Monday 17 February 2014

crime and punishment

ISSUE: LOCK THEM UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY

Prisoners have it good in Norway - but once they're out, they are the least likely to commit another crime:

The study shows that Norway has the lowest overall re-offending rate among correctional clients in the Nordic countries, 20 %.
Recidivism studies | Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics

For a video:
BBC News - Crime and punishment, Norwegian style + video

For the debate in the UK and the US:
The Norwegian prison where inmates are treated like people | Society | The Guardian
Norway's controversial 'cushy prison' experiment - could it catch on in the UK? | Mail Online
Norway's Prisons Are Doing Something Right - NYTimes.com
Norwegian prison time isn't as easy as some Americans thought (Anders Breivik) - Straight Dope Message Board

ISSUE: IMMIGRANTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CRIME WAVES

And what about foreigners committing all the crimes?

The Handbook of Crime Correlates (2009), a review of studies of correlates with crime, states that most studies on immigrants have found higher rates of crime. However, this varies greatly depending on the country of origin, with immigrants from some regions having lower crime rates than the indigenous population. In the US, studies have found lower crime rates among immigrants than among non-immigrants.[1] Other studies suggest that immigration generally does not lead to an increase in crime, and may in some instances, suppress such trends.[2]
Immigration and crime - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It depends if you are of the right:
'Immigrant crimewave' warning: Foreign nationals were accused of a QUARTER of all crimes in London | Mail Online
Immigrant crime soars with foreign prisoners rising | UK | News | Daily Express
Crime by foreigners doubles in five years - Telegraph
Foreigners 'commit fifth of crime in London' - Telegraph

Or not:
The Telegraph Twist: Let's do justice to crime figures | Migrants' Rights Network (MRN)
Crime doesn't rise in high immigration areas – it falls, says study | UK news | The Observer

And the debate is an issue outside the UK too:
PM Lee: Singaporeans Commit More Crime than Foreign Workers - A Singaporean In Australia
Police 'foreign crime wave' falsehoods fuel racism | The Japan Times
Malaysians, not foreigners, behind most crimes, says Home Minister - The Malaysian Insider

Back to Norway, and a very interesting, nuanced observation:

"The problem is foreigners, not immigrants," Sjøvold tells NRK. The Police Chief thinks that foreigners who come to Norway for short periods of time are already criminals, and come here to commit crimes.
"It's a problem that this can stigmatize immigrants who already live in Norway," Sjøvold explains.
His statement is part of a series of articles on NRK.no this week about "immigration myths," based on Statistics Norway's 2012-survey about Norwegians' attitude towards immigrants. One out of three respondents think that most immigrants are a source of insecurity.
Last year, the number of reported cases of pickpocketing increased by 19,4 percent, and mild and serious cases of theft increased by 8,1 and 10 percent respectively. The number of reported cased related to drugs also went up, by 15,1 percent.
Police think that the increase in criminal acts is due to the high number of foreigners that come to visit Norway for short periods of time. "It's hard for police to investigate these cases because we don't know their identities, and they can quickly leave the country again," Sjøvold tells NRK.

Foreigners increase Norway's crime statistics
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