Project.crimes

LAW
and
ECONOMICS
(Semester II)
CRIMES
The paper is an attempt to quantify the relationship between the
magnitudes of crimes in a country to the various factors that
affect the rate of crime. It has used data on the level of
expenditure on law and order along with level of education,
unemployment and urbanization which are said to influence the
criminal activities.

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CONTENTS
 Introduction.......................................................................................3
(understanding the basic concept of crime and criminal activities in our
day to day life; understanding its effect on the society)
 What is
crime?................................................................................................6
(definition of crime; theoretical types of crimes)
 Roots of crime....................................................................................8
(factors affecting criminal activities; economic, social and mental status
of individual is as factors; also according to criminology, different
factors responsible; public nature of crimes)
 Economic Analysis of Crime.............................................................11
(difference between crimes and torts; empirical statistics of relationship
between crime and various factors affecting it; public expenditure on
law and order, education and unemployment; graphs to support)
 Quantitative Analysis of Crimes.......................................................15
(quantifying the relation between crimes and factors affecting together;
examples of countries different in socio economic and political structure;
use of regression and equations to prove)
 Conclusion.......................................................................................20
(concluding remarks on crimes, factors relating to crimes; policies to be
used for fighting crimes)
 Bibliography....................................................................................22

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INTRODUCTION
Every day the morning papers bring news of dacoities and murders,
kidnappings and rapes, hold-ups of trains and hijackings of planes,
adulteration of foodstuffs, drugs and even of poisons. All this makes one sit
up and wonder whether crime is inseparable from civilized life. We appear to
live on an earth of well-dressed gangs.
Men have been barbarians much longer than they have been civilized. They
are only precariously civilized and deep within them there is the propensity,
persistent as the force of gravity to revert to our first natures. Small wonder
that under stress and strain the most civilized people are as near barbarism
as the most polished steel is to rust. Nations, like metals have only a
superficial brilliancy.
Compared with our wonderful progress in physical service and practical
applications, our system of government, of administering justice of national
education, and our whole social and moral organization, remains in a state
of barbarism.
The wealth and knowledge and culture of the few do not constitute
civilization. Shaw has castigated our superficial civilization in words bitter
but true. "Our laws make law impossible; our liberties destroy all freedom;
our property is organized robbery; our morality is an impudent hypocrisy;
our wisdom is administered by inexperienced or mal-experienced dupes, our
power wielded by cowards and weaklings, and our honour false in all its
points."
Crime and violence are inherent in our political and social system. "The poor
are always with us" said Christ and the believer reconciled himself to his lot.
But the time comes when it is asserted that poverty is man-made and stems
from the inequity of the wicked system that obtains. The covert crime begets
the overt crime.
The biggest of all crimes that we associate with this civilization is the horror
of war. War today is murder on a gigantic scale. At one time it was thought a
few hundred corpses would be enough; then came a time when thousands
were still too few and today we cannot even count all the dead wherever we
look. And the irony is that this large-scale killing, this organized butchery is
eulogized in glowing terms, and Victoria Crosses are awarded. Besides,
being organized murder, war is also organized loot.

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All efforts are directed towards crippling the economy of the enemy. The
atom bomb was thrown not on Tokyo, the capital of Japan but on
Hiroshima, the industrial hub of that country. The outcome of war in the
modern world is un payable debts, repudiations, ruined investments, the
utter disorganization of finance, the collapse of the monetary system, the
disappearance of the greater part of foreign trade, and, usually, on top of it,
revolution from below. Here then is a crime, which does not pay.
The crimes of extreme civilization are probably worse than those of extreme
barbarism, because of their refinement, the corruption they presuppose and
their superior degree of intellectuality. The barbarian hacked the enemy to
pieces; the civilized man tortures him mentally, wins him financially and
then, if necessary liquidates him physically. Politicians are past masters in
this sordid game. The barbarian was cruel but open-handed, his descendant
today is no less cruel but hypocritical.
The barbarian was a beast, with beastly appetites. He was a tiger, an ape, a
camel, a goat in turn, whatever suited the occasion. After all it was a
struggle for survival, for him. He acted like an automaton. There was no
consciousness of crime. The modern civilized man perpetrates crime
deliberately. He hoards foodstuffs with a view to selling them at the
opportune moment. And in the meantime millions are starved to death.
Bengal famine was a glaring example of this sordid game.The civilized man
stabs in the dark. His crimes wear a thick cloak.
The crime is a result of various things in our life, the first biggest and the
greatest one is called money, an expression is that ―money is root of all evil".
Many people who are in need of money, they commit different types of
crimes just to avail money. And the second one and most popular is
revenge, in this circumstance most people do not want to call the police,
mostly such types of incidents are happened in upper Sindh.
Poor people commit some small crimes because of money; they may steal
and snatch things like mobiles and bikes. Some people used to be beggars,
some people were workers but none of them was born as a criminal.
Poor people who have aim, mission and destiny in his life, they can become
transcendental person without commit any crime but fame, painstaking and
hard work is needed. Not only poor people commit crimes but also rich
people are busy in commit crimes and to breach law and legislation,
although they are already rich. They accumulate money through many ways
against humanity. They give the priority to accumulate lots of money
through some faster methods such as grog‘s, trade and smuggling etc....

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they should use their money in useful projects for the sake of healthy,
prosperous and peaceful society.
People, who commit small crimes, are not like great and dangerous crimes.
The punishment of small crimes is small and lower level. a criminal of a
small crime have to be sentenced to prison for months or just to pay money
as a compensation ( fine ) or any other punishment according to the stand
point of the judge. And on the other hand, huge crimes require a strong
punishment such as almost represented in torture and murdering crimes.
The punishment of such crimes is sentence to imprisonment of life or
sentence to death to make criminals afraid and timed of committing these
crimes against human rights. These persons with their dreadful crimes do
not have the right to reside side to side with other peaceful people.
Justice is a small word, but it has a great and transcendental meaning as it
play an important role in crimes and punishment. A judge has to take the
balance of each criminal to be perfectly matched with his crime. Justice also
makes criminals be afraid, timed and coward of each punishment. Such
punishments become compel to the criminal to think hundreds of times
before committing any crime.
Now, we have to plane to eliminate these types of crimes from our peaceful
society, and to make jurisdiction in order to law according to constitution of
Pakistan. restoration of justice in all over the world under the supervision of
law to give the rights to each desire person, sovereign to the institutions and
departments as they do their properly and we have to promote law
education to every one as we serve the nation as well as individual rights
and lawyers use their knowledge and power of law to defeat culprits, to
execute proper punishment for contempt of law and order.
Generally, crimes are considered the biggest problem in our daily life. all
classes of people commit crimes but on one of them has the right to do.
Crime is a bad phenomenon that appeared in all ages and it is prevalent till
now.......

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WHAT IS CRIME?
What is crime?
This seems to be a straightforward question that should have a
straightforward answer but it isn‘t. A crime in and of itself is defined as: is
any act or omission (of an act) in violation of a public law forbidding or
commanding it, but this does not cover the whole aspect of defining crime.
There are two types of crimes classified as felonies (serious) and
misdemeanors (less serious). What is interesting about these types of crimes
is that the laws that govern crimes vary from state to state and that the
crime is not even considered a crime unless it is precedented.
From a Legal standpoint crime consists of two elements: an act called "actus
reus" and a mental state called "mens rea." It is up to a prosecutor to make
the case beyond a reasonable doubt; they represent the state and must
convince a judge and a jury of the guilt of the person who committed the
crime.
Crimes can be classified into two basic groups; "mala in se" which are
crimes that are wrong in and of themselves, rape, murder, assault, etc., and
"mala prohibita" it‘s wrong because it is prohibited, it infringes upon others‘
rights because it is prohibited; drunk driving and such. To clarify further
there are crimes against the state as in treason or sedition, crimes against
people like murder, assault, rape, and kidnapping. There are crimes against
habitation like burglary, arson and home invasions. Further, there are
crimes against property; theft, larceny, robbery, vandalism, forgery,
extortion, fraud, and embezzlement. There are crimes against public order;
disorderly conduct, vagrancy, incitement to riot, motor vehicle offenses, and
alcohol and drugs. There are crimes against administration of justice;
contempt of court, resisting arrest and escaping from jail. Finally there are
crimes against public morals; prostitution, gambling, obscenity, and incest.
But keep in mind; it‘s still not a crime until it has been classified as one.
Crime should not be confused with criminal law and there is not an easy
way to define this. In the above paragraphs I have tried to define what a
crime is. Criminal law however, it defines what crime is and all the elements
thereof. There are people who don‘t know the difference between right and
wrong, they don‘t suffer from a conscience like most of us do. They put their
own needs and wants above everything else. The things they do are the
essence of the crime itself, what the law does about it is the difference.

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Crime is basically public in nature: crimes can be seen as harming or
wronging ‗the public‘ —‗the public‘ being understood either a set of
individuals among whom we cannot identify determinate individual victims,
or collectively with shared goods that crime impairs. First, ‗public order‘
offences involving violent, riotous conduct are injurious to the public in that
they pose a threat of serious harm to any of the indeterminate number of
individuals in the area, and might threaten to undermine that shared sense
of assured security on which our civic life depends. Second, some crimes
attack or threaten the polity's own institutions, and thus threaten or harm
‗the public‘ collectively. This category includes such crimes as perjury,
attempts to pervert the course of justice, the offering of bribes to, or their
acceptance by, public officials, and various kinds of electoral malpractice. In
some such cases a determinate individual might be wrongfully harmed.
Third, other kinds of wrongful conduct are apt for criminalisation because
they involve serious unfairness towards one's fellow citizens.

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ROOTS OF CRIME?
Individuals need to be responsible for their own actions. An understanding
of root causes cannot and should not be seen as a way to absolve us from
personal accountability. However, while individuals have an obligation to act
responsibly and with respect for their fellow citizens, communities have a
responsibility to address those conditions, which hinder healthy
development and can become the breeding ground for crime. The root
causes of crime are well documented and researched. Crime is primarily the
outcome of multiple adverse social, economic, cultural and family
conditions. To prevent crime it is important to have an understanding of its
roots.
These are complex and interrelated, but can be summarized in three main
categories:
• Economic Factors/Poverty
• Social Environment
• Family Structures
Economic Factors/Poverty
In addition to lack of financial resources, poverty manifests itself in a lack of
educational opportunities, lack of meaningful employment options, poor
housing, lack of hope and the prejudice against persons living in poverty.
Low family income and poor housing often amplify poor parental
supervision, marital disharmony, inconsistent care, poor nutrition, chronic
health care problems, poor school performance and psychological disorders.
Unsatisfactory living conditions are particularly stressful during pregnancy.
Fetal development is negatively affected by maternal stress. Such stress has
shown to be closely related to ill-health, neurological problems, slow
development and behaviour disturbances in children. While there is not
direct cause and effect relationship between poverty and crime, the
conditions arising out of poverty combine to create "high" risk populations
who are over-represented in the criminal justice system.
Many studies find that a high number of youth and adults admitted to
correctional facilities are unemployed. Persistent unemployment often
creates a sense of despair, particularly amongst youth and can provoke
angry expression including theft, substance and alcohol abuse, as well as
child and family violence. Similarly, unemployed men released after terms of

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incarceration are more likely to re-offend. Failure in school and an unstable
job situation can combine to continue an individual's involvement in crime.
Social Environment
Our social structure mirrors to citizens and communities what we value and
how we set priorities. Social root causes of crime are: inequality, not sharing
power, lack of support to families and neighbourhoods, real or perceived
inaccessibility to services, lack of leadership in communities, low value
placed on children and individual well-being, the overexposure to television
as a means of recreation. While crime rates for females have increased in
recent years, males are much more likely to be involved in crime. The
research points out that crime usually involve aggression, risk taking an
predatory behaviour.
Family Structures
It is believed that families are uniquely placed in contributing to raising
healthy responsible members of society. But the task of putting children
first goes well beyond the family to include communities and society.
Dysfunctional family conditions contribute to future delinquency.
These conditions include:
• Parental inadequacy
• Parental conflict
• Parental criminality
• Lack of communication (both in quality and quantity
• Abuse and neglect of children
• Family violence
• Lack of respect and responsibility
In criminology, examining why people commit crime is very important in the
ongoing debate of how crime should be handled and prevented. Many
theories have emerged over the years, and they continue to be explored,
individually and in combination, as criminologists seek the best solutions in
ultimately reducing types and levels of crime. Here is a broad overview of
some key theories:
 Rational choice theory: People generally act in their self-interest and
make decisions to commit crime after weighing the potential risks
(including getting caught and punished) against the rewards.

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 Social disorganization theory: A person‘s physical and social
environments are primarily responsible for the behavioral choices that
person makes. In particular, a neighborhood that has fraying social
structures is more likely to have high crime rates. Such a neighborhood
may have poor schools, vacant and vandalized buildings, high
unemployment, and a mix of commercial and residential property.
 Strain theory: Most people have similar aspirations, but they don‘t all
have the same opportunities or abilities. When people fail to achieve
society‘s expectations through approved means such as hard work and
delayed gratification, they may attempt to achieve success through
crime.
 Social learning theory: People develop motivation to commit crime and
the skills to commit crime through the people they associate with.
 Social control theory: Most people would commit crime if not for the
controls that society places on individuals through institutions such as
schools, workplaces, churches, and families.
 Labeling theory: People in power decide what acts are crimes, and the
act of labeling someone a criminal is what makes him a criminal. Once a
person is labeled a criminal, society takes away his opportunities, which
may ultimately lead to more criminal behaviour.
 Biology, genetics, and evolution: Poor diet, mental illness, bad brain
chemistry, and even evolutionary rewards for aggressive criminal
conduct have been proposed as explanations for crime.

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF CRIME
Two important determinants of crime rates in economic theories of crime are
deterrent eﬀects and legal income opportunities. The society experiences a
lot of unlawful activities by the public and also by those who form the
government. The harms caused by them are sometimes less harmful and at
times inflict a lot of harm on the society as such. There are certain
characteristics of these actions that make them fall under the different
categories of torts (harm caused by one to another) and crimes (harm
caused by one to the society). The basic difference between the two is that
the harm is not private in the case of crimes and therefore, due to the high
cost being transferred to the public, the basic aim of the judicial system is
therefore not to compensate for such loss but deter such activities. This in
criminal law is done by punishments in the form of fines and imprisonment
to the accused.
Tort law achieves inefficient incentives by compensating for their actions in
case of crimes because pricing crime is not possible at all times. For
example: an injury that leads to death of a person cannot be compensated
by payment to the other‘s family for loss of life. Also since the act will lead to
terror amongst others for their loss of live, the system should try to deter
such activities.
Here, in this paper we try to see how these criminal activities are influenced
by the various factors affecting it. As we know, the crime in cities is very
closely related the unemployment prevalent. The following diagram shows

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Correlation between crime rate and unemployment rate in New Zealand for
over a decade (The Standard, May 21, 2009). A low unemployment society
enjoys lower crime rates and lower overheads that accompany high crime
rates. If you have ever been to South Africa you will know that the security
business is one of the fastest growing sectors and high income-earners live
―trapped‖ lives behind large policed fences – which protect their gardens and
housing.
By providing jobs at reasonable wages (so the minimum wage should allow
for a socially-acceptable standard of living) to those who want to work the
state is also ensuring lower crime rates exist. Also if the studies of
unemployment and crime are correct then what will future crime rates be
like in Spain and Greece and the UK as youth unemployment sky-rockets.
In Spain, there are now around 50 per cent of available youth unemployed.
Crimes impose various costs on the society; gains they make and the harm
suffered by victims. The harms are generally greater in magnitude to the
gains by the criminal and thus, the government or the third party must
spent resources on preventing such activities. The governmental role in
reducing crimes is mainly because the harm caused by them is on the
society as a whole. They basically spend on enforcement of law and order;
Law enforcement is the collective term for professionals who are dedicated to
upholding and enforcing the laws and statutes that are currently in force in
a given jurisdiction. There are law enforcement jobs that focus on local
settings, while others are focused more on upholding and enforcing national
laws. In addition to enforcing laws, the function of legal enforcement also
involves managing the punishment process for people who are convicted of
crimes, up to and including managing the process of incarceration.
At its core, law enforcement seeks to achieve two goals. First, enforcement
professionals seek to prevent the occurrence of a crime that is in some way
damaging to another human being or to society as a whole. Second, people
employed in some enforcement capacity will seek to ensure suspected
criminals are tried in a manner that is in compliance with local laws.
Various officials will also assign some form of punishment or imprisonment
that is considered equitable for the type of crime committed, while also
seeking rehabilitation of criminals when and as possible.
Law enforcement by government includes spending on legislations and
making of laws and various provisions for implementing these laws; police
officers and judges, buildings of courts, jails; prosecutors, lawyers and the
staff involved in maintaining law and order. On comparing the data for
United Kingdom on crimes and expenditure on law and order, we can see
that when the expenditure fell in 2001-03, the crime rates increased to
around 6%.

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Education and crime have a unique, inverse relationship, wherein the lower
a person's education, the more likely they are to engage in criminal
activities. Education (as well as job training) develops formal labour market
skills, which raises the opportunity costs of crime commission. This has
been supported by ample research that, in recent years, has been broken
down even further into socioeconomic status, race, gender and even mental
capacity. It has been proven, by surveys conducted on convicts when they
were released from prison that ―41% of the prisoners who did not participate
in education returned to prison opposed to the 33% who did participate in
correctional education.‖ (Stephen Steurer, Education Reduces Crime).
Education increases wage rates (and reduces the likelihood of
unemployment), it increases the opportunity costs of crime and will tend to
reduce post-school criminal activity. Higher wages raise the opportunity
costs of crime in two distinct ways. First, since crime may require time to
commit, that time cannot be used for other productive purposes like work.
Here, it is useful to think of all of the time involved in planning a crime,
locating a target and, potentially, evading detection and arrest. Second, each
crime committed entails an expected period of incarceration, which is more
costly for individuals with better labour market opportunities and wages.
Education may also teach individuals to be more patient. This will
discourage crime, since forward-looking individuals place greater weight on
any expected punishment associated with their criminal activities.
Education may also affect preferences toward risk. To the extent that
schooling makes individuals more risk averse, it will tend to discourage
crime.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
public expenditure
crime rates

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The above table shows the falling probability of crime and therefore
imprisonment with increase in years of schooling.
Almost 50 percent of people worldwide live in cities as of 2008, according to
the United Nations News Centre. People migrate to cities from rural areas to
start a family and search for more secure job opportunities. Urbanization
changes the economic, social and political setup of a country or region. This
has several major negative impacts. Urbanization leads to a deficit in jobs.
Businesses and governments cannot produce enough jobs to meet the
demand of a fast-growing population. Unemployment rates soar as a result,
causing people to apply for government-funded programs and benefits. The
government loses money, reducing the amount of energy, health care,
education, public transportation, waste management and physical security
offered. Poverty spreads and stunts economic growth. The increased poverty
and unemployment leads to lesser opportunities with people and thus more
crime.

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QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF CRIME RATES
Now since we know that crimes are influenced by the level of public
expenditure on law and order, education, unemployment and urbanization.
In this section we try to find out the magnitude of the effect of these factors
on the crime rates in the countries. Since the data of not all countries were
available, we took countries like United States, United Kingdom and Japan.
The data for these countries was available on OECD Factbook, 2012 for
public expenditure on law and order; education, unemployment and
urbanization on the World Bank Data and for the crime rates, the Eurostats
were referred.
The basic point to only go for these factors was that empirically it has been
found that there exists a very strong relationship between crime rates and
these factors taken individually. Here, we will work out on a model of
various countries to reduce crime rate.
1. United States
USA stands with the highest rates of crime in the world. It is attributed to
its increased population and growing unemployment. In the long term,
violent crime in the United States has been in decline since colonial
times. However, during the early 20th century, crime rates in the United
States were higher compared to parts of Western Europe. For example, 198
homicides were recorded in the American city of Chicago in 1916, a city of
slightly over 2 million at the time. This level of crime was not exceptional
when compared to other American cities such as New York, but was much
higher relative to European cities, such as London, which then had three
times the population but recorded only 45 homicides in the same year. The
following is the data for USA for the years 1997 – 2007:
year
public
expenditure education unemployment urbanization crime rates
1997 5.4 17.1466 4.900000095 77.9856 11.634
1998 5.2 17.1644 4.5 78.3534 11608
1999 5.2 17.1466 4.199999809 78.7212 11.877
2000 5.1 15.16828 4 79.089 11.879
2001 5.3 15.24861 4.699999809 79.4174 11.827
2002 5.7 14.4024 5.800000191 79.7458 11.679
2003 6 13.72475 6 80.0742 11.565
2004 6.2 14.71233 5.5 80.4026 11.467
2005 6.2 14.13047 5.099999905 80.731 11.295
2006 6.2 13.81269 4.599999905 81.0134 11.168
2007 6.3 13.06519 4.599999905 81.2958 10.639

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Here, the public expenditure on law and order and education is a percentage
of the total public expenditure; the unemployment rate is the ratio of the
total unemployed to the total labour workforce; and the level of urbanization
is the percentage of the population living in centres characterised as urban.
For the above data, a regression analysis of the variables law and order,
education, unemployment and urbanization will give us an equation
relationship between them and crime rates in USA. Using excel, the
following equation was created:
C = -90604.94412 - 392.3111373P +1628.956821E +148.2233092U + 861.1376567Z
where P = public expenditure on law and order
E = Level of education
U = unemployment
Z = extent of urbanization
The equation shows that crime rate has a negative relationship with public
expenditure on law and order, i.e. as government expenditure rises, crime
rate falls. It is given by the negative (-) sign in front of coefficient of law and
order. Also, as unemployment rises, the crime rate rises and is absolutely
consistent with the theory. The level of urbanisation also decides the level of
crime and in this case, crime rates are positively related to the urbanization.
The variable which is inconsistent with the theory is education in this case
as it shows a positive relation; as level of education rises, the crime rate also
rises. This can be explained by the white collar crimes synonymous with the
full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals.
It‘s not a victimless crime. A single scam can destroy a company, devastate
families by wiping out their life savings, or cost investors billions of dollars
(or even all three, as in the Enron case). Today‘s fraud schemes are more
sophisticated than ever, and we are dedicated to using our skills to track
down the culprits and stop scams before they start. Therefore the white
collar crimes require a certain level of sharpness in the field and therefore
education is positively related to crime rates to the extent of white collar
crimes.
The above equation, thus tells us the crime rates increase by 1% when the
public expenditure falls by 0.392%; unemployment by 0.148% and
urbanisation by 0.861%. Here, we do not talk about the efficiency of the
police and courts. So, to reduce the crimes in US, the public expenditure on
law has to be increased and looking at the ongoing unemployment situation
in the country, it can be a serious issue as far as breaking of rules and laws
is concerned. Many Americans are already painfully aware that violent crime
is experiencing a massive upsurge in the United States. As the U.S.

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economy has tanked and as unemployment has skyrocketed, many
Americans have found themselves becoming increasingly desperate. Hard
economic times usually lead to an increase in crime, but what is happening
across the U.S. now is absolutely stunning.
2. United Kingdom
The following is the data for United Kingdom is given as follows for the year
1997 -2007:
year
public
1997 4.9 11.4034 7 78.4722 5.298
1998 4.6 11.01158 6.099999905 78.5318 5.167
1999 4.5 11.02754 5.900000095 78.5914 5.552
2000 4.7 11.99855 5.5 78.651 5.975
2001 4.6 11.93781 4.699999809 78.7222 6.014
2002 4.7 11.53052 5.099999905 78.7934 5.638
2003 4.9 11.78244 4.800000191 78.8646 5.555
2004 5 11.90883 4.599999905 78.9358 5.428
2005 5 11.74805 4.599999905 79.007 4.951
2006 5.1 11.05205 5.400000095 79.1072 4.703
2007 4.9 11.26112 5.199999809 79.2074 4.339
On regressing the above variables on crime rates, we get the following result:
C =137.5041381 -0.494033696P +0.533482903E +0.282720743U +1.705777057Z
The above equation is consistent to the theory of crimes to the extent that
crime rates increase as the level of public expenditure on law and order falls.
Also as education level rises, the crimes increase and mostly consist of white
collar crimes; but this in no case means that reducing the level of education
will reduce crimes. It can happen that the positive relation can be attributed
to the jobless educated; even when the level of education is high but less
opportunities for work, the youth turns to quicker methods of making
money and end up with criminal activities. Here urbanization also has a
positive impact on crimes.
For the given equation, for reducing crimes by 1%, public expenditure on
law and order must rise by 0.494%. An increase of unemployment by
0.2828% leads to increase in crime rates by 1%. The unemployment in the
state of UK due to the current recession and crisis thus requires a lot of
attention not only due to its bad effect on growth of economy but also on the
level of crimes and thus the society.

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3. Japan
The statistics for the country of Japan as collected by the World Bank are
given as follows:
year
public
1997 2.3 9.26679 3.400000095 78.2692 2.166
1998 2.4 10.48587 4.099999905 78.3958 2.443
1999 2.4 10.54184 4.699999809 78.5224 2.736
2000 2.4 10.58647 4.800000191 78.649 2.854
2001 2.4 9.6656 5 80.1148 2.79
2002 2.4 9.79781 5.400000095 81.5806 2.563
2003 2.4 9.48258 5.199999809 83.0464 2.269
2004 2.4 9.50808 4.699999809 84.5122 2.051
2005 2.5 9.41125 4.400000095 85.978 1.909
2006 2.3 9.40536 4.099999905 86.8906 1.818
2007 2.4 9.4033 3.900000095 87.8032 1.801
Crime in Japan is lower than in many other first world countries. While
crime is still infrequent in Japan, the past decade has seen increasing
crime. The lack of crime can be explained by the Japanese concept of the
Insider vs. the Outsider and putting the group well-being above that of the
individual. This country has therefore been chosen against two developed
countries of the west with high rates of crime and to make a comparison
between the three. On regressing the above variables on crime rates, we get
the following result to be interpreted:
C =5.427863206 -0.190044944P +0.168786428E +0.285842071U -0.068235295Z
The resulted equation is consistent with the theory of crimes. As the public
expenditure on law and order rises, the level of criminal activities in the
country has fallen. Also it is worthwhile to see that being a very peaceful
county intrinsically; it has to spend less than other violent countries like US
or UK. While such countries 0.39%- 0.49% for reducing crime by a unit,
Japan only needs to spend a very less of around 0.19% extra. The lesser
level of crime is attributed to the fact that committing a crime, which
negatively impacts the overall group, also causes the criminal to become an
Outsider. This desire to remain part of the Inside group, and/or not to
appear different, is the crux which keeps the criminal activity to a
minimum. Additionally, the laws when caught are harsh and swift. The
levels of unemployment and urbanization also affect crimes and have a
positive impact on crime rates.
Through a study of the three very different countries with different histories,
social background and current economic status, we find out that the crimes

~ 19 ~
rates are affected by social (urbanization and education), economic
(unemployment) and political (level of public expenditure on law and order)
factors. In this section, we tried to quantify the relations and thus can
conclude that crime rates are always negatively impacted by law and order
expenditures but the level of social factors has an ambiguous effect on the
criminal activities. The level of unemployment not only degrades the
economic activity of the country and thereby effecting economic growth but
can also lead to serious law breaking issues. Any increase in unemployment
can lead to a recession and then a more alarming situation by increasing
disturbances and tensions in the society through crimes.

~ 20 ~
CONCLUSION
When informal relationships and sanctions prove insufficient to establish
and maintain a desired social order, a government or a state may impose
more formalized or stricter systems of social control. With institutional and
legal machinery at their disposal, agents of the State can compel
populations to conform to codes and can opt to punish or attempt to reform
those who do not conform. Authorities employ various mechanisms to
regulate (encouraging or discouraging) certain behaviours in general.
Governing or administering agencies may for example codify rules into laws,
police citizens and visitors to ensure that they comply with those laws, and
implement other policies and practices that legislators or administrators
have prescribed with the aim of discouraging or preventing crime. In
addition, authorities provide remedies and sanctions, and collectively these
constitute a criminal justice system. Legal sanctions vary widely in their
severity; they may include (for example) incarceration of temporary
character aimed at reforming the convict.
Depending on the context of the paper, we also tried to find out the factors
affecting the extent of crimes and criminal activities. We also answered a few
questions relating to (1) What prompts individuals to get involved in crime?
(2) Why do certain individuals offend more frequently than others? (3) Why
do some individuals remain in crime longer than others? (4) Why are some
offences more common than others? (5) Why are certain areas more crime-
prone than others? and (6) Why is crime higher at some time periods than
others?
There is no single factor or set of factors which causes an individual to
become involved in crime. Being criminal is not like having a disease. Crime
rises or falls over time in response to a wide variety of factors. Economic
factors (e.g. unemployment) appear to play an important role in shaping
trends in property crime. Alcohol consumption and unemployment appear to
influence levels of violent crime. Other potential influences on overall levels
of crime include the availability of firearms, rates of family breakdown, the
percentage of sole parent families living in poverty, levels of geographic
mobility and the percentage of females in the labour force.
Because crime is not the result of any single factor or combination of
factors, it makes no sense to seek to control crime by any single strategy or
set of strategies. A mix of strategies will always be appropriate. The
emphasis on particular strategies should vary according to the nature of the

~ 21 ~
crime problem at hand, the available options for influencing the problem
and the urgency with which change is required. Governments anxious to
maximise their control over crime are better off trying to influence as many
factors as possible, rather than concentrating all their efforts on one or two
factors.
Therefore the most effective methods to combat crime are: prevention
through deterrence and forestallments, effective law enforcement, and
rehabilitation and treatment of criminals. Here are a few quotes on crimes
and fighting them:
"A key step in reducing crime would be to legalize and regulate forms of crime that
are engaged in voluntarily by all parties involved: notably, the production, trade in
and consumption of drugs. The state should not prohibit, but regulate production,
distribution and consumption, in such a way that the chance of damaging side
effects is minimized. The most important goal of regulation should be to restrict the
option of drug use to adults: for anyone younger than eighteen consumption should
be strictly off-limits."
"A major way to fight crime would be reform prison systems by having them live
up to their official label: correctional facilities. Prisons should focus on
rehabilitation, particularly for first- time offenders. Rehabilitation should instill or
strengthen the basic norms, values and attitudes that keep a person from doing
harm to others and society as a whole, and prepare for a successful (re)entry in
economic life."

~ 22 ~
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au
 law.jrank.org
 plato.stanford.edu
 en.wikipedia.org
 www.independent.co.uk
 www.jstor.org (Rates of Crime and Unemployment: An Analysis of
Aggregate Research Evidence, Theodore G. Chiricos)
 books.google.co.in (Controlling Crime By Eugene McLaughlin, John
Muncie)
Data for analysis in the paper has been collected from:
 http://stats.oecd.org/OECDStat_Metadata
 http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov
 The World Bank: Data (data.worldbank.org/)

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