NCJ Number
130172
Date Published
1991
Length
218 pages
Annotation
Drawing on a wide range of materials -- anthropological, historical, sociological, legal, and criminological -- this book compares the crime rates, law, police, courts, and corrections of Japan and the United States.
Abstract
The book opens with a discussion of the value and use of the comparative method and shows why Japan and the United States are excellent subjects for cross-cultural comparison. The core cultural values in each society are then analyzed to show how the different combinations of land, people, and history have produced dissimilar core values. The discussion then demonstrates how these differing values have influenced formal and informal social controls and how each society's control mechanisms have influenced crime rates. A review of the history of legal development in the two countries examines criminal law as a social control mechanism, followed by a description of policing, especially law enforcement at the local or municipal level. An outline of adjudicatory processes shows how the core values have affected both the court structures and the legal climates in which they operate. The final two chapters focus on correctional philosophy and practice in each country, with attention to how core values shape both the goals and practices of corrections. A 736-item bibliography, chapter tables, and a subject index