NCJ Number
74075
Date Published
1980
Length
102 pages
Annotation
This is the sixth in a series of annual reviews of crime and criminal justice in Finland. In addition to 1979 crime data, a summary perspective extends over the entire decade of the 1970's.
Abstract
In sketching the societal framework, the paper observes that such changes as urban migration and service-orientation in industry, so noticeably strong at the beginning of the decade, seem to be slowing down at its end. Crime statistics indicate a similar trend; having peaked in 1974 and 1975, various crime categories have since levelled off. The statistics offered in this report have been arranged by demographic areas (metropolitan, cities with populations of more than 30,000, cities with less than 30,000 inhabitants, and rural areas) and include homicide, assault, robbery, theft, embezzlement, fraud, and damage to property. From 1978 to 1979, homicides increased by 10 percent (including attempted homicides), assaults increased by 15 percent, thefts by 15 percent, and drunken driving by 2 percent. Robberies, however, decreased by 5 percent and auto thefts by 1 percent. The number of people accused of offenses in Finland in 1977 rose by 4 percent to 323,251. Of these, 318,658 were sentenced; the vast majority were fined through a simplified penal order process, and only 9 percent of the offenders were imprisoned. In general, the use of imprisonment has been curtailed in Finland. Increasing numbers of prison sentences are being set conditionally, and the median length of prison sentences has been continually decreasing. At the end of 1979, there were 4,457 prisoners serving sentences in Finnish prisons. Even though the number of prisoners has decreased in the late 1970's, the Finnish imprisonment rate is still higher than in the other Scandinavian countries. Extensive tabular and graphic data are supplied.