Crime and safety in Australia through the eyes of international students
Introduction
Crime and safety are two of the most important conditions to consider before travelling to somewhere. In the case of international students that decide to live in Australia for a while, seem so to be that for them come to this country means an improvement in their safety conditions in comparison with their countries. However, this essay is going to show that there is not enough accuracy between what students think and what is really happening about this topic in Australia. This study has been based on a survey realized to 10 students from Colombia, Lebanon and Nepal that are living in Sydney and a research of second sources about the current situation of crime and safety in this country.
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The questions were focus in their experience since they are living in Sydney, with two main objectives: to analyse their knowledge about crime and safety in this country, and to know how they think that their condition of being international students can affect them. All the answers were consolidated and studied throughout a descriptive analysis. In the other hand, a research of secondary sources was realized to have information about the current situation of crime and safety in Australia. The main purpose of this research was to compare the survey results and the reality of this country.
Results
One of the most interesting results is that 90% of the students expressed that their country is more dangerous than Australia, as can be seen in the graph below. This can represent for them an improvement of their life conditions, because safety is a factor that can affect the society in many different ways.
Graph
The relationship between social harm and criminology has been discussed all around the world within different approaches. Some criminologists such as Hillyard and Tombs, believe to be a better alternative to the concept of crime, due to the fact that involves a lack of more harmful issues that go unpunished in our society, others disagree saying that, actions can only be penalized within communities if they are seen as a crime. However, crime is looked at differently within societies, social groups, and nation states, as a result of distinct cultures and beliefs.
Criminology as a genre is defined as the scientific study of crime, as well as its causes, law enforcement interaction, criminal behavior, and means of prevention. In its own way criminology is the history of humanity. As long as people have been on earth there has been criminal activity. Much like most other work atmospheres, it was a male dominated field. A woman seeking to work in criminology was unheard of. Men filled the jobs as police officers, lawyers, judges, and politicians. However, in the 1860s Belva Lockwood became determined to pave the way for women in criminology. As a women’s rights activist, she became one of the most influential women in criminology.
The media is a dominating aspect of American culture. The way the media depicts crime and criminal behavior has an effect on the way society views crime and criminals. Television series such as CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, Criminal Minds and countless others, have become very popular in our society today showing that our culture has an immense interest in crime. It is clear that there is a fascination with criminals and why they do the things they do. To analyze the way crime dramas represent crime and criminal behavior, I completed a content analysis of one episode of Criminal Minds. The episode I chose was season one; episode eight, which first aired in 2005, titled ‘Natural Born Killer’.
Nothing does more to tear our families apart than violent crime, guns, gangs, drugs, and the fear that walks alongside those terrors. Violent crime and victim rights have become a major concern for most citizens in the United States of America. Statistics indicate a decline in violent crimes in our country and an increase in our national prison population. Released prisoners commit most violent crimes. Gun control legislation, reform programs, victim rights awareness, and other programs are abundant in our country, but do little to alleviate violent crime. In this paper I will try to present the liberal and conservative views on this issue as well as my own views.
Crime and fear of crime on campus are major concerns for college students, parents, administrators, and policymakers. Students must feel comfortable living on or at least walking on campus. College populations may be more at risk of sexual assault than the general population because they are in the age group that experiences the most rape generally and because they participate in many dating and social activities. In addition, substance use of all kinds is common among college students and it increases risk of victimization by reducing the aptitude to battle unwanted situations. Yet the majority of college students are not victimized. Fear of crime can stem from many things, either the population size, neighborhood you are in, age, gender, and even your ethnicity. There is much curiosity that is growing with wanting to understand the level of fear on campuses at Universities all around the world. Questions such as what constitutes this fear or how safe is the university are essential.
Reports on crimes usually follow certain patterns or trends relating to specific crimes deemed ‘newsworthy’ (AIC, 2017). Thus, it is evident that there are many statistical reasons for why the perceptions of crime can influence society’s beliefs on the nature of crime in Australia. Public anxiety about crime can be escalated to such an extent which leads to a moral panic based on a crime, specifically violent crime. “There is a widespread concern that the level and type of crime reported in the media present a distorted view of the real level of crime in the community” (Media portrayals of crime, 2000).
Punishment occurs to individuals who break the law. It is also used to maintain the level of crime and to protect community members in Australia. To determine that society is content with maintaining the crime rate, this essay will discuss punishment types given to offenders and how society justifies the use punishment. Additionally, providing a brief overview of the community correction and prions rates to show that communities prefer to incarcerate lawbreakers. Highlighting that crime rates are being maintained by looking at the personal crime rate for assault before concluding that Australian society feel safe enough to allow the criminal justice system to sustain the crime rate.
The foundation of our legal system rest upon the single philosophy that humans hold their own fate. Even though, we perceive in our daily lives the persistence of causation and effect. Even children understand the simplistic principle that every action will have a reaction. Despite this obvious knowledge, we as a society still implanted the belief that our actions are purely our own. Yet, with the comprehension of force that environmental factors impact our development, we continue to sentence people for crimes committed. Moreover, uncontrollable environmental influences are not the only deterministic factors we ignore in our societal view of crime. One’s biological composition can work against any moral motives that they
People in the community often say that some people feel more comfortable in a cage than in society. It is the exact same when some people like to be told what to do and when to do it, other than to think for themselves. Some people are so institutionalised that the rules in the specific prison make more sense than a complex ever evolving society. Some of the prisoners locked up have accepted their fate and have accepted that they are bad towards society and that they have caused harm to someone else, and would prefer to be surrounded by other individuals just like him/her, than to harm people in the free world. Most prisons in Australia and around the world have one objective, which is to make the prisoners follow and obey a specific routine
Through this case study, the essay will assess how this crime can be prevented in the future with the help of developmental crime prevention. Developmental crime prevention is a way of placing strategies of preventing crime and is af popular approach in Australia because it aims at early intervention program. The main
The world will always be full of crime, thus it is necessary for scientist to grow along with the gruesome and increasing amount of violations. Due to this it sparked scientist to develop crime theories in which emerged to explain why crime is caused by individuals. Some of the few theories that have advanced over the past century and provided many answers to why crimes are committed are biological theories, psychological theories and learning theories. These theories provide an insight to its first use and change in order to provide answers.
In regards to personal safety, the response was overwhelmingly positive with approval ratings being unanimously above 90%. These results suggest an optimistic swing towards students from abroad choosing Australia as their host country to study. Previous statistics had indicated a predicted loss to institutions if the reputation of Australia’s ability to provide a safe and supportive environment for international students wasn’t addressed and steps weren’t taken to rectify perceived inadequacies. Yet in the 5 years since the Crimes Against International Students: 2005-2009 report was completed, one could reasonable assume, given the rise in survey ratings, that these key issues are being seriously considered and managed. “The high satisfaction with personal safety and security follows the efforts of many Australian stakeholders to ensure that international students feel safe and are welcomed into the Australian community….
Taking the paper to another perspective public fear of crime might influence individual behaviors. The fear of crime is a psychology of risk perception, and this is due to impersonal communication and the media. Therefore, the fear of crime is only the fear of becoming a victim to a crime. Moreover, this very well may be the reason for the public fear on crime, and it does affect their behaviors. Females are in fear of crime, and becoming a victim.
We are all affected by crime, whether we are a direct victim, a family member or a friend of a victim. It can interfere with your daily life, your personal sense of safety and your ability to trust others.
Sociologists have been examining crime and its causes for over 150 years, and through several researches, various explanations have been used to describe crime and deviance. Crime is a behaviour that goes against all formal written laws of a given society (Haralambos, Smith, O 'Gorman, & Heald, 1996). Laws in different societies differ, so do crimes i.e. what may be considered as a crime in one society may not be in another different society. For instance, while same-sex relationship is accepted in some countries like the United States, United Kingdom etc. it is illegal in countries like Nigeria, and most Arabic countries. Other examples of general crimes are theft/robbery, murder, kidnapping and others. Once a crime is committed, sanctions