Japan Essay - Comparative Criminology PDF

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Essay on Japan vs UK criminal justice systems ...

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Title: International Crime Statistics indicate the crime rates for most offences are significantly lower in Japan than among Western nations. To what extent could the low Japanese crime rate be explained in terms of social organization, of Japanese society. “Japan’s homicide rates are the lowest in the world and are lower than at any time since World War II” (Johnson, 2007 p.371). At the end of World War II, nearly all types of crime rose in Japan, (Leonardsen, n.d.) but have since declined and have continued to do so. There was an emphatic drop in 2016. 2016 saw the lowest reported crimes since World War II. (The Japan Times, 2018) There are a number of reasons that attest to Japan’s low crime rate from cultural, social control and indeed, Japan’s criminal justice system. This essay will discuss three different explanations for Japan’s low crime rate; these being aspects of Japan’s culture, looking at Japan through the lens of theories of social order and finally, exploring the ways in which Japan’s policing affects the countries low crime rating. All of this while incorporating and exploring the recent and updated statistics on Japan’s crime rate, as well as discussing crime data as a whole and the problems that often occur within crime data and more importantly, the difficulties that can arise when comparing data from country to country. Crime data on its own has its own problems the more obvious being the Dark Figure of crime being the biggest. The dark figure of crime being the term given to the crime that goes unrecorded due to the crime simply not being reported via the victims of the crime. The dark figure of crime statistics arguably always ensures that crime statistics can never be as accurate as we would like them to be. (Alvazzi del Frate, n.d.) A larger problem with comparing different types of global crime data comes down to the differences in how individual surveys were completed. They’re often completed with different and conflicting “sampling (size and method), structure and content of the questionnaire may represent major obstacles to comparability of the results.” (Alvazzi del Frate, n.d. p.9) This means it can be unhelpful to compare these types of data as they don’t match methods or sample sizes, therefore often these surveys simply are not comparable against each other and it can make it seem, for example, that crime in certain countries is at a disproportionate level to others. Another problem with crime data comes with comparing it from country to country. One of the main problems with country to country comparisons is the trouble with legal definitions. For example, when writing a report, Shaw, van Dijk and Rhomberg discussed this matter in terms of a police officer’s discretion in determining whether or not an assault was a serious one or simply common assault. This difference, along with other legal jurisdictions can make global comparisons with crime data difficult as a crime in one county could very well be defined or listed as another crime in another country, making the comparisons nearly impossible. Shaw, van Dijk and Rhomberg also state, “In some societies, social norms may make it almost impossible for women to report cases of rape or sexual abuse, while in others, women are encouraged to come forward.” (Shaw, van Dijk and Rhomberg, n.d p.3) noting that certain cultures customs would vary and could easily impact on what crimes they report, if they report them at all or

indeed, what is seen as crimes in certain countries. This too, increases the difficulty in global crime comparison. Japan is currently the eleventh biggest country in the world by population. As of the 17th February 2018, the population stood at 127,293,062 with its largest city, Tokyo, holding around 8.3 million. Japan’s total population has decreased since 2010, where the population stood at 128.5 million. (Worldpopulationreview.com, 2018) It is an island located in East Asia and sits just off the coast of South Korea. Japan is a nation which has a lower fertility rate and a higher life expectancy than countries such as the UK, therefore they have a larger percentage of its population being aged 65 and over. (Demographics of Japan, n.d.) Currently, In 2017, it was recorded that Japan had 27% of its population aged 65 or over, this is compared to only 6.4% fifty years ago in 1967. (Data.worldbank.org, 2018) There are two major religions in Japan they are, Shintō and Buddhism and most Japanese people have, “a syncretic fashion” (Demographics of Japan, n.d. p.14) relationship, incorporating teachings and other elements from both religions though there are small populations of both Muslim and Christian within Japan also. Japan’s government, similar to the United Kingdom, is a constitutional monarchy with their reigning sovereign being placed these days as more of a ceremonial state head rather than a person of real political power. (Sawe, 2018) This means that like the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of the government with the majority of the states political power. Their government is split into three branches. The first is the executive, being the Prime Minister and their ministers of state, this is where the bills are brought forth and laws are signed. The second branch, the legislative branch, consisting of the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors, this branch is where such things as drafting laws and choosing the Prime Minister are done. The final branch is the judicial branch where the courts are held. They are independent from the other branches and held in higher authority and esteem out of the three. The crime rate in Japan compared to the United Kingdom among many other countries is indeed incredibly low. In 2014, Japan’s homicide rate per 100,000 people was 0.3, compared to 0.9 per 100,000 people in the UK and 4.4 in the USA. In 2008, there were a total of 11 deaths by firearms in Japan, compared with 38 in the UK and 11,030 in the USA. (Knoema, 2018) [NEW SCHEDULE TODAY] Currently however, in the later half of 2017, the crime rate in Japan has continued to decline. Thanks to a fall in mainly thefts, an article shows that the amount of recorded crimes in Japan fell to 915,111 for all of 2017. This is the lowest amount of reported crimes in Japan since the end of World War II where the statistic stood at 996,120. These are the only two times on record where the number of reported crimes were below one million. (The Japan Times, 2018) This isn’t to say however that all types of crime in Japan are falling, a number of crimes such as kidnapping, cybercrime and human trafficking have all increased. The National Police Agency reported in 2017 that 2017 saw a 4.9% increase, nearly 70,000 rise in reports of cybercrime from the previous year. (Asian Review, 2017) Kidnapping and human trafficking crimes had an increase of around 1.3% since 2013. However, the more ‘serious’

crimes such as murder and robbery have been reported to decline, with only 10,889 cases in 2017, a decrease of 657 in 2016. Establishing that there is a low crime rate in Japan is rather easily done. What is not easy however, is explaining the reasons in which the crime rate is so low compared to other countries. The first possible way in which to try and explain the rare phenomenon is culture based. The culture within Japan has often been described as “a ‘shame society.’” (Sack, n.d. p.1) Sack writes that in Japan there is a culture of what he describes as “no self” (Sack, n.d. p.9) He describes this as the Japanese people’s willingness to live in the service of others rather than for themselves. He goes on to explain how this sense of no self can still be seen in Japan today, “In Japan, self-orientation or individualism connotes selfishness and non-social behavior.” (Sack, n.d. p.9) Meaning that the Japanese see themselves in more of a collective group rather than as individuals, making them feel far more guilty than those from other countries when doing things for themselves or being individualistic. This type of self-demeaning attitude is said to make the Japanese people less likely to commit crimes as crimes are often seen as a individualistic type of behaviour, one that favours or benefits the individual rather than the collective group in which the Japanese so often see themselves as being within. A similar aspect of Japanese culture that affects their likelihood to commit crime is their sense of honor that arguably is said to go back to the earliest days of Japanese culture and the legends of the samurai. According to Psychology Today, “a samurai accepted suicide so readily was that their families instilled in them a strong sense of duty.” They did this if they felt as if they had dishonoured themselves, or, more importantly, their family. This type of mindset of so carefully preserving their families reputation and giving so far as committing suicide if having been said to ‘ruin’ this reputation still lives within the Japanese culture today, even if they are no longer living strictly within that culture anymore. The World Health Organisation attests that suicide rates among those in Asian countries is the highest in the world, with over 30,000 Japanese people commiting suicide per year. (Psychology Today, 2018) “Taking your life is seen as an honorable way of atoning for public disgrace and expression of one’s deep sense of shame.” (Psychology Today, 2018) This sense of honour and shame and the serious repercussions many Japanese people feel is worthy when dishonouring themselves or their family could be a deterrent to committing crime, writes Lyn Allgood, when commenting on a lecture given by Professor Charles Hackett. Allgood states that threatening a member of a gang with time away from society while imprisoned is rather pointless as the guilt and shame they are experiencing over ‘failing’ the gang has a far greater impact on the gang member’s life than the time in prison. (Allgood, 1997) This means then that guilt, shame and a feeling of having dishonored a close group can do more harm and can act as a deterrent from doing acts that might be seen to ‘dishonour’ or go against the beliefs of the said group. Professor Charles Hackett, in this lecture, goes on to state, “ We need to move toward a shame-honor culture.” (Allgood, 1997), highlighting the possible benefit of incorporatiang this aspect of Japanese culture, into a Western country.

Concept of family underpins the culture.

Policing – 90% males in the police which discourages females to report and disclose rape and sexual assault. Police don’t involve themselves in family matters. Policing is built on confessions, 23 days held without charge. Narrow definition of rape, even those who have experienced penetrative rape, have had the crime downplayed. Groups in society/work. http://www.businessinsider.com/why-japans-murder-rate-is-so-low-2014-4?IR=T https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-andanalysis/statistics/GSH2013/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf page 99 of the above link http://www.tokyoreview.net/2017/08/myth-japans-bored-police/ https://www.vox.com/world/2015/12/13/9989250/japan-crime-conviction-rate https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/world/asia/japan-rape.html https://www.localsolicitors.com/criminal-guides/a-guide-to-uk-rape-laws...