Why is Comparative criminology important?

I L Barak-Glantz, E H Johnson

This series of comparative criminological studies considers the validity of cross-cultural studies of criminality, the nature of economic crimes in communist countries, mediation in China, urban riots, female criminality, police selection practices, lay court participation, and occupational stress in corrections.

In analyzing the reliability of the comparative study of crime across cultures, one essay concludes that although defects in research methodology undermine reliability, comparative criminology is primarily hindered by the fact that social behavior is not susceptible to the regularities sought by researchers. The study of economic crimes in the Soviet Union and Poland places such crimes in the general categories of offenses against the central economic plan and the centralized distribution of goods. The criminalization of many economic behaviors constitutes massive legal intervention in the economy compared to capitalist countries. Mediation in the People's Republic of China is a means of propagating state policies and laws, of maintaining a stable order, and raising the political consciousness and approved value commitments of the disputants. The Miami (Florida) and Liverpool (England) civil riots of the 1980's are compared in one presentation; what these riots portend in both countries is considered. A comparison of arrest statistics for males and females in the Netherlands fails to show that the women's movement has had any significant impact on the character of female criminality. A comparison of Canadian and American police personnel selection practices identifies differences and similarities; it is suggested that selection practices in both countries should adopt a more positive philosophy of identifying trainable applicants rather than focusing on screening out unacceptable candidates. Another study compares the methods of selecting American jurors and German lay judges as well as the impact of selection and assignment on the prospective juror or lay judge. In the concluding essay, data relevant to prison guards' perceptions of their work environment were organized within a model for the analysis of stress reactions and role conflict among American and Scandinavian prison personnel. Chapter references are provided. For individual entries, see NCJ 92330-37.

Comparative criminal justice takes an international perspective, comparing justice systems across the world using a variety of historical, political and descriptive approaches. Comparative criminal justice courses are offered at most major universities, either as a degree, or as a subsection of another course of study, typically law. There are a range of benefits to studying comparative criminal justice, including to gain the analytical skills needed to solve global crime cases. The study of comparative criminal justice can open up a variety of national and international career options.

A key part of comparative criminal justice involves learning about justice systems from different parts of the world. This adds an international perspective to your understanding of law, including how different cultures and government systems influence how the criminal justice system is institutionalized and played out across the world. This holistic perspective is needed to solve international justice issues and is important if you ever want to work in a different country or for an international organization, such as the United Nations, once you have finished your studies.

Learning how criminal justice systems have changed and transformed over time is an important part of understanding why and how the current justice system operates, giving you an understanding of how to avoid past mistakes and an insight into how it is likely to develop in the future. You can apply the analytical skills learned from your studies throughout the course of your working life. Your studies will allow you to discuss points of contention from a well-informed perspective.

Career in Law Enforcement

Studying comparative criminal justice gives you a sound understanding of legal administration procedures and how organizations such as the police force function. These details will allow you to operate and progress within the legal system, understanding the work of your colleagues and competitors. This awareness also allows you to gain a strong understanding of how the foundations of society operate and to pursue careers in lecturing and teaching, or to enter into the police force with further training.

Career in Government

An integral element of comparative criminal justice courses is learning to view criminal justice from a political perspective. This will help you understand global issues such as terrorism and homeland security, giving you the potential for careers in government and security sectors on completion of your studies. Being able to view things from such a holistic perspective will deepen your understanding of how and why desicions have been made instead of taking changes at face value. Being able to have a well rounded perspective on contentious issues is a valuable life skill.

Francesca started her presentation with a historical insight into the comparative research in social sciences, as the same was crucial to the development of social science in the late 19th century. Founding figures in sociology like Emile Durkheim started a study to explain the difference suicide rates of Catholic and Protestants, whereas Weber analysed the relationship between religion and economic behaviour. If conducted today, these projects would constitute comparative research. But despite these exemplary research projects, comparative research became less relevant, especially prior to World War II mainly because the scholars became concerned about the standing of social research due its inability to confirm to the higher methodological standards, particularly in relation to hard sciences and natural science. However, after World War II, due to increased internationalisation and global contribution, methodological tools were modified to overcome previous problems. This fostered comparative research further.

Comparative research may be useful in various circumstances, but particularly in challenging or confirming existing theories, contributing to old theories, developing new theories or for of policy making.

However, one of the most important concerns in this research area is ‘comparability’. It’s really important to note that the judgement of the comparability or non-comparability, although cannot be made on absolute grounds but must necessarily be rested on specific properties and characteristics that are relevant in light of the research questions. She adds, ‘it may be important to ask yourself at this stage, what is to be compared, according to what’. For example, studying the impact of health care provisions on life expectancy in UK and US, as the both have provisions pertaining to privatisation. However, if the research question pertains to unionisation of workforce in liberal market economies, one cannot compare UK and US as they both have liberal market economies. In this case, one might be better off to compare US with Germany due to distinct nature of market economies.

But a quite common mistake or a risk in comparative research is ‘ecological fallacy and individual fallacy’. The former refers to drawing assumptions about individuals based on data that is tailored at group level whereas individual fallacy is the opposite, i.e. drawing conclusions from groups according to individual data. For example, if there is a positive correlation between depravation and illiteracy between the group studied, it does not mean that all poor people will be unable able to read and write. Therefore one has to be clear, what the unit of analysis is and the conclusions being drawn are applied at same level. But there are two strategies to address these fallacies.

First is the maximization of difference. In this, a researcher may have a unit that differs in many ways but have one thing common. The strategy here is to highlight common causes. For example, in a study of political unrest and violence, it may be apt to study Barbados and Beirut. Although different in culture, geographical location, but have faced political unrest violence. Therefore one may uncover some of the common causes that might have led to political violence. Second is the maximisation of similarity. In this case the unit of analysis will have many common feature but are different in one aspect. Here we may compare religious affiliation and role of women in the labour market. In this case one may study Austria and Germany because they have similar culture and language but one is predominantly catholic the other is predominantly protestant.

The last step is the collection and analysis of data. Here it is pivotal to note that comparative research is not the same as comparative method. But one can have a comparative research that employs qualitative methods, quantitative method or mixed methods and all other the methods that apply to research where there is no comparative element but will also apply to research that is comparative in nature. Additionally, there are many other challenges which are required to note and appreciate.

First is the issue of comparability. It is essential to make sure that like is being compared to like. This can be referred to as the oranges and apples problem. The second is the issue of standardisation. Third, is the data collection method standardised and comparable? For instance the European Social Survey is cross-national and conducted every two years across Europe since 2001. In fact, methodological search for optimal comparability has led a standardised methodology.

Thereafter, the major concern is the problem of translation. In this regard it is essential to make sure that the questions are equally understandable in the same context. For example, asking public about civic servant’s mentality. It is possible that in one country it may invoke an image of someone who believes in laws and respect the procedure, while in another it may mean and imply corruption, favouritism etc. Furthermore, at times literal translation may appear to be a better option than syntactical translation. Assistance of an interpreter may also be used in this regard.

Lastly and most importantly, she highlighted the reasons for relying on comparative criminology. Increasing relevance of trans-national and cross border crime, policy making; investigating another country’s criminal justice system to import/adapt it into one’s own system. E.g. people in a different country have found a way to better way to fight robbery, and to check criminological theories in a different context than the one where they originated. it can employ cross-national data to test casual claims: is the link between age and criminal behaviour valid in different countries. Thereafter Francesca ended by giving a brief introduction of her own research on the local governance of crime prevention in three EU countries, i.e. England and Wales, France and Italy.