Preparing a Comparative Study

¶ … Criminology:

Comparative criminology is an area of study in criminology that examines the social trends of crimes across different cultures in order to identify the similarities and differences in crime patterns. This area has continued to develop in the recent years because modern criminology attaches great significance to the social context of crime, particularly the impact of the wider society. The need for conducting comparative criminology has been brought by the increase in crime rates across the globe making criminologists to realize the need for sharing and learning from each other.

In order for criminologists to conduct effective comparative study in criminology, they need to make adequate preparations. These preparations include the identification of an effective source for gathering crime data in the areas to be analyzed and an understanding of the crime rates in the different regions. The various sources utilized to gather crime data can be divided into two main categories as explained below

Primary Sources:

The primary sources of crime data include Uniform Crime Reports, National Crime Victimization Survey, and Self-Report Surveys. Uniform Crime Reports contain crime record data that has been gathered by the local law enforcement agencies while the National Crime Victimization Survey is an estimation of the total number of annual crimes. Self-Report Surveys provide information regarding the individual characteristics of criminals that are unavailable in other sources (Siegel, 2011, p. 38).

Secondary Sources:

These sources of crime data include cohort research, experimental research, and observational and interview research. While cohort research basically involves observing a group of people with similar characteristics over time, experimental research is used to gather data on the cause of crime. On the other hand, observational and interview research helps criminologists to gain insight about the motives and activities of criminals.

Importance of Comparative Criminology:

In view of a globalized world, comparative criminology has become an important aspect in criminal justice because of the need for coordinating the fight against transnational crime and extending theories beyond national boundaries. With the globalization of criminal activities and emergence of transnational criminals, comparative criminology helps in coordinating efforts towards the arrest and prosecution of such criminals. This helps in understanding the operational strengths and weaknesses of various crime control systems in order to develop effective measures of dealing with transnational criminals. Furthermore, comparative criminology offers an opportunity for criminological theories to be given a broad hearing. This helps in ensuring that theories of crime and criminal justice remain relevant to historical demands (Howard, Newman & Pridemore, 2000).

Crime Rates in Different Countries:

With various violent crimes across the globe, murders are considered to the most accurately reported crimes. South Africa is the leading country with the highest murder rate across the globe followed by Colombia, Thailand, and America respectively ("Reality Check," n.d.). On the contrary, Iceland, Morocco, Oman, Luxembourg, and Cyprus are the safest countries because they have the least number of violent crimes worldwide. According to statistics, developed countries like America, United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, France, and Germany have a very high crime rate. On the contrary, developing countries have low levels of crime rate across the globe though there is a possibility that less victims report crime.