATION, ITS PRACTITIONERS ARE MISTRUSTED BY THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH DENIES THEM ACCESS TO SIGNIFICANT OFFICIAL RECORDS. CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH HAS OTHER PROBLEMS; E.G., EXCESSIVE HETEROGENEITY OF APPROACHES; A SURVIVAL OF OLD-FASHIONED, POSITIVISTIC, REALITY-FRAGMENTING PHILOSOPHIES; AND LACK OF INTEREST IN OBJECTIVES ON THE PART OF THE OFFICIAL JUDICIAL ESTABLISHMENT, WHICH IS RELUCTANT TO IMPLEMENT ANY CORRECTIONAL REFORMS. FINALLY, METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS ABOUND, SUCH AS EXCESSIVE RELIANCE ON QUANTIFIABLE DATA, GRAPHS, MATHEMATICAL MODELS, AND COMPUTERIZED DATA BASES. A NEGLECT OF SOCIOLOGICAL REALITIES IS A FURTHER LIMITATION. DESPITE ITS PROBLEMS, VENEZUELA'S CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH IS CALLING ATTENTION TO THE DEFICIENCIES OF THE LEGAL ORDER, THE STATE, PENOLOGICAL CONVENTIONS, STRATIFIED REPRESSION, AND TO THE SHORTCOMINGS OF CRIMINOLOGY ITSELF. --IN SPANISH (LGR)