Reviewing Brisbane Crime Rates

The importance of reviewing crime-related data is crucial especially when it relates to a functioning society whereby, the indirect effects of crime can greatly be exacerbated to affect others. The following graph compares data from the Queensland government for the years of 2013 and 2017. This data will give the Brisbane community insights into whether proposed solutions to past problems have indeed produced progress in reducing crimes. In addition, this article looks at the perception of a crime relating to age and gender, the level of awareness surrounding crime-related activities and solutions to reducing the psychological stress of perceived crime activities.

Graph Notes:

• 10 out of the 14 offenses have increased marginally during the four year period.
• Shop theft has risen 30%
• Unlawful entry has increased 2.5%
• Stealing from dwellings has declined 1.3%

The perception of crime (personal and property related)

An interesting paper reviewed the ‘psychological perspective on vulnerability in the fear of crime’. The paper look at two primary dimensions, that of, age and gender.

The study came to the following conclusions - when looking at the effects of gender, females showed to worried more frequently than males about personal crime but did not worry anymore or less frequently about crimes relating to a property. Furthermore, when analysing the age effects in the fear of crime, the older respondents were shown to be less frequently worried about crime for both personal and property perceived crime activities. Key psychological processes affecting one's perception of crime-related fear revolved around the following makers:

• One’s physical defense capabilities
• Self-efficacy - define simply by psychologist Albert Bandura as "how well one can execute courses of action required to deal with prospective situations".
• Perceived consequences
• The statistical likelihood of victimisation

Level of awareness of crime related activities - to bring awareness or to exacerbate crime-related activities?

Media has a very important role in informing and displaying crimes to the general public whether this is done via radio, television or social media. These forms of awareness, however, can be negatively twisted whereby ‘copycat’ action can be a result when crimes are reported unresolved. Therefore, it is important that when the media is reviewing past crime related actions that they follow it up with positive and reprimanded news for the consequences the person who dealt the crime is accountable for. (CIA, European SP)

Generating an ease of mind

Reducing the psychological and consequential pressures surrounding the property and personal relating crimes is vital to living a happy, peaceful, day-to-day life.

You don’t need to go overboard but just ensure you have the basics down pat. This could mean updating the old door and window lock for your household or business. For your personal self, a simple whistle is enough to deter most crime-related incidents.

Once you have the basics down pat, you can stop worrying about the potential for negative things to go wrong, knowing you have those preventative measurements in place.