One of the factors I addressed some years ago in this blog was
that our crime rates, as measured by incarceration numbers, indicated we need
to do a better job in our civics classrooms.
One good bit of information on this front is a lowering crime rate. For example, the rate of victims per 1,000
population has dropped in the US from 51.7 in 1979 to 15 in 2010.[1] Yet before we celebrate, there are other
relevant numbers. Another statistical
site offers the following:
Total persons brought into formal contact with the police
and/or criminal justice system, all crimes in 2011 (top ten nations)
United States 12,408,899
with a population of 322 million (38.58 per 1,000)
Germany 2,112,843 with a population of 81
million (26.08 per 1,000)
France
1,172,547 with a population of 67 million (17.5 per 1,000)
Russian Fed. 1,041,340
with a population of 147 million (7.08 per 1,000)
Italy 900,870
with a population of 61 million (14.77 per 1,000)
Canada 688,920
with a population of 36 million (19.14 per 1,000)
Chile 611,322
with a population of 18 million (33.96 per 1,000)
Poland 521,942
with a population of 38 million (13.74 per 1,000)
Spain 377,965
with a population of 46 million (8.22 per 1,000)
Netherlands 372,305
with a population of 17 million (21.9 per 1,000)[2]
Whether one is looking at total numbers or rate numbers, the
US does not fare well when compared to other countries. I will point out that the above list of
countries varies in terms of reported freedom as opposed to repression. Whether a nation is ruled by a liberal regime
as opposed to an authoritarian regime is relevant to how levels of criminality
are measured.
The closest country in terms of rate is Chile. Chile is a Latin country and an example of a
nation that has a culture, described by Daniel Elazar, as one that harbors an
anarchistic individualism. This blog has
argued that we, the US, started out with a more federalist sense of
individualism, one that “recognized the subtle bonds of partnership linking
individuals even as they preserve their individual integrities... .”[3] This blog has also argued that our nation,
especially since World War II, has abandoned a federalist view, at least as a
prominent perspective of governance and politics, and has shifted to a natural
rights view. This latter construct is
noted for its individualism. These
numbers are but one indicator of how far that shift has made itself known.
Criminality can be seen
as a higher degree of incivility. I
reported earlier that a low level of civility is a definite social
problem. By historical standards, it is
difficult to determine whether incivility is more or less acute today. But numbers like these on criminality and
other numbers I have reported in this blog indicate that a general lack of
civility has been an ongoing concern among certain journalistic and academic
sources. Summarily, one can describe
this concern as follows:
Civility in America
continues to erode and rude behavior is becoming our “new normal,” according to
the fourth annual study on Civility in America: A Nationwide Survey, conducted by global
public relations firm Weber Shandwick and public affairs firm Powell Tate in
partnership with KRC Research.[4]
Irrespective of how
relatively severe the problem of incivility or, in its more severe
manifestation, criminality, is today, it is definitely a problem that should be addressed in our schools, not
only as one other topic, but as a concern central to the mission of civics
education. And as for over-zealous
policy in terms of drugs – we Americans have laws against drugs that are
unreasonable and ruining lives – we know other crimes are downplayed. As I write these words, the nation is being
told that there are under-reported cases and under-addressed cases of ignored,
sexual abuse cases against women in the military and on college campuses. Whether such meager attention outnumbers
cases of long prison sentences for drug crimes, I don't know. But I do know that no one is claiming that
people are readily going to jail and prison for legal behaviors and, as I
reported before in this blog, America’s prison population outnumbers that of
any other country by far. This indicates
that whether our laws are overly zealous or not, one can safely believe we can
do a better job when it comes to educating our youth in terms of the law and in
having respect for the law, not to mention behaving with more civility.
[1] Of course, this reflects reported crime events. Whether people in general are more prone to
report crime is an interesting question.
I do not know the answer to that question. There is an array of statistical information
readily available supporting this overall picture of a falling crime rate. See https://www.google.com/search?q=crime+rates+in+US+over+time&espv=2&biw=1093&bih=514&tbm=isch&imgil=P4g2P-obB-jlRM%253A%253BcPni19546Kal8M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.gallup.com%25252Fpoll%25252F150464%25252Famericans-believe-crime-worsening.aspx&source=iu&pf=m&fir=P4g2P-obB-jlRM%253A%252CcPni19546Kal8M%252C_&usg=__zxIEm18APlIHiED8D3gsYadxZL4%3D&ved=0CCcQyjdqFQoTCJeJut67-ccCFcY8PgodmAwJGA&ei=NUj4VdeaD8b5-AGYmaTAAQ#imgrc=P4g2P-obB-jlRM%3A&usg=__zxIEm18APlIHiED8D3gsYadxZL4%3D .
[2]
Maps of the World, see www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-highest-reported-crime-rates.html .
[3] Elazar, D. J.
(1994). How federal is the
Constitution? Thoroughly. In a booklet
of readings, Readings for classes taught
by Professor Elazar, (pp. 1-30) prepared for a National Endowment for the
Humanities Institute. Conducted in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Quotation from pp. 10-11.
[4]See http://www.webershandwick.com/news/article/civility-in-america-2013-incivility-has-reached-crisis-levels. A 2014 report
further supports the findings of this account; see https://www.webershandwick.com/news/article/civility-in-america-2014-forecast-bleak-but-with-hope-for-millennials .
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