When it comes to crime and justice in today's fast-changing, technologically advanced, globalised world, we need to be aware that our growing interconnectedness, while being a boon, also brings with it complex, intertwined social systems. This is changing the way society functions, the problems associated with it and the ways in which we respond to it.
The changing face of crime is facilitated by advances in technology, by globalisation, and by the nature and forms of new crimes and their victims found in the Asian region. Since crimes are often linked with poverty, illiteracy and lack of job opportunities, it is important that the issue of emerging crimes be also discussed from the development perspective.
Crime and imprisonment
To illustrate the global picture of crime and imprisonment trends, the Global Prison Trends 2017 report highlights that overall, crime rates around the world have sustained a downwards trend. Between 2003 and 2013, there has been a continuing decline in rates of "traditional crimes" such as homicide and other violent offences, and particularly property crimes such as burglary and motor vehicle theft.
However, despite the drop in global crime rates, global prison populations around the world continue to rise. Currently, prison occupancy levels in 79 countries are above 120% capacity and as many as 51 countries have a problem of extreme overcrowding, with occupancy levels above 150%.
There are a few explanations as to what leads to a high level of imprisonment. Several experts have pointed out that harsh criminal justice responses are being implemented as part of a "war on drugs". However, several countries which seem to be doing very well in eradicating drug problems do not necessarily use very tough punishments. So, what exactly are the reasons for the punitive policy and for punitive public attitudes?
In their famous book, The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett found a strong correlation between imprisonment rates and income inequality. Following up on such a link, they suggested that: "In societies with greater inequality, where social distances between people are greater, where attitudes of 'us and them' are more entrenched and where lack of trust and fear of crime are rife, public and policy makers alike are more willing to imprison people and adopt punitive attitudes towards the 'criminal elements' of society. More unequal societies are harsher, tougher places." Such a notion supports a growing conviction around the world that one key to a more peaceful society is that we use social and economic development to promote equality.
Emerging crimes, globalisation and inequality
During the past few decades we have seen changes in trends of crime as well as in patterns of crime due to various factors such as demographic change, globalisation, economic reform, and technological advancement. There has been a growing recognition of the serious threats posed by organised crime, drug trafficking, environment crime, computer crime -- many of which have no boundaries. In addition, modern technology and globalisation have opened new doors for criminal activities by increasing the opportunity to commit crime and by offering offenders access to countless potential victims. Technology-aided crimes are often characterised by a low risk of detection, which is abetted by new forms of anonymity.
While increased usage of information and communication technology can lead to a heightened risk of infringement on the privacy and the safety of all users, children are at particular risk, as they often do not fully understand the threats related to these technologies, particularly when it comes to the sharing of personal information, photos or videos.
Besides technological advancement, the exponential growth of globalisation and global markets has also created opportunities for different types of criminal activities. On the one hand, it adds more colour to the canvas of society, increasing diversity, encouraging trade and economic growth, adding more job opportunities and allowing for the free movement of people across borders. On the other hand, it has led to increasing levels of income inequality, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, both absolutely and relatively.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean is a good example of this duality. The establishment of the Asean Economic Community in 2015 has led to the promotion of goods and services, investment, labour mobilisation, and mobilisation of capital, creating an open space for the influx and outflow of resources and making it more competitive in the global market. However, there are structural and institutional differences across the ten Asean countries, and consequently, these countries continue to experience different levels of economic growth and subsequent economic development. This automatically puts some countries at an advantage and could inadvertently lead to some sectors and industries incurring economic losses, and it may cause some workers in the less economically stable countries to consider migrating to more economically prosperous member countries, therefore creating an imbalance in labour migration.
Women and children: Main victims of emerging crimes
Despite the changing face of crime, women and children, who are the main victims of traditional crimes, suffer disproportionately the most from new emerging crimes. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2014, one in three known victims of trafficking were children, with the majority trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. A recent study by the UNODC and Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) suggests that trafficking in persons from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to Thailand for the purpose of sexual exploitation involves mostly women and children.
Child labour is also particularly common in border areas where many children enter Thailand from neighbouring countries every day to work in agriculture, in markets or in seafood processing. Children from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are frequently found begging in cities in Thailand.
In addition, the exploitation of female vulnerabilities has been widely documented in several studies. With the global imprisonment trends, the female prison population has increased faster than their male counterpart on every continent, with a 50% rise since 2000.
In most countries, a high number of women are charged with or convicted of non-violent and minor crimes such as property and drug‑related offences.
Recent research by TIJ and Griffith University reveals that more than half of Thai women convicted of cross-border drug trafficking in Cambodia were forced or tricked into becoming drug mules by foreign criminal groups.
Crime and Sustainable Development
Despite the changing nature of crime in this age of technology and globalisation, I believe that the actual root causes and the key ingredients of crime remain the same. Social inequality, poverty, the lack of access to education and limited legitimate economic opportunities remain the driving forces which push individuals to break the law and, at the same time, make them more vulnerable to victimisation.
All of this reaffirms that social and economic development is a crucial element of any crime prevention strategy. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the General Assembly in 2015 provide another relevant framework to help us understand and curb these emergent patterns of crime.
The 17 goals and 169 targets of the SDGs aim to balance the three dimensions of sustainable development, namely the economic, the social and the environmental dimensions. The SDGs pull together the strands of peace, the rule of law, human rights, development and equality into a comprehensive and forward-looking framework through which to reduce conflict, crime, and discrimination.
In order to tackle emerging crimes more effectively, we must focus on root causes and take into account the main vulnerabilities that place people at risk of victimisation in the first place.
Social inequality, lack of access to social welfare and limited education leading to lack of employment opportunities are still big challenges in addressing emerging criminal activities. The most important key to crime prevention is through development-led approaches that focus on the empowerment of people.
I believe that a strong social foundation combined with the effective operation of criminal justice would offer the opportunity to provide more efficient crime prevention efforts, which in turn would lead to a sustainable outcome.
This is the reason why "criminal policy is an inseparable part of general social development policy" and "a good social development policy is the best criminal policy."
Kittipong Kittayarak is executive director of the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) and formerly permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice. The article is adapted from a keynote speech he gave at the recent 18th Conference of the Asian Association of Police Studies (AAPS) at Mahidol University.