Violent crime since 1962, when records first started being compiled, is up 320 percent, which makes you wonder what society was like back in the forties and the fifties. Were people nicer and more socialized before the 1960's than they are today? And what are the reasons why there is such a spike in the crime rate over the last five decades?
Even though today there is a modest decline in the crime rate over the past ten years, it is still shocking to note that Ontario has recorded the most homicides of any province during the last census by sheer number, though as a crime statistic (rate of crime per 100 000 people) seen demographically Ontario is below the national average and places like Saskatchewan and Alberta rate higher in terms of homicide.
There is only one general assumption with the statistics being kept, that as overall population increases so does the number of crimes being committed, though the rate of crime itself may remain unchanged.
There are also theorists and pundits who may put the blame on things like, violence on television or an increase in poverty but what the statistics do not tell is the motivation of the crime itself, that statistics are misleading or unavailable as to say whether the homicides being committed are motivated by race, television, poverty or drug deals gone sour. And the statistics being kept don't seem to answer the spike of 320 percent over the last five decades.
So, better and more detailed statistics seem to be the only answer to offering a reason why there is such a spike. Statistics Canada doesn't seem to have the available information or they are not offering nor compiling homicide statistics that relate to drug deals, alcohol, racial motivation, domestic disputes, or even hours spent watching television.
As for an immigration policy, it is impossible to say whether the policy is successful in terms of rate of crime or a failure, if statistics do not show that there is a greater increase in homicides with population densities related to multiculturalism. There isn't this type of information. It is also impossible to say what the motivation was for the Jane Creba incident, if relevant statistics are not being made available, if they are being kept at all, as to whether the incident was domestic or gang related, or even racially motivated.
As it is, there is no way of answering what the spike in crime over the last five decades represents, and there is also no way of measuring the effect of television on culture, as much as there is no way of saying that television has had a negative or positive effect on crime. We can't even begin to think how such statistics would be kept, if for instance there are such things as the amount of hours spent watching television and a co-relation to bad marks at school, or whether poverty itself, or the unemployment rate is responsible for an increase in crime.
The available statistics don't say anything. They have little meaning beyond giving us a superficial understanding with no reason available to answer why it seems society was more socialized before the 1960's. The spike in crime over the last five decades is without an understanding. We know it exists but no one can say why, and it remains fodder for chinwagging, with theorists and pundits explaining their pet theory in the wake of such a spike.
The only answer seems to have better and more detailed statistics made available to the public, and that what is being offered as an explanation or a guide to understanding the society in which we live, has left us only confused as to why things seemed more pleasant in the past.
keeping better statistics
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