NCJ Number
131894
Date Published
1991
Length
208 pages
Annotation
This study examines U.S. police problems by studying Japanese police institutions.
Abstract
The study is based on approximately 2 years of intensive field research by the author in Japan over 20 years and many visits. The research in Japan involved observation of police operations and interviews with hundreds of officers. Police-station site visits were located in a variety of socioeconomic areas. Although Japan and the United States have many similar socioeconomic factors typically associated with high crime rates, there are some differences that may explain the lower crime rates in Japan. Income distribution is more equitable in Japan, unemployment is less, and poverty is less concentrated in particular localities, especially neighborhoods defined by race or ethnicity. Japan also regulates gun ownership much more stringently than does the United States. Japan's history and popular culture are as violent as that of the United States; and its criminal justice system, although more efficient, is less severe in its punishments. Also, in Japan there are processes of social interaction that bear directly on the behavior of the Japanese. There are strong informal social control influences in Japanese culture. Japanese are bound by a multiplicity of rules about what is proper behavior. They are also taught to suppress their individuality and personal needs in the interest of fulfilling the purposes of close-knit social groups. The Japanese culture also nurtures pride in performing well the roles expected of a person. The Japanese police reinforce cultural restraints on deviance by facilitating and assisting in the development and implementation of informal social controls. The Japanese experience in crime control suggests that the challenge for the United States is to develop the political and governmental capacity to devise and implement strategies that prevent disorder. Chapter notes and a subject index