Less Crime & Less Punishment

In 2006, there were 17, 034 homicides in the United States. In the Netherlands, there were 140. Okay, okay. I know there are 300 million people in the US vs. 16 million in the Netherlands. I'll break it down a little more. In the city of Baltimore, MD (population of 640,000), there were 270 murders and in Rotterdam (pop. 589,000) 19 murders. Even Amsterdam, a city of over a million people, had 26 murders. Now, I just grabbed these numbers off of the internet but I have a feeling they're fairly accurate. Why is the crime in the US so much worse than in the NL? Let's look at the penalty for murder. In the US, we have the death penalty and we have life sentences. People who committ murder typically are put in prison for the remainder of their life. In the Netherlands, there is no death penalty and the most someone usually spends in prison for murder is 15 years...and that's the most! Wouldn't you think that a harsher punishment would stop people from committing crimes? Studies have actually shown that the punishment for a crime is not a deterrent at all. What is then? Gun control? From what I understand, the process for getting a gun here is pretty similar to the US. Also, guns are pretty easy to get if you "know the right people," especially with the port which brings in lots of shipments from all over the world.

Here are a few observations. 1) The society is very egalitarian. There are no extremely poor people in the Netherlands. There are very, very few homeless people here. In fact, I haven't seen one yet. In DC, I can't walk to work without seeing about five homeless people (and it's a ten minute walk). Everyone in NL has healthcare, children are 100% covered. So, there aren't those who are in great need for basic survival needs. Of course, with this comes very high taxes...that's a whole other topic. 2) Women with children don't work as much as in the US. Now I'm all for womens' rights and equality, etc. but I definitely think there is a great impact of having both parents working (or having a single mother). In NL, the majority of women with children work part-time and companies are set up to support this. There are very few daycares. Women are starting to work more and more though. In the US, crime skyrocketed following WWII when women started working. Obviously when kids are left alone without supervision, they will entertain themselves. So, the family structure seems to be more in tact here. 3) Liberal laws. The NL is very liberal with many things, their laws being one of them. They are famous for their prostitution and drug laws. Is there something to this? While I don't agree with prostitution, the system seems to work well here. It is controlled in one location and protected. There is very little crime in the Red Light District (remember, 26 murders in all of Amsterdam in a year). "The oldest profession" is going to continue. Maybe it's time to face it and deal with it. Same with some soft drugs perhaps. 4) Religion. The majority of the people in the NL do not attend church. I think religion can definitely be a great thing, but I think it can also perpetuate certain problems as well...yet another topic I could ramble on about. While many of the people in the NL may be spiritual, they are not religious and I think there is a significant difference. While many people think that having more religion will help lower crime rates, I think it may be the opposite in many cases. 5) Discrimination. Like I mentioned before, the NL is very liberal by US standards. They seem pretty accepting of all people. Gay marriage is legal here. There doesn't seem to be racial segregation as there often is in the US.

Well, I could go on and on but these are my observations in what I think could play a role in the low crime rate in the NL. Obviously, I can't solve our crime problems in a blog but it's interesting to ponder and get conversations started. I think this may actually influence my upcoming study that I'm starting this summer.