NCJ Number
65619
Date Published
1975
Length
95 pages
Annotation
THIS REPORT TRACES SOME OF THE MORE APPARENT SOCIOECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF DIFFERENT KINDS AND LEVELS OF CRIME, CONCLUDING THAT THE COST IS FAR GREATER THAN GENERALLY ASSUMED OR ADMITTED, AND UNEVENLY DISTRIBUTED.
Abstract
PREPARED BY THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT FOR PRESENTATION AT THE FIFTH UNITED NATIONS CONGRESS ON THE PREVENTION OF CRIME AND THE TREATMENT OF OFFENDERS, HELD IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, IN 1975, THIS PAPER CONSIDERS THE COSTS OF CRIME FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE. THE ECONOMIC COSTS ALONE ARRE STAGGERING (E.G., $88.6 BILLION IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1974 COMPARED TO $51 BILLION IN 1970), BUT THE PSYCHOSOCIAL COSTS ARE HARDER TO QUANTIFY, EVEN WITH BETTER EVALUATION TECHNIQUES THAN THOSE AVAILABLE AT PRESENT. FURTHERMORE, CRIME COSTS ARE UNEVENLY DISTRIBUTED, WITH THE HEAVIER BURDEN FALLING ON THOSE LEAST ABLE TO BEAR IT. THE COSTS TO SOCIETY AS A WHOLE ARE GENERALLY HIGHER FOR WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES (FIGURES ARE CITED FOR TAX EVASION AND BRIBERY IN ITALY, FRANCE, AND JAPAN). HOWEVER, PROPERTY CRIMES, SUCH AS ROBBERIES, BURGLARIES, FRAUD, AND EMBEZZLEMENT, ALSO REACH INTO THE BILLIONS IN MOST INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES. THE PERCEIVED DANGER OF BECOMING VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIMES KEPT LARGE NUMBERS OF PROSPECTIVE TOURISTS FROM TRAVELING TO COUNTRIES HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON THE TOURIST TRADE (E.G., JAMAICA AND SOME LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES), THUS DEPRIVING THEM OF BADLY NEEDED REVENUES. CRIME LOSSES EXCEED BY FAR THE LARGELY ILLUSORY GAINS. PSYCHOLOGICAL COSTS INVOLVE THOSE PAID BY CRIME VICTIMS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED BODILY HARM IN ADDITION TO IRRETRIEVABLE FINANCIAL LOSSES. FEAR OF CRIME SPREADS FROM INDIVIDUALS TO ENTIRE COMMUNITIES, CAUSING LIFESTYLE CHANGES AND TURNING HOMES LOCATED IN SOME URBAN AREAS INTO FORTRESSES. CRIME VICTIMS ARE FORGOTTEN PERSONS IN MOST INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES, WHEREAS RESTITUTION IS STILL A CARDINAL PRINCIPLE OF INDIGENOUS CUSTOMARY JUSTICE IN MOST DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. AMONG CRIME VICTIMS, THE POWERLESS, THE POOR, THE OLD, AND THE UNEDUCATED ARE FAR EASIER TARGETS FOR BOTH SOPHISTICATED OFFENSES (E.G., FRAUD SCHEMES) AND ORDINARY STREET CRIME, AND THEY LACK THE KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES NEEDED TO USE THE FEW AVENUES OF REDRESS OPEN TO THEM. SIMILARLY, POOR COUNTRIES ARE VULNERABLE TO VICTIMIZATION BY TRANSNATIONAL ECONOMIC OPERATIONS AIDED BY LOCAL, CORRUPT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. INEFFECTIVE TREATMENT OF OFFENDERS ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO INCREASING CRIME COSTS. A SYSTEM APPROACH SHOULD BE USED WHICH CONSIDERS CRUCIAL INTERDEPENDENCIES AND CLEARLY IDENTIFIES PRESSURE POINTS, AS PART OF A GLOBAL EFFORT TO REDUCE AND REDISTRIBUTE CRIME COSTS. EXTENSIVE FOOTNOTES AND TABULAR DATA ARE INCLUDED. (LGR)