List and explain the reasons why it is difficult to compare crime rates across different countries

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer:

The crime rates of different nations are difficult to compare because of differences in the way a given crime is defined; diverse crime-reporting practices; and political, social, economic, and other influences on the reporting of statistics to international agencies.

The biggest problem is definitional differences. For cross-national comparisons of crime data to be meaningful, the reported data need to share conceptual similarities, but because nations report offenses according to their individual legal criteria, this may not be the case. For example, in Japan, an assault resulting in death is classified as an assault or aggravated assault; in the U.S., this would be classified as a homicide.

Reporting practices vary greatly among different countries. The only international organizations that regularly collect crime statistics from a large number of countries are INTERPOL and the UN, and many countries do not disclose the requested information or make only partial reports.

Economic, social, and political differences among countries also affect crime statistics. For example, the U.S. has a much higher rate of auto theft than Bangladesh in part because private ownership of automobiles is not common in Bangladesh and there are few cars in the country. Countries may not accurate report the frequency of certain kinds of culturally reprehensible crimes.