Today the Crime Victims Helpline launched its Annual Report for 2010. The report showed an increase of 20% in contact made to the helpline with the total number for the 12 month period just under 3000.
The main crimes reported were assault (24%) and property related crimes including burglary (21%). Somewhat surprisingly the number of burglaries reported to the helpline has remained relatively constant since it was set up in 2005. With the difficult economic situation the country and many of its inhabitants find themselves in a rise in burglaries and theft may have been expected. However, according to Maeve Ryan, co-ordinator of the helpline, most of the calls they receive are about anti-social behaviour:
“it is a less serious crime and difficult to prove but the consequences of it are immense” she said.
With the majority of calls received relating to reward-less assaults, acts of violence with no financial gain, what are the factors stimulating this rise? Some economists have weighed in with theories which may provide some explanation.
Nobel Prize winning economist Gary Becker published a paper titled The Economics of Crime. Within it he suggests that youths often commit crime as they think less about the future when assessing the costs and benefits of committing a crime. Also, depending on their age and if the crime is not too serious then in many Western societies their first crime is often “free”, free in that there “essentially is no punishment”.
Another element which Becker highlights is that of recidivism i.e. that after going to prison those that commit a crime are likely to re-offend. Becker believes that in prison, many offenders learn how to become better criminals. This is a belief shared by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Andrew Montague. Speaking at the launch of the report today Mr. Montague said
“short prison sentences are counter productive. When you bring troubled people together they form new networks and commit more and more serious crimes. “
Worryingly, some believe that the rise in assaults and violent crime may be a result of a much simpler and perhaps more worrying trend in our society. District Court Judge Gillian Hussey, who is also patron and director of the helpline, believes that the growth of anti-social behaviour and assault in this country is exacerbated by the increasing issue of drug and alcohol abuse;
“if I found six sober criminals in a year it’s about as many as I found.”
The National Crime Victims Helpline is a freephone number – 116 006 – and the website is crimevictimshelpline.ie.
Irish News Review 