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Crime rates in Ireland have been on the increase since the early 1960s and by the late 1970s, these rates had reached a soaring scale, notably at a time when society had begun to industrialize and modernize. Rates of homicide have been especially on the increase in Ireland, although statistics indicate that levels of violent crime stand at half rates in the USA, a third of average rates in the EU, and a third of crime rates in England and Denmark. Most people are therefore hostile to allegations that the rate of crime especially in Irish cities should warrant any cause of alarm. Many Irish people think that the rising levels of violent crime should be the main cause of concern (Tovey & Share: 300, 302).
Although there was a decrease in the number of robberies, hijacking, and extortion at a rate of 6.7% between 2007 and 2008, the total number of such offenses was 2,307 in the year 2008, reflecting an increase of 6.2% from the recorded number in 2007. In 2008, the number of burglary cases recorded also increased with 1,058 with 72 of them being an increase in recorded aggravated burglary incidents. Vehicle and shop thefts also increased between 2007 and 2008, reflecting a 5.2% and 7.6 % increase respectively. This is an indication that gang-related crimes are nowhere being eradicated in Irish cities (CSO 2008).
In February 2009, in probably one of the biggest bank robberies in Ireland, some 7.6 m Euros was stolen from a Dublin bank in the Kilteel area of Co Kildare through what the media has described as a tiger kidnapping. This was a very elaborate crime committed by a team of organized criminals. The gang used the services of Shane Travers, a bank employee, to withdraw the money from the bank after taking hostage his partner, her mother, and the partner’s nephew in their Bagers Hill house in Kilteel. The gang forced their way into the house as the two women arrived home where Travers is said to have been alone watching television. Members of the gang made every effort to conceal their identity by wearing black clothing, balaclavas, and gloves although they are said to have spoken in Dublin accents. At least three of the gang men held handguns although the use of a shotgun in the robbery could not be ruled out. One of the women was also struck with a vase, injuring her on the head. After almost what can be described as a whole night’s hostage, the two women and child were then driven to the Rath Co Meath. Mr. Travers then drove to the bank of Ireland branch at College Green at around 6.58 am and left within 15 min with four laundry bags. He drove to Clontarf where a man took possession of Traver’s car at the Dart Station. Mr. Traver immediately reported the crime at the Clontarf Garda station and hours later, the car was found burnt down in Glasnevin (Caollai 2009).
The term crime is used to refer to a type of deviance that describes the type of behavior through which individuals break particular social rules namely, those societal rules that have been defined and enshrined within criminal law. The issue of crime has attracted much political attention as well as public concern and these factors have helped so much to shape the sociological approach to crime. In the study of crime, sociologists tend to relate criminal behavior to childhood upbringing, defective socialization, or the environment a criminal has been exposed to. But deviance results from an interaction between the criminal and those that have witnessed the crime (Dawnes & Rock: 21-25).
For sociologists, crime has been and will always be a topic of great interest primarily because it reflects a lot about the condition of the society in which it is taking place. According to Durkheim, one of the early sociologists, the extent of crime reflects a society’s economic, social and cultural conditions. Many other sociologists are however of the opinion that crime rates can best be viewed as reflecting social inequality in a society with high rates of crime reflecting inequality of higher magnitude. According to sociologists, individual freedom and affluence lead to increased crime in modern society although the relation between rising crime and modernization varies between different sociologists. Change produces a type of social disorganization that interrupts social control institutions and methods as well as disrupting societal values. In such a situation, there is no clear-cut definition of the expected behavior in people (Tovey & Share: 298 -299, 302).
Sociologists have also argued that the tendency to equate certain criminal activities with young people is often a reflection of the welfare and health of the society in question. Criminal offenses such as burglary, rape, and theft are largely viewed as the domain of the young working-class male population. The media especially pays particular attention to coverage of certain crimes such as vandalism, drug use, and school truancy as an illustration of rising levels of permissiveness in society. This is because young people have always been viewed as an indicator of a society’s health and welfare (Giddens: 820-821).
In Ireland, like any other modern society, crime continues to be a societal concern. A tremendous shift has however occurred that deviates from portraying offenders as maladjusted or deprived delinquents to rapacious and avaricious predators, feckless youths, or career criminals. Crime is largely being regarded as existing in the core of normal daily social interactions, a factor that has led to the establishment of standard motivations of situational controls aimed at preventing crime (Campbell 2008).
References
Campbell, L. 2008. The culture of control in Ireland: theorizing recent developments in criminal justice. Web.
Caollai, E.O. 2009. 7.6 m Euros taken from bank as family held hostage.Web.
Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO). 2009. Current releases and publications: recorded crime quarter. Web.
Downes, D.M. & Rock, P.E. 2007. Understanding deviance: a guide to the sociology of crime and rule-breaking. New York: Oxford University Press.
Giddens, A. 2006. Sociology. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Tovey, H. & Share, P. 2003. A sociology of Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: Gill & Macmillan Ltd.
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