NCJ Number
96438
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1984) Pages: 163-174
Date Published
1984
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Both Switzerland and the United States are highly affluent societies and rank consistently among the top five countries in the world in per capita income, both are Western democracies, both are highly urbanized, and both are highly industrialized. Thus, it is quite surprising to discover that Switzerland has much lower rates of crime and delinquency than is the case for the United States, a fact which is especially true for violent crimes. This paper attempts to explain the sources of the differences in crime rates between the two countries and gives special attention to a comparison of juvenile misconduct in the two countries.
Abstract
In the first section, difficulties are discussed concerning the measurement of crime and delinquency in Switzerland, a country which collects few data on social problems in general. Some general trends are shown to be clear, however, including marked increases in drug abuse and suicide cases among the young in Switzerland. In the subsequent section, previous explanations of crime in Switzerland as compared to the United States are reviewed with special emphasis on Clinard's famous Cities with Little Crime: The Case of Switzerland (1978). The limitations of earlier interpretations are considered in detail. Finally, this paper ends by generating a set of theoretically and practically informed hypothesis for explaining the differences in crime rates between the two countries. It is hoped that these hypotheses will form the basis for more detailed research in the future. (Publisher abstract)