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Disaggregating "Low Crime Rate:" Longitudinal Patterns in Offending in Japan (From Victims and Criminal Justice, P 511-540, 1991, Gunther Kaiser, Helmut Kury, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-132477)

NCJ Number
132496
Author(s)
Y Harada
Date Published
1991
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This paper reports on the characteristics of longitudinal patterns in offending among Japanese youth.
Abstract
A review of existing longitudinal studies by Japanese criminologists examines methods as well as findings. More detailed analyses of these findings in the context of recent developments in the analysis of "criminal careers" illustrates that the highly skewed distribution of the age-specific offender rates in Japan today reflects the changes in longitudinal patterns in offending during the past few decades. The study concludes with a discussion of possible impacts of studies in a non-Western society on controversial issues in today's criminology. In commenting on the high rate of delinquency among junior-high age Japanese youth, the author hypothesizes that some distinct features in the Japanese school system correlate with offending in this age group. Such school characteristics are the high visibility of competition over educational career tracks at the junior high schools. This tends to put strain on underachievers which can contribute to deviance. The author also argues that longitudinal patterns in offending may be as indicative of the characteristics of a society as cross-sectional distribution of offenses in the social structure, since such longitudinal patterns in offending will reflect the life events persons experience as they pass through various social institutions. 9 figures, 1 table, 15 references, and 29-item bibliography