STUDY ON CHARACTERISTICS OF CURRENT LARCENY AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS - JAPAN

• NCJ Number: 49799
• Journal: HOMU SOGO KENYUSHO KENUBU KIYO Issue: 20 Dated: (1977) Pages: 17-38
• Author(s): K SATO; H SUGIHARA; Y MATSUMOTO; F TOMITA; S KUROTA
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 22 pages
• Corporate Author: Japan Ministry of Justice
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Country: Japan

Annotation

THIS STUDY EXAMINES THE CAUSES OF AN INCREASE IN LARCENY RATES IN JAPAN IN RECENT YEARS BY INVESTIGATING FACTORS OF GENERAL CRIME INCIDENCE AND THE PROCESSING OF LARCENY OFFENDERS THROUGH THE JUSTICE SYSTEM.

Abstract

SUBSTANDARD SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS ALONE ARE DEEMED INSUFFICIENT EXPLANATION FOR THE SHARP RISE IN LARCENY OFFENSES. RECENT LARCENY PATTERNS ARE PROBABLY AFFECTED BY COMPLEX FACTORS SUCH AS URBANIZATION, INDUSTRIALIZATION, INCREASED DESIRE FOR GOODS STIMULATED BY AN AFFLUENT SOCIETY, AND DECLINING SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH INCLUDED CLARIFICATION OF INFORMATION CONCERNING TYPES OF OFFENSES, MOTIVES, CAUSES, AND REGIONAL FACTORS, AS WELL AS ANALYZING JUDICIAL AND SENTENCING DATA FOR LARCENY CASES. DATA WERE OBTAINED BY QUESTIONNAIRE FROM VARIOUS TOKYO PROSECUTORIAL OFFICES REGARDING CASES PROCESSED IN MARCH 1955. THE NUMBER OF SUBJECTS STUDIED WAS 1,950 (815 INDICTED, 1,135 UNINDICTED). OFFENDER NATIONALITY WAS JAPANESE FOR 98.1 PERCENT OF THE CASES; 80.7 PERCENT OF OFFENDERS PROCESSED WERE MALES. NEARLY HALF FELL IN THE 20-30 AGE CATEGORY, AND 29.1 PERCENT WERE 30-40. A TOTAL OF 57.9 PERCENT LIVED ALONE. OF THE CRIMES COMMITTED, 4,414 WERE PERPETRATED IN THE SAME AREA AS THE OFFENDER'S RESIDENCE. IN ADDITION, 58.9 PERCENT OF THE OFFENDERS WERE EMPLOYED, WHILE HOUSEWIVES WERE INVOLVED IN 12 PERCENT OF THE OFFENDERS AND STUDENTS MADE UP ONLY 1.6 PERCENT. IMPULSE ACTION WAS SAID TO ACCOUNT FOR 32.5 PERCENT OF THE LARCENIES; THE WISH FOR AMUSEMENT OR QRATIFICATION FOR 28.6 PERCENT, AND DEPRIVATION OF ONLY 13.4 PERCENT. THE THREE MOST PREVALENT CRIMES WERE SHOPLIFTING, FORCED ENTRY, AND PROWLING. MORE SHOPLIFTERS TENDED TO BE OVER 30 THAN DID MOTORCYCLE THIEVES. TOKYO HAD THE HIGHEST LARCENY RATE; THE CITY OF NAGANO LEADS IN SHOPLIFTING AND URAWA IN CYCLE THEFTS. THE MALE INDICTMENT RATE WAS APPROXIMATELY 9 TIMES THE FEMALE RATE. INDICTMENT WAS HIGHER FOR YOUNGER AGE GROUPS AND FOR THOSE WHO LIVED ALONE. IT WAS HIGHEST FOR PICKPOCKETS, FOLLOWED BY PROWLERS. IN GENERAL, INDICTMENTS WERE PRESSED IN PROPORTION TO THE SEVERITY OF THE OFFENSE, VALUE OF GOODS TAKEN, PAST RECORDS, AND MOTIVES, AND DROPPED WHEN THERE WERE MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES. THIS INDICATES A DEVELOPED DISCRETIONARY SYSTEM. (MRK)