SOCIAL CHANGES, CRIME AND POLICE IN THE FORMER GDR (GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC) (FROM SOCIAL CHANGE, CRIME AND POLICE: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, JUNE 1-4, 1992, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, P 115-121, 1993, JOZSEF VIGH AND GEZA KATONA, EDS. -- SEE NCJ-144794)

• NCJ Number: 144804
• Author(s): E Buchholz
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: Eotvos Lorand University
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Hungary

Annotation

This paper examines crime patterns in the area of the former German Democratic Republic since reunification and the factors contributing to the crime increase.

Abstract

From 1990 delinquency began increasing in the region of East Germany and has reached critical proportions. There are three general types of delinquency: traditional delinquency, new kinds of delinquency from outside the region, and delinquency associated with the unification of Germany. Traditional delinquency has increased in nearly all significant categories of crime: theft, fraud, robbery, murder (homicides generally) and rape. The new category of crimes consists of drug trafficking and abuse, car theft, and environmental crimes. Violence against foreigners in the former East Germany is also significant. Crimes committed in association with unification include profiteering, fraud, and financial manipulations. The police have been largely ineffective in gaining the trust of the people, and crimes are often not reported. Politicians have approached the problem with a superficial analysis of what is needed. They refuse to acknowledge the real sources, conditions, and causes of the increase in crime and delinquency in the former East Germany. Every indication is that crime and delinquency in the former East Germany has not yet peaked.