Crime over the generations.

pickle1972

pickle1972

pickle1972

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I got myself all excited last night thinking there was a horsey thread for me to join in with and it turned into a police thread :rolleyes: ah well, if you can't beat em join em.

I made a very sweeping statement on it that "the world has gone mad" its probably always been mad but I do think crime today is shockingly bad compared to when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's
I blame the media, bad parenting, the government, schools ... I could go on :D
Of course we have to take responsibility for ourselves at the end of the day though. Most know right from wrong and make their choices. I'm a great believer in you reap what you sow.
So, is crime far worse today than it was twenty or thirty years ago? If so why? And what does the future hold?
 
pickle1972 said:
So, is crime far worse today than it was twenty or thirty years ago? If so why? And what does the future hold?
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The stats are quite clear. There is a lot less crime now than there was 20 or 30 years ago. I think those rose tinted glasses are skewing your perception ;)
 
I think social unrest is growing in places like America and to a lesser extent here for sure. Wealth disparity is definitely going up and it's creating more and more problems.

Are things worse? well considering the 70's was considered one of the most egalitarian periods it sounded pretty good. Obviously it still had some issues.

I don't know, I didn't live through it.

Crime isn't the only thing to take into account. A lot of different factors count. At least you could afford to buy a house at a reasonable price.
 
pickle1972 said:
I got myself all excited last night thinking there was a horsey thread for me to join in with and it turned into a police thread :rolleyes: ah well, if you can't beat em join em.

I made a very sweeping statement on it that "the world has gone mad" its probably always been mad but I do think crime today is shockingly bad compared to when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's
I blame the media, bad parenting, the government, schools ... I could go on :D
Of course we have to take responsibility for ourselves at the end of the day though. Most know right from wrong and make their choices. I'm a great believer in you reap what you sow.
So, is crime far worse today than it was twenty or thirty years ago? If so why? And what does the future hold?
Click to expand...

Crime in general is on a downwards trend in the West. Violent crime in particular has seen quite a drop off.

One theory is that lead in car exhaust fumes was a cause of violent crime, and since it was removed from petrol, we've seen a drop in crime rates. I find that notion quite interesting, but of course there hasn't been much science done on the issue.

Anyway, yes, crime is down.

I think social unrest is growing in places like America and to a lesser extent here for sure. Wealth disparity is definitely going up and it's creating more and more problems.

Are things worse? well considering the 70's was considered one of the most egalitarian periods it sounded pretty good. Obviously it still had some issues.
Click to expand...

The 60's and 70's saw a huge increase in crime rates. If this was the most egalitarian period in modern history, then it seems we need a more unequal society.
 
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Old people always harp on about "back in my day".

Crime was bad in the 40's/50's/60's/70's/80's, we just have more outlets in society today that lets us view it.
 
I suspect if the stats show less crime and the impression is more crime then perhaps the reporting of it via social media makes it seem worse :)
 
The issue is that its more widely reported with all the media outlets like all the tv and internet nowadays.

Its like everybody paranoid about their children getting abducted by pedos. In fact there are much less likely to now than when they were kids themselves. But people perceive the risk to be more/greater.

Thats why you don;t get things like my dad walking 3 and half miles to school when he was 11 by himself which no parent would let their child do nowadays.
 
Thompson_NCL said:
The 60's and 70's saw a huge increase in crime rates. If this was the most egalitarian period in modern history, then it seems we need a more unequal society.
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You are forgetting fact that no one thing can be attributed to the drop in crime.

Modern police forces with all their lazer dooper super equipment are a pretty massive deterrent now days. For example back then it would have been FAR EASIER to get away with fraud. Now days it's much more difficult.

Wonder if they had this police force back in the 70's the crime rate would have been similar/lower.
 
CREATIVE!11 said:
You are forgetting fact that no one thing can be attributed to the drop in crime.

Modern police forces with all their lazer dooper super equipment are a pretty massive deterrent now days. For example back then it would have been FAR EASIER to get away with fraud. Now days it's much more difficult.

Wonder if they had this police force back in the 70's the crime rate would have been similar.
Click to expand...

A very good point. I've seen programs and read stuff which basically shows that with a majority of people, the perceived risk of been caught and the punishment is the only thing that stopped them doing the crime.

When I was a kid, it was a right of passage to steal sweets from the sweet shop while his back was turned, reaching the top shelf for the pineapple chunks. I once even stole a cassette of Lionel Ritchie from Woolworths when I was 9.

Nowadays, with cctv etc, most kids won't try shoplifting for fear of been caught.
 
Funny that stats say it's safer, yet I would not let my kids do half the things I was allowed to do at their age...
 
The problem is the definition of crime changes over time. Didn't nu_labour bring in thousands of new laws during their tenure for example?

If you make more things illegal, then clearly you will get more 'crime'.

For example, in the early 60s drink driving was perfectly legal and commonplace, so if you were to retrospectively apply today's laws backwards the crime rate for that period would sky rocket.
 
Burnsy2023 said:
The stats are quite clear. There is a lot less crime now than there was 20 or 30 years ago. I think those rose tinted glasses are skewing your perception ;)
Click to expand...

Or that the government and police have got better at massaging the stats to show what they want to show.

Just putting that out there..............
 
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