Is There a Crime Drop in Western Europe?

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Serval ID
serval:BIB_68EAECFB227F
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Is There a Crime Drop in Western Europe?
Journal
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research
Author(s)
Aebi M.F., Linde A.
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2010
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
16
Number
4
Pages
251-277
Language
english
Abstract
Combining data from police statistics and crime victim surveys, this article analyses the evolution of crime in Western Europe from 1988 to 2007. The results show that there is no general drop in crime. Property offences and homicide have been decreasing since the mid 1990s, while violent and drug offences have increased during the period under study. These trends highlight the limits of the explanations to the crime drop in the United States, which are based on the premise of a correlation in the evolution of all offences. The drop in property offences seems related to changes in the socioeconomic situation in Europe as well as to increases in security measures in households, and the reinforcement of private security. The increase in violent offences can be explained by the combination of several factors, including changes in youth's free time provoked by the development of the Internet, changing demographics, and the rise of episodic heavy alcohol consumption and street gangs.
Keywords
Alcohol consumption, Crime drop, Crime trends, European sourcebook, International crime victim survey, Internet, Police statistics, Street gangs, Victimisation surveys, Western Europe
Web of science
Create date
13/01/2011 18:26
Last modification date
01/10/2019 7:11
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