Denmark: Demand for study on ethnic criminiality

It's known for certain that youth coming from other countries are more criminal than Danish youth, but after that, it's all guesswork.  It has never been researched if youth coming from Palestine or Somalia are more criminal than youth from Turkey or Iran, or if youth from refugee families are more criminal than those from immigrant families.  But there's much to show that this is true.

The most comprehensive study done in institutions for criminal youth shows that 66% of young criminals have a background other than ethnic Danes, and that 70% of ethnic (ie, non-Danish) youth come from refugee families.

Bo Ertmann of Teori og Metodecenteret, says that 2nd generation immigrants at the institutions are less criminal than ethnic Danes and much less criminal than youth of refugee background.

The study is from 2006, but going into the details, Bo Ertmann has the suspicions that the debate is based on wrong assumptions.  He says that the debate on criminality in Denmark starts off with what he sees as a dogma: that the reason for developing criminality is that we have a group of 2nd generation immigrants whose parents weren't able to discipline them and who are torn between their original culture and the Danish one.  But Bo Ertmann believes that reality is different, that refugee kids are more criminal becasue there come from vulernable families, where the scars or war are tatooed in the families' history.

According to Bo Ertmann stateless Palestinians and youth from Somalia and the former USSR are more criminal than immigrant youth from Pakistan or Turkey.  he says that looking at youth institutions, there's a dividing line between those who come from traditional war ravaged lands, and those who don't.  Bo Ertmann stressed that he's speaking out of a gut feeling.  It's been taboe to label youth's criminality according to ethnicity, but he thinks that that taboe should be broekn, and the material should be more precise.

Immigrant consultant and author Manu Sareen, who works with young trouble makers thinks that the researchers and statisticians should go ahead, even if there's a risk that certain groups would then be stigmatized.  He says it's possible that this way 80% of the integration projects could be closed the money used where there's actual need for it, since people don't know what the money is being used for.

The Danish People's Party wants to require a more through research of how crime is divided among the different ethnic groups.  The Social Democrats agree, saying that it will show how to approach crime better.

Source: Politiken (Danish)

See also: Copenhagen: Increase in gang-crime , Norway: Muslim youth mentally healthier than other immigrants

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, commission a study.

That's he typical government bureaucrat course of inaction - give the appearance of doing something while in reality doing nothing.

It's a classic evasion of responsibility tactic. Shame on the citizens who permit their 'leaders' to get away with it.

Esther said...

Hi Chalons,

You must have information before you can act. If the government commissions a study and then decides to file it away, that is irresponsible. But if they don't commission the study to begin with, then they're just as irresponsible.

In her book Hirsi Ali writes about the difficulties of getting the Dutch government to commission a study about honor killings. Until then, the Dutch could ignore the problem, because it simply wasn't there. Now that there is information, and they know there is a problem, they can act upon it.

The situation until now is that such things as criminality and honor murder were not investigated based on ethnic categories because of the fear of stigmatizing. If you think collecting facts is not the right first step, what do you suggest be done?

Anonymous said...

Moral clarity renders such 'studies' superfluous. But perhaps that's the real problem - too many (but not all) Europeans have been rendered moral idiots.

Norway just recently sentenced a man to 21 years in jail for three honor killings. 7 years per life exterminated. What is there to study? There's nothing to study. It's perfectly obvious - to anyone with a backbone and some grounding in the basics of right, wrong, and justice, that is.

Esther said...

Without collecting information, all you'll know is that there has been 1 (!) honor murder in Norway, that there are doubts about whether it was an honor murder, and that the murderer had been sentenced to 21 years, which is the maximum sentence that can be given in that country. Justice has been served.

Denmark, on the other hand, is also collecting information, and you therefore know that about 10 women a month face 'honor' related violence. When discussing education, women's shelter, police actions, you can then take all that into account.

You ask - what is there to study? If you don't collect the facts, you can ignore the problem. it's as simple as that.

Anonymous said...

These people belong to a cult that turns crime into a virtue. Rape, murder, extortion, arson are all praised. Every Friday.