Huge disparity in US/Canada murder rates -- why?

[Tingkai]

the number of people jailed per 100,000 is also high in the US:

US 682
New Zealand 150
England and Wales 125
Canada 123
Scotland 119
Australia 110
Finland 54

[The Pioneer]

Disparity social and economic. Education (lack of), family (lack of), respect (lack of), gang culture in inner cities, easy accesibility to guns (without the right education).

Where did you get that list from Tingkai? I am surprised to see New Zealand on that one adn I amore surprised to see that 6 of 7 are Anglophones?! (ok maybe 5 1/2 since Canada is not only english speaking)

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Zylka
I ALSO HAPPEN TO KNOW THAT THE WINNIPEG RATE IS HIGHEST IN CANADA BECAUSE OF THE HIGH NATIVE POPULATION THERE

Winnipeg has the largest population of Natives, but what proof do you have to back up your claim that the high murder rate in the Peg is a result of a large native population?

I've looked around for some numbers, but haven't able to find anything.

I did find stats showing 13 per cent of people in jail for murder are aboriginal, while aboriginals make up 3 per cent of the Canadian population.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by The Pioneer
Where did you get that list from Tingkai? I am surprised to see New Zealand on that one adn I amore surprised to see that 6 of 7 are Anglophones?! (ok maybe 5 1/2 since Canada is not only english speaking)

Corrections Canada

http://www.sgc.gc.ca/EPub/Corr/eStatsNov2000/eStatNov2000.htm

[The Pioneer]

These statisitics show though that there is something terribly wrong in the US! I mean sure there are literally thousands of towns in the US where the crime rate is no worse than anywhere else in the world (often with 0 homicide rate) but in the big population centers something is not ticking right. But the numbers show the truth there are more violent deaths in America than there are in some wars that were (or are being) fought in recent history.

The number of people jailed is stunning there was a report here in Germany a while back which said that almost 1 in 10 or so have been in jail. That's something that you wont see in Europe or other countries.

On the other hand the numbers don't show that there are a lot of place sin the US were it is unlikely that you will ever witness or be a victim of a crime.

[notyoueither]

The 'war' on drugs can be thanked for a lot of the incarceration rate in the US. I think.

I believe there is also a statistical correlation between living in a house with guns in it and being murdered. I don't like the 'lock up all the guns' group actually, but statistics do not lie.

/Edit. That should say that numbers do not lie. Liers use statistics all the time.

[The Pioneer]

I agree with the thing about drug related crimes. Some of these crimes should not even be considered a crime (i.e. smoking a joint).

As for guns being in the house, I do believe that we should have the right to own any guns we like (not the case in Europe) but it should be very much controlled and you should have to get the right education before you get the license, plus mandatory courses or something every so often. Something like a driver's license here in Germany, which really pays off (stats on street safety are hard proof of that).

[Asher]

Originally posted by Sprayber
tsk tsk tsk. Asher.

You have been reading too many Paitktis trolls. A knee jerk thread should be beneath you. At least I hope you will refrain from calling us Nazies like he does. Or is that Ecthelion?

I'm just trying to help out the inner-city youth of America. I know the suburbs don't really have these problems, just the major urban centers themselves, but it's still fascinating countries largely the same in culture and so close together are so wildly apart with one figure.

[SpencerH]

Part of the difference is that Canadian cities tend to be more homogeneous than American cities so the statistics are somewhat deceiving. For example Birmingham just left the 10 most deadly cities (its now 11th). But thats really just the stats for the inner city. Where I live in the burbs there is virtually no crime (except for the occasional gunfire on the highway) but our stats aren't included with Birmingham.

[aaglo]

One explanation for the lower murder rates:
Canada is so sparsely populated (even within city limits) that it's a tough job to find somebody to be killed.

[drake]

Sprayber, that song personifies what runs through my head every day

Havent snapped yet tho

[Boris Godunov]

I think it boils down to economics. American inner cities, far more than any where else in the Western world, or confined nests of dismal poverty. Such conditions breed more crime.

[Saint Marcus]

It's not just the cities. On average, the homicide rate in the USA is about 7 to 10 times higher than in the rest of the western world.

[aaglo]

StMarcus: doesn't most of the people in USA live in cities?

[Saint Marcus]

Yes, but same can be said for every western nation. Also, most people live mall cities, not the big ones we're talking about.