Crime and the War

Abstract

Social changes that have accompanied the war, and, more important still, social changes that may be expected to follow the conclusion of the war are the subject of serious consideration both in England and France. In both countries there has been much discussion of the fact that one of the social changes brought about by the war has been a marked decrease in adult crime. It is pointed out, however, that some of the most important causes of the decrease cannot be expected to survive the war. On the other hand, new factors making for lawlessness may be expected to appear with the peace. Some facts as to the decrease of crime may be briefly stated. For a decade preceding the war, there was in England a marked and almost continuous decrease in the number of persons convicted of crime, but this decline has been much more marked during the three war years for which information is available. The convictions per 100,000 of the population had fallen from 586 in 1904-1905 to 369 per 100,000 in 1913-1914, the year before the war began. Since the war the decline has been abrupt, falling to 281 per 100,000 in 1914-1915, to 159 per 100,000 in 1915-1916 and to 118 per 100,000 in 1916-1917. In the report for the year 1915-1916 of the Commissioners of Prisons for England and Wales, three important reasons are assigned for this decrease. These are: (1) The enlistment of many habitual petty offenders; (2) the restrictive orders issued by the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic) and those made by the justices and by the military authorities; (3) the great demand for labor, rendering employment easy and well paid, and resulting in ability to pay fines, this latter being greatly aided by the operation of Section 1 of the Criminal Justice Administration Act of 1914.2