General English Level 5 GELEV5 Unit 04 Topic 04.doc Crime rates in the West ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A recent survey has revealed some interesting statistics about crime in three Western countries: the USA, Canada and Australia. Although the popular image of the USA as a violent society has been confirmed in some ways, there are some surprising results that show Canada and Australia have higher rates of some kinds of crimes. The USA (as we see in all the American TV police shows!) has the highest rate of murder with a rate of 6.51 per 100,000 people in the population, five times higher than both Canada and Australia. Canada’s and Australia’s rates for murder are comparable, being 1.62 and 1.58 per 100,000 people. America’s gun laws may contribute to its much higher rate of murder. Assault is the most common category of offence recorded against the person. Assault includes muggings and any kind of unlawful interference with the person. In this category, Australia and Canada have a similar rate, 727 and 722 per 100,000 people ahead of the USA. This is interesting since many like to think of both Canada and Australia as safe places and yet it seems the chances of being assaulted are substantially greater in these countries than in the USA. Rates of robbery are also substantially higher in the USA, being 172 per 100,000 people in the population, followed by Australia with a rate of 132 per 100,000 people, then Canada. This category includes both armed and unarmed robberies. In contrast, rates of motor vehicle theft are highest in Australia, which has a rate of over 700 per 100,000 people, followed by Canada and the USA. These findings are dramatic because of the Hollywood image that US crime rates are the highest in the world. The US is certainly at the top of the statistics for murder and shootings but displays quite ordinary rates of other types of crime. This means you are more likely to be murdered in the USA but less likely to be assaulted or robbed there! 139 QUESTLANGUAGE