Why is violent crime so rare in Iceland?

[malaise]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22288564
<snip>
First - and arguably foremost - there is virtually no difference among upper, middle and lower classes in Iceland. And with that, tension between economic classes is non-existent, a rare occurrence for any country.

A study of the Icelandic class system done by a University of Missouri master's student found only 1.1% of participants identified themselves as upper class, while 1.5% saw themselves as lower class.

The remaining 97% identified themselves as upper-middle class, lower-middle class, or working class.

"Here you can have the tycoon's children go to school with everyone else," Sigurdsson says, adding that the country's social welfare and education systems promoted an egalitarian culture.
Child playing in Iceland Babies are sometimes left unattended in Iceland

GunPolicy.org estimates there are approximately 90,000 guns in the country - in a country with just over 300,000 people.

The country ranks 15th in the world in terms of legal per capita gun ownership. However, acquiring a gun is not an easy process -steps to gun ownership include a medical examination and a written test.

[Pelican]

1. "in a country with just over 300,000 people."

Congrats.. they are on par with Corpus Christi, Texas.

No legitimate comparison...

[LanternWaste]

6. It takes merely 1,500 to make a sample valid.

It takes merely 1,500 to make a sample valid in and of itself, regardless of whether you yourself compare it to a beach front city in Texas which averages almost 200 rapes per year, 2,500 burglaries per year, and 500 robberies per year.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Corpus Christi: 16 homicides in 2012, 12 in 2011

http://www.caller.com/news/2013/jan/01/more-homicides-occur-in-corpus-christi-in-2012/

Iceland had 21 in the 11 years from 1999-2009 ( http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/Homicide_statistics2012.xls ) , so just under 2 a year on average. Shall we say one sixth of the Corpus Christi rate?

[premium]

2. Whole different culture. nt.

[geckosfeet]

3. Before reading the post my initial thought was economic and social parity and equality.

Not sure the presence of guns in and of themselves is a deterant but to some degree it may be. I think the main point is the perception of economic equality.

[cali]

4. not to mention that there's virtually no diversity and it has half the population of tiny Vermont

comparing it to say, the U.S. is just dumb.

[The Magistrate]

23. In Iceland, Sir, It is Hard To Find People You Are Not Related To Too Closely To Marry

A tight little island....

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Ya know what other crime is rare there?

Indecent exposure. At least in the winter. It gets so cold the flashers just describe themselves to their victims.

And in case you were wondering where the expression "blue moon" comes from…

[LanternWaste]

7. Crime is born of poverty and income disparit

Crime is born of poverty and income disparity. Remove either poverty or disparity by X degrees, and we reduce crime by Y degrees.

[cali]

12. so explain why Vermont has such a low crime rate

<snip>

The University of New Hampshire Carsey Institute reported in 2007 that over the last 15 years New England saw the fastest growth in income inequality of any region in America and that Vermont ranked second among all the states.

That’s right; the wealth gap grew faster in Vermont than in every other state but one.

<snip>

http://vtdigger.org/2011/10/26/pollina-vermont-must-confront-growing-inequality/

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/most-least-safe-states-america-756544

There are lots of factors that determine the crime rate- education for instance is a big determining factor.

[DanTex]

14. Despite the increase, Vermont is still below the national average in inequality.

It's just not as much lower as it used to be.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_Gini_coefficient

[Yavin4]

33. Vermont's true income inequality would be hard to measure

As the extremely wealthy buy summer and winter homes there, and that throws off the measures.

[HiPointDem]

39. and many of their 'poor' are poor by choice -- artist & hippie trust fund types.

[Warren DeMontague]

25. It's the never ending streams of Phish music blasting from the corner ben and jerry's

that, and the weed.

[TlalocW]

8. Because they all must come together to defend their small populations

From Yetis who have migrated further and further north to get away from increasing temperatures. Turns out the suckers are good swimmers. Who knew?

TlalocW

[wtmusic]

11. Nowhere to run to

nowhere to hide.

[DanTex]

13. If we adopted Iceland's gun laws, our homicide rate would plummet.

About the whole "Iceland has lots of guns" angle here. First of all, the gun ownership rate in Iceland is far lower than in the US, and particularly handgun ownership -- handguns are responsible for most gun crime. Almost all of the guns in Iceland owned by private citizens are non-semi-automatic rifles. And, their laws are much tighter than ours.

According to the links below:
-- Semi-automatic rifles are banned
-- Most handguns are banned -- you can apply for a special license for a .22 to use for sport shooting
-- All guns are registered
-- To own a gun, you need to go through a process which includes a written test and a mental health examination

So Iceland is most certainly not an example of a country that has lax gun laws and widespread handgun and semi-automatic rifle ownership and still has a low homicide rate. If we adopted those laws, our homicide rate would go way down. Probably not as low as Iceland's -- there are other socioeconomic factors involved too besides just guns -- but their gun policy is far better than ours.

Also notice that Iceland has no NRA. Even the chairman if the Hunting Association of Iceland recognizes that it is good thing that there are very few handguns in private hands.

But violent crime is virtually nonexistent in this land of Viking descendants and geysers. In 2009, only four gun-related deaths were recorded, including one suicide and one accidental shooting.

This could possibly be attributed to strict gun control laws in Iceland -- a national database registers and tracks all guns, and all gun buyers must be licensed by the state to possess firearms.

The Grapevine noted that the vast majority of weapons in Iceland consist of shotguns and hunting rifles -- and very few handguns.

Elvar Árni Lund, chairman of the Hunting Association of Iceland, told Iceland Review: “Semi-automatic rifles are banned and handgun ownership is fortunately low, mostly in connection with sharpshooting. Gun ownership in Iceland is mostly for the purpose of hunting and practicing sport.”

http://www.ibtimes.com/iceland-plenty-guns-hardly-any-violence-1021958

A: According to a colleague of mine who is an enthusiastic hunter and is well informed on the Icelandic gun laws, all automatic and semi-automatic rifles and most handguns are banned for public use in Iceland.

People who hold a gun license can buy semi-automatic shotguns, bolt-action rifles, single-shot rifles and double-barrel rifles to hunt with but all rifles over 8 millimeters in caliber are banned in Iceland, although with a special permit to hunt large animals abroad, such as elephants or African cape buffalos.

It is also possible to obtain a special collector’s license for handguns and sports associations practicing marksmanship can apply for a license to use small indoor 22 caliber handguns as used in the Olympics.

To obtain a gun license people must attend a course and pass a test at the police station. They also have to pass a medical examination where they are specifically asked about their mental health. The gun license is issued by the respective District Commissioner.

http://icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/What_kind_of_gun_laws_exist_in_Iceland__0_373755.news.aspx

[Iggo]

15. Icelandic Exceptionalism.

[LeftinOH]

16. Very small homogenous population; strangers are not more than 1 or 2

degrees of separation from each other; singular cultural identity. Taking a random swath of 300,000 Americans and matching stats to the entire population of Iceland is an unfair comparison .....to us.

What's next? Comparing the USA to Monaco, Palau or Liechtenstein?

[SoCalDem]

17. They are probably all related to each other

and may have worked out their differences long ago

[TwilightGardener]

20. Pretty much it. More of a tribe or ethnic group than a country.

Get a bunch of non-Icelanders and various ethnic and religious groups suddenly moving in, and things wouldn't be as peaceful and rosy.

[clarice]

28. A tribe called Qvest?.nt

[Libertas1776]

21. Speaking of being related to each other

Iceland Incest App Determines If Couples Are Too Closely Related To Have Sex

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/17/iceland-incest-app_n_3102152.html

I guess it really is a tight-knit community

[Arugula Latte]

22. They are all related to some extent. There's even an app to help them sort out out just how closely:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/04/18/new-app-helps-icelanders-avoid-accidental-incest/2093649/

[MichaelMcGuire]

19. Iceland also jails its criminals

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=iceland+jails+bankers&aq=0&oq=iceland+jails&aqs=chrome.0.0j57j0l2.11513j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[Egalitarian Thug]

27. +1

[Egalitarian Thug]

24. Are you saying that a more egalitarian society creates a less violent

as well as a safer, more tolerant culture?

Imagine that...

[malaise]

26. Ding ding we have a winner

[cali]

31. no we don't. the entire premise is ludicrous.

and it's been pointed out why it's silly shit a number of times in this thread. for fuck's sake, it's utterly idiotic to compare Iceland to any large country.

It's stupid.

[Egalitarian Thug]

38. Yeah, because what we've been doing works so well...

Why are so many people obsessed with continuing to do what has never worked once? Don't you think that it is time to start listening to people that have been proven right time after time, year after year?

[clarice]

30. I heard that they outlawed snowball fights. nt

[aristocles]

32. They're all related to each other

They're mostly one big happy family.

[NiteOwll]

34. Because they're civilized people? nt

[Yavin4]

35. Simple. Iceland is more civilized than we are.

We are governed by raw, primitive emotions: anger, greed, envy, hate, etc. They live by what's best for everyone. We live by what's best for our stunted emotional well being.

[FarCenter]

36. Iceland was colonized by Norwegians, many of them outlaws or people to violent for Norway

That was 30 generations ago, and in the meanwhile there has been much violence and extremely hard times.

Most likely the genes predisposing Icelanders to violence have been bread out by internecine warfare, and the hard times made everyone cooperate for the common good. This was possible, since they were all from the same ethnic group.

[MineralMan]

37. Alcohol. Plenty of alcohol.

Just joking.