14 DAY TRIAL // Not too many decades ago, the common crimes in the United Kingdom revolved around stealing household good, and later appliances, as well as cars. This made economic sense at the time, considering the price of these things, and the fact that they remained inaccessible to the majority of the population. Thieves therefore had a lot to work for, and could expect to make a profit every time they sold something they stole from a property. However, with the advent of globalization and cheap labor from China and other Far East countries, the price of appliances has gone down, making life very tough for thieves, e! Science News reports.
“Cheap labor in China has had an impact on the type of crime that's committed in the UK and the type of goods that are stolen today. Gradually, the price of such goods has fallen so low as to they almost have no resale value. If you can buy a DVD player for £19.99, it's simply not worth stealing,” University of Leicester Department of Criminology lecturer James Treadwell explains. He has been involved with studying precisely how crimes have changed over the years, and he believes that the world of crooks and thieves is currently experiencing a major shift.
“While we might have seen a decline in some types of crime, we have seen a rise in other forms of criminal activity, particularly young people who seem to be mugging one another. While DVD players for example, got cheaper, certain consumer items became smaller and were very, very expensive and sought after and so the latest mobile phone, or the latest iPod, which people carry about them, have become targets for robbers,” the expert adds. As a rule in the world of the present day, the smaller the electronics are, the more they cost, and there are many young people out there willing to buy advanced music players or smartphones at half the price they would pay for them in the store, or even less.
This transition, from household burglaries to personal muggings, is also very dangerous, analysts report, because it could imply a higher chance of someone getting hurt. By definition, burglaries are conducted when none of the victims is at home, so the risk of violent confrontation is minimal. When a person is being mugged, he or she faces the attacker directly, and there is no telling of how either of them could react to certain actions the other one does. Treadwell will be presenting the conclusions of his ongoing investigation at the British Society of Criminology conference, to be held at UL in July.