NCJ Number
109911
Journal
Crime and Social Justice Issue: 29 Dated: (1987) Pages: 26-42
Date Published
1987
Length
17 pages
Annotation
After reviewing the definition and measurement of crime in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), this article discusses the etiology of crime, the socioeconomic bases of criminality in the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), and crime prevention emphases in the GDR.
Abstract
Although criminality is essentially determined through the development, molding, and shaping of the individual personality, the personality is molded through interaction with specific social conditions. Economic, social, and political developments in the FRG are a continuation of the social conditions prevailing in Germany between the two World Wars. In contrast, fundamental social transformations have occurred in the GDR. Exploitation by dominant social classes has been replaced by centrally planned and managed state-owned enterprises. Citizens are involved in the management of the socioeconomic structures that influence their lives. Crime in the FRG and the GDR have striking differences. While crime is growing in the FRG, it is decreasing in the GDR, and the crimes committed are generally minor property offenses. The development of socialist relations of production in urban and rural areas has created the possibility of qualitatively new relations among people in the GDR. Central features in crime prevention in the GDR are integrity within the criminal justice system and the citizenry's involvement in crime prevention. 7 tables on the GDR crime rate, 7 notes, and 6 references.