NCJ Number
131292
Journal
Annales Universitatis Scientiarum Budapestinensis Volume: 30 Dated: (1988/89) Pages: 91-110
Date Published
1989
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study is based on crime statistics from Budapest, Hungary and Hamburg, Germany which reflect the incidence of total and juvenile crimes.
Abstract
Both Budapest and Hamburg have a population over 1 million, but demographic relations in the two cities have developed at a somewhat different rate. Crime statistics indicate that the rate of registered criminality in the German Federal Republic is five times higher than it is in Hungary. Crime detection rates for Budapest are twice as high as they are in Hamburg. Further, detection rates for investigated offenses indicate that major but relatively less common offenses such as premeditated murder and sexual crimes are more likely to be cleared up than relatively minor mass crimes against property. Specific crime rates are generally much higher in Hamburg than in Budapest. The average index figure for Hamburg's higher juvenile crime rate is 3.45, while the index figure for the total population is 9.65. The index figure for premeditated homicide committed by juveniles, however, is lower in Hamburg than in Budapest. Rates for sexual offenses are virtually identical for both cities. Procedures adopted by authorities in responding to criminality vary significantly between Budapest and Hamburg. About 64 percent of suspects in Budapest are sentenced, while the figure for Hamburg is 15 percent. Crime rate differentials are examined in terms of the divergent character of offenses, the different nature of legal regulations and systems, and different sets of social relations in the two countries. 15 notes, 7 tables, and 3 figures