NCJ Number
68862
Date Published
1979
Length
150 pages
Annotation
CAUSES AND EXPLANATIONS ARE SOUGHT FOR THE RELATIVELY LOW JAPANESE CRIME INCIDENCE AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR LAW ENFORCEMENT IN COMPARISON WITH INTERNATIONAL CRIME STATISTICS.
Abstract
THE RESULT OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN TWO LEGAL EXPERTS AND CRIMINOLOGISTS, FROM GERMANY AND JAPAN RESPECTIVELY, THIS STUDY ANALYZES ALL ASPECTS OF JAPANESE CRIMINALITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT IN DETAIL, USING COMPARATIVE TECHNIQUES ON DATA FROM TOKYO AND THE GERMAN CITY OF STUTTGART. NOTING THAT RESPECT FOR THE LAW AND TRUST IN THE POLICE ARE TYPICAL OF THE JAPANESE PEOPLE, THE UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES OF JAPAN ARE CITED AS HAVING PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE COUNTRY'S LOW CRIME INCIDENCE. A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR HAS BEEN JAPAN'S GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION ON REMOTE ISLANDS, WHICH REMAINED ISOLATED FROM OTHER COUNTRIES AND CORRUPTING OUTSIDE INFLUENCES UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF THIS CENTURY. THE SOLIDITY OF TRADITIONAL JAPANESE INSTITUTIONS AND ALLEGIANCES TO FAMILY, AUTHORITIES, AND EMPLOYERS HAS ALSO SERVED TO FORESTALL WIDESPREAD CRIMINAL DEVIANCE. THE MATERIAL IN THIS BOOK DESCRIBES THE STATISTICAL CRIME PATTERNS IN JAPAN AS WELL AS THE PROBLEM OF DARK CRIME FIGURES (UNREPORTED CRIMES). THE PHENOMENON OF CRIMINAL DEVIANCE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF JAPANESE SOCIAL STRUCTURES IS EXAMINED AND JAPANESE LAW ENFORCEMENT PRACTICES AND ORGANIZATION ARE EXPLAINED IN THEIR DUAL FUNCTION OF PREVENTION AND REPRESSION. THROUGHOUT THIS STUDY, AN EFFORT IS MADE TO CLARIFY SEMANTIC AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND COMPLEXITIES, WHICH MAKE TRUE COMPARISONS BETWEEN A WESTERN COUNTRY AND JAPAN A DIFFICULT TASK. TABULAR AND STATISTICAL DATA ARE PROVIDED IN THE TEXT. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CA. 80 ENTRIES IS PROVIDED.