Sun, 3 Apr 2016

Do People In USA Commit More Crimes Than Anywhere Else In The World?


A lot of people find themselves asking this question if the United States is indeed the most dangerous country in terms of incidence of crime. The truth is quite difficult to find out but statistics seem to point towards a yes on this one.

Do people in USA commit more crimes than anywhere else in the world?


Looking At The Statistics


In terms of actual number of incidents, there is no doubt that the United States is the country at the top of the list in terms of incidents of crime. The United States dwarfs all other countries with a total of 11,877,218. The United Kingdom comes in at second place with 6,523,706 and Germany at third place with 6,507,394.

So why do people in USA commit more crimes than anywhere else in the world? The answer to this question can be extremely difficult to answer since the United States has a very large population at 308 million people. This means that the United States has more crime because it has a much larger population compared to other countries in the top ten. Example, the United Kingdom might have around half the number of reported crimes in the United States but the population of the US is around five times bigger. Simply put, more people mean more incidents of crime. It does not necessarily mean that people who live in the US commit more crimes than any other country.


Adjusting The Numbers To Account For Population


Despite having the highest number of reported incidents of crime the United States is actually safe. Once the data is adjusted for population the incident of crime in the United States isn't high at all. Dividing the latest result by the population of each country actually shows a big difference.

After dividing the number of crimes by the size of the population the top three contenders for countries with the highest crime rates is Columbia at number one, the United Kingdom coming in at number two, and Iceland at number three. The United States is in fact, nowhere near the top ten placing itself at number 27. This shows that people in the United States do not commit more crime than other countries on the list, at least when the data is not taken at face value. This evidence seems to concur with the studies conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which indicates that the United States experiences around 2-5 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.


Taking A Look At The Definition Of Crime

Another problem with current statistics is that they do not define what the word "crime" is supposed to mean. The UNODC for example measures the homicide rate for countries all over the world. While the United States experiences 11 million crimes a year, that statistic might include small or big crimes that do not include homicide. To complicate matters even more, a crime in one country might not be a crime in another. Example, the age limits for statutory rape from one country to another can be different. Another example, some governments might have stricter laws regarding the use of drugs whereas others have a more lax approach.


Final Words On The Dangers Of Living In The United States

The fact that there are more incidents of crime in the United States could simply be a sign that the federal government has more laws that criminalizes a lot of behaviors, add to that a large population and people get the result of 11 million reported incidents of crime.



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