Essentials of Criminal Justice 9th Edition by Larry Siegel ,John Worrall

تمرين 1

International Crime Trends
The United Nations has conducted international surveys on crime around the world, and its findings indicate that despite highly publicized mass killings, there has been a marked decline in overall US crime rates, and rates in the United States are now below those of other industrial nations, including England and Wales, Denmark, and Finland.
In the Western world, the countries with the highest crime and victimization rate are Ireland, England and Wales, New Zealand, and Iceland. Lowest overall victimization rates are found in Spain, Japan, Hungary, and Portugal. Just as in the United States, there has been a distinct downward trend in the level of crime and victimization during the past decade. Also similarly, some cities have much higher crime rates than others. The cities in developed countries with the lowest victimization rates are Hong Kong, Lisbon, Budapest, Athens, and Madrid; highest victimization rates are found in London and Tallinn, Estonia. Although victimization rates are still high, most of the countries show a distinct downward trend in the level of victimization since 1995. The drops are most pronounced in property crimes such as vehicle-related crimes (bicycle theft, thefts from cars, and joyriding) and burglary. In most countries, crime rates are back at the level of the late 1980s. One reason is that people around the world are taking precautions to prevent crime. Improved security may well have been one of the main forces behind the universal drop in crimes such as joyriding and household burglary.
Homicide
The latest data show countries in Europe, Asia, and North America have relatively low homicide rates, while nations in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Southern Africa are significantly higher. Some nations, including Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela, have recorded significant increases in homicide rates in recent years: the murder rate in Honduras doubled since 2004. In contrast, nations with lower homicide rates have either been stable or have had gradually decreasing murder rates over time. Countries in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe show consistent decreasing trends, though a few countries in Europe, including Switzerland, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Republic of Moldova, show small but noticeable increases.
Many nations, especially those experiencing social or economic upheaval, have murder rates much higher than the United States, which is about 5 per 100,000. In comparison, Colombia has more than 33 homicides per 100,000 people, and South Africa has 50. During the past decade, there were more homicides in Brazil (23 per 100,000) than in the United States, Canada, Italy, Japan, Australia, Portugal, Britain, Austria, and Germany taken together. Why are murder rates so high in Brazil? Law enforcement officials link the upsurge in violence to drug trafficking, gang feuds, vigilantism, and disputes over trivial matters, in which young, unmarried, uneducated males are involved.
Rape
Southern Africa, Oceania, and North America have the highest recorded rape rates, Asia the lowest. Violence against women is related to economic hardship and the social status of women. Rates are high in poor nations in which women are oppressed. Where women are more emancipated, the rates of violence against women are lower.
For many women, sexual violence starts in childhood and adolescence and may occur in the home, school, and community. Studies conducted in a wide variety of nations ranging from Cameroon to New Zealand found high rates of reported forced sexual initiation. In some nations, as many as 46 percent of adolescent women and 20 percent of adolescent men report sexual coercion at the hands of family members, teachers, boyfriends, or strangers.
Sexual violence has significant health consequences, including suicide, stress, mental illnesses, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, self-inflicted injuries, and (in the case of child sexual abuse) adoption of high-risk behaviors such as multiple sexual partners and drug use.
Human Trafficking
According to the United Nations, the most common form of human trafficking (79 percent) is sexual exploitation. The victims of sexual exploitation are predominantly women and girls. Surprisingly, women make up the largest proportion of traffickers. In some parts of the world, women trafficking women is the norm. The second most common form of human trafficking is forced labor (18 percent), although this may be a misrepresentation because forced labor is less frequently detected and reported than trafficking for sexual exploitation.
Worldwide, almost 20 percent of all trafficking victims are children. However, in some parts of Africa and the Mekong region, children are the majority (up to 100 percent in parts of West Africa). Although trafficking seems to imply people moving across continents, most exploitation takes place close to home. Data show intraregional and domestic trafficking are the major forms of trafficking in persons.
Child Abuse
According to the World Health Organization, up to 53,000 children are murdered worldwide each year. and the prevalence of forced sexual intercourse and other forms of sexual violence involving touch, among boys and girls under 18, is 73 million (or 7 percent) and 150 million (or 14 percent), respectively. Between 80 and 93 percent of children suffer some form of physical punishment in their homes; a third are punished using implements. International studies reveal that approximately 20 percent of women and 5 to 10 percent of men report being sexually abused as children, while 25 to 50 percent of all children report being physically abused. Additionally, many children are subject to emotional abuse (sometimes referred to as psychological abuse) and to neglect. Every year, there are an estimated 31,000 homicide deaths in children under 15. This number underestimates the true extent of the problem, as a significant proportion of deaths due to child maltreatment are incorrectly attributed to falls, burns, drowning, and other causes. In armed conflict and refugee settings, girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence, exploitation, and abuse by combatants, security forces, members of their communities, aid workers, and others.
Drug Crimes
Today there is an annual flow of about 450 tons of heroin into the global heroin market. Of that total, opium from Myanmar and the Lao People's Democratic Republic yields some 50 tons, while the rest, some 380 tons of heroin and morphine, is produced in Afghanistan. While approximately 5 tons are consumed and seized in Afghanistan, the remaining bulk of 375 tons is trafficked worldwide. The most common route is through Iran via Pakistan, Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria, then across South-Eastern Europe to the Western European market, with an annual market value of some $20 billion. The northern route runs mainly through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (or Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan) to Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. The size of that market is estimated to total $13 billion per year
CRITICAL THINKING
Although risk factors at all levels of social and personal life contribute to youth violence, young people in all nations who experience change in societal-level factors-such as economic inequalities, rapid social change, and the availability of firearms, alcohol, and drugs-seem the most likely to get involved in violence. Can anything be done to help alleviate these social problems?