A criminal policy should be informed by the diagnosis of the patterns of change that affect our life and safety. An effective criminal policy requires the analysis of changes in socio-demographic structures and economic structures, and other changes that affect what crimes will be committed in the future and who will be particularly vulnerable to such crimes. We should prepare for the future of crimes by preemptively setting up criminal policies to address those changes. In light of the above, this Study aims to develop strategies for criminal policies by looking into the current trends and predict possible changes across key areas of social change - namely, rapid population ageing, spread of multi-culturalism, and economic polarization.
The Study researched key issues associated with major social changes over a course of three years. Each year, the Study focused on different sub-topics: Population Ageing and Changes in Criminal Policies for the first year, Spread of Multi-culturalism and Changes in Criminal Policies for the second, and Economic Polarization and Changes in Criminal Policies for the third.
In the first year, under the topic of Population Ageing and Changes in Criminal Policies, the Study identified criminal policy issues that may arise in relation to Korea’s rapid population ageing, and key variables that affect these issues. Based on the findings, the Study points to the need for long-term policies to address structural issues that may lead to crimes by aged citizens. For the short-term solution, the Study suggests the need to prevent further increase of the crime rate by intervening in the occurrences of secondary issues that the structural issues may give rise to.
The second year research on the Spread of Multi-culturalism and Changes in Criminal Policies focused on the spread of multi-culturalism in Korea and how criminal policies can be used to address this issue.
The term “multi-cultural society”refers to a society where, unlike a “single-culture society” consisting of people of the same ethnicity and culture, diverse cultures co-exist in an integrated state. Increased exchange of resources and people over national boundaries has resulted in Korea’s transition into a multi-cultural society, as the country came in touch with other races and ethnicities with an increasing frequency, and gradually came to co-exist with people from other cultures. Speed is a prominent feature that characterizes multi-culturalism in Korea. The number of registered foreigners was 51,070 in 1991, which increased five times in the next 10 years to reach 267,630 in 2010. In 2011, the number rose to 1,265,006, which represents a 25-time increase from 1991. Koreans’ awareness on the issue of multi-culturalism, however, remains quite low, which adds to the difficulties with dealing with possible problems which further spread of multi-culturalism may incur.
Possible criminal policy issues caused by the transition into a multi-cultural society include: changes in criminal characteristics such as the increase of foreign criminals; changes in victim characteristics such as the increased risk of victimization for foreigners; and changes in the treatment of criminals caused by such factor as the increase of foreign inmates.
As for changes in criminal characteristics in a multi-cultural society, Korea needs to address various issues including the increase of violence crimes by foreigners, the formation of crime organizations by foreigners, the increased risk of new types of crimes and intelligent-type crimes by foreigners, and the increase of crimes related with immigration. Major issues related with changes in victim characteristics include: increased victimization of foreign workers, increased victimization of female immigrants by marriage, and increased victimization of children born to multi-cultural families and children who entered Korea after their parents’ immigration. Rapid changes in the treatment of criminals also constitutes a major issue that requires action.
Criminal policies preparing for the spread of multi-culturalism should address the three areas specified above. Therefore, a specific category of strategies needs to be established for each area: strategies against crimes by foreigners, strategies against the criminal victimization of foreigners, and strategies for the treatment of foreign criminals.
Firstly, as for the strategies against crimes by foreigners, the statistics on crimes by foreigners need to be refined further, new types of crimes and intelligent crimes by foreigners should be analyzed, and more police officers specializing in dealing with foreigners are required along with more foreign police officers. Strategies against victimization of foreigners should include: systemic surveys of foreigners victimized by crimes, protection of female immigrants by marriage from crimes, social integration of children in multi-cultural families, and enactment of regulations against hate crimes targeting foreigners. In terms of the treatment of foreign criminals, treatment practices need to be diversified to accommodate different groups, and the establishment of a correctional facility for foreigners should be given consideration.