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Cross-National Research in Self-Reported Crime and Delinquency pp 227–248Cite as

Comparative Research on Crime and Delinquency — The Role and Relevance of National Penal Codes and Criminal Justice Systems

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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 50))

Abstract

In the fields of criminology and criminal law probably everybody can agree with two propositions. First, throughout the world, criminal and delinquent acts are observed, recorded and counted. Rates of crime are interpreted as rather important indicators of a paramount social problem. Second, we can agree that throughout the world — and independent from cultural and political systems — criminal laws as well as criminal justice systems exist, displaying (to varying degrees) successful attempts to define and classify behavior or events as requiring punishment or some other societal reactions, be it treatment or education. Offenders or delinquents are processed through various stages of criminal justice. On the other hand, it is equally easy to conclude that despite rather uniform roles and functions law has been assigned in industrialized countries (Luhmann, 1972), there do not exist universal definitions of crime and delinquency. Agreement has not been reached on what is or what should be considered to be a criminal act or delinquent behavior (neglecting here rather meaningless abstract definitions such as: a crime is an act violating criminal law without justification or excuse). The answer to the question of whether there are universal crimes thus points to the rather trivial idea that law and norms, crime and deviance, represent relative concepts which vary along the dimensions of culture and nations as well as over time (Chang & Blazichek, 1986).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute, Freiburg im Breisgau, Federal Republic of Germany

    Hans Jorg Albrecht

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  1. Hans Jorg Albrecht
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Research on Crime and Social Control, Social Science Research Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA

    Malcolm W. Klein

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© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Albrecht, H.J. (1989). Comparative Research on Crime and Delinquency — The Role and Relevance of National Penal Codes and Criminal Justice Systems. In: Klein, M.W. (eds) Cross-National Research in Self-Reported Crime and Delinquency. NATO ASI Series, vol 50. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1001-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1001-0_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6940-3

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