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We are talking with Mykolas Romeris University professor, dr. A. Kiškiu.
Sometimes we hear about extremely heinous crimes that are difficult to understand. What motivates a person to commit a violent crime?
Often these are certain psychological problems. In general, these people have difficulties in driving, inadequate evaluation of some situations. But still, this does not deprive him of his criminal responsibility: if he is accused and was able to perceive and control his actions, he is punished accordingly.
Of course, this is often influenced by childhood – education and the environment. And of course this is also a reflection of our violent society, because we really have a lot of violence.
I myself am doing an experiment with students, asking them to raise their hands of those who have never experienced physical violence from their parents. Typically 1 to 5 people out of 30 raise their hands. Sometimes nobody answers. It is very unfortunate, but in the 30 years that I have been working at the university, the situation has not changed much. Although I expected the violence to subside. And this is very wrong because a violent culture is transmitted and we believe that violence is a normal problem-solving tool.
In general, what crimes dominate in Lithuania?
We are certainly not very different from the rest of the world, we are also dominated mainly by property crimes. They represent about 60 to 70 percent of the crime statistics recorded.
When it comes to property crime, thefts are the most common. Therefore, if we want to reduce crime, we must first reduce the number of robberies.
What our Seimas did was decriminalize part of the robbery. Those who cause minor damage are no longer considered crimes, they are treated as administrative crimes. That is why crime has decreased, and as a result, people are unlikely to live safer.
Due to some petty theft, no one is going to investigate. Clearly, there is a lack of capacity to investigate petty thefts, so the police can focus more on investigating more serious and high-profile crimes.
You are talking about recorded crimes. And what do population surveys show? After all, not all crimes turn the population into police and the statistics of recorded crimes do not reflect the real scale.
According to a study conducted by researchers at Mykolas Romeris University in 2012, only about 4 percent of the actual number of crimes is recorded.
Surveys ask people if you have been mugged, beaten, scammed by yourself, etc. Residents do not go to the police for a variety of reasons: they don’t believe the perpetrator will be identified, they don’t have time, sometimes the damage seems less severe and down.
Every day I follow the event reports published by the police. At first glance, it would seem that men are more guilty. Who breed more often, male or female?
Both in Lithuania and in the world, the same trend prevails: men are offended more often. The reasons for this are very simple. For example, in the past, men were more involved in all spheres. And the more you participate everywhere, the more conditions there are to commit crimes.
In the past, women used to sit more at home, burning fireplaces, so there were no excuses for them. Now, of course, women are already moving boldly in all spheres and female crime is on the rise. That would be the main reason.
Studies show another reason: men are physically stronger, so they fight more often and therefore commit crimes.
According to the statistics recorded in Lithuania, only about 12% of the perpetrators are women, but the number of men and women who actually commit crimes does not differ that much.
You mentioned an interesting trend that women’s crime is increasing as women get more and more equal rights. Tell me, what is the difference between crimes between women and men?
I won’t name the differences exactly, but women are doing more scams. They are successful in fraud and are probably better psychologists than men. As the saying goes, men rule the world and women rule them (laughs).
Clearly, scams have now moved more into cyberspace and now more men are scamming there.
In terms of age, what offends: the young or the old?
Probably, it is also noticed from the public space that young people are more likely to abuse.
Clearly, it is necessary to mention why. Most crimes are committed by people between the ages of 18 and 30. This is because they are even more active at this age, they are not fully formed yet, and they are doing bad things. Older people, especially those nearing retirement age, are generally already socially inactive.
Even in the United States, there is a policy of incarcerating a person in serious cases and holding them until they become harmless to society because they will no longer be socially inactive. It happens that that person is almost retired.
Being old, a person no longer has the strength to do something, he also realizes that he will be one of the first suspects. Finally, in old age, one realizes that the path he chose did not lead to the better life he dreamed of.
And what is the portrait of the victim?
The typical victims are not men but women. Although from the public sphere it may seem that women are more likely to suffer. And just like the young, not the old, they suffer the most from crime.
Although, again, it can often give the impression that older people are more likely to suffer.
And why is that the portrait of the victim? Perhaps women and the elderly are less likely to seek help, so the face of the statistical victim is distorted?
No, definitely not here on appeal. In saying this, I rely on surveys from which we find out which people are most likely to be victims of crime. And whether you apply or not, it is already included in the registered statistics. And it shows only a small fraction of what is actually happening in society.
There is a widespread opinion that women in Lithuania often experience violence, but even surveys show that men experience violence more often than women. I was very surprised when the poll results showed it.
It must also be said that there are fewer violent crimes, although many times we imagine that they dominate. Surveys showed that around 4 percent of respondents were victims of violent crime in Lithuania, while 10 percent were victims of robbery. This trend is really interesting.
In terms of crime in individual regions, where is crime most common, in cities or towns?
The situation is such that crime is more common in cities. And that trend is all over the world, not just in Lithuania. In the city of Lithuania 100 thousand. the population has more crime than in the countryside. Similarly, in cities and victims are more likely to be victims of a crime than in rural areas or smaller towns.
One of the main reasons that less crime is committed in the villages is that people here know each other more. And if you are committing a crime, it is likely to be cleared up soon because someone will notice you, will know where you were, where you went. The second thing is that if you are committing a crime in the community, then you are committing a crime against an acquaintance. It is also feared that if the crime is clarified, it will be condemned in the community.
In cities, meanwhile, people do not know each other, and even in apartment buildings, neighbors often do not greet each other. An elementary example, a thief can break into your apartment, take things and a neighbor will not even ask what you are doing here. There is also a much more intense social and economic life in cities, and the more things happen, the more situations in which criminals commit crimes.
And do educated or uneducated people commit crimes more often?
In recorded statistics, the uneducated are definitely more “trapped”. And not only are they uneducated, but in general they find it difficult to adapt to life, many times they are born in a bad family where violence, drunkenness. Often such a child has a hard time adjusting at school, seeking other ways to adjust and earn respect, leading to violations of the law.
And after school, that person again has a hard time adjusting to various competitive conditions, can’t find a good job, earn a good salary, and no longer wants to play the game where he is always a loser. And as a result, he commits more serious crimes in an attempt to get rich quick.
By answering the question, we are more likely to pick up the ones that are easier for us to explain. And the easiest for us to explain are those who have no education, those who commit a crime dishonestly, those who do not have money for a good lawyer.
Are the crimes of educated people harder to explain?
Of course. It is particularly difficult to explain the crimes of ‘white collar workers’, which are committed by respected people in disguises who hold high positions or are businessmen. These individuals often commit crimes of an economic, financial nature, fraud and cause very great harm compared to criminals who are caught more frequently.
And finally, is there a person in the world who is innocent?
In reality, almost all of us commit crimes. In various parts of the world, anonymous survey results have shown that between 90% and 100% of respondents indicated that they had committed a crime. However, as I have already mentioned, those who have a hard time adjusting to society and life are more often caught.
Thanks for the conversation.
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