Origin, birthplace, nationality and language of the Canadian people

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1794974814

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-182133

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Origin, birthplace, nationality and language of the Canadian people

Place of publication:: Ottawa

Publisher:: Acland

Year of publication:: 1929

Scope:: 224 S.; Diagramme

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter X. The relation of origins and nativity to crime

Collection:: Economics Books

194 RELATION OF ORIGINS AND NATIVITY TO CRIME -— grants wag several times greater for aliens than for those who had taken out Canadian citizenship. Taking a few examples where the numbers are large and the rates consequently more or less reliable, for the Austrians the rate was 13 times greater for the aliens than for the naturalized, for the Ttalians and Poles nearly eight times, for the Roumaniang 17 times and for the Russians 27 times. It is apparent, therefore, that the alien foreign born immigrants constitute our major problem in respect to serious criminal offences in Canada, and also that a policy of deporting the great majority of foreign born criminals after they have served the terms of punishment required by law would not encounter any impediment through their having taken out naturalization papers. Origin of the Penitentiary Population—In Table 121 the penitentiary population, 21 years of age and over, is shown by origins. In Column 3 are given the rates per 100,000 of the total population 21 years of age and over of the corresponding origins. We have seen the marked differences between the proportions in penitentiaries of immigrants born in different countries, It will now be shown that criminal tendencies vary not only with birthplace but also with origin. The rates as given in Table 121, however, do not reflect merely differences of origin. Birthplace, age and sex distribution and length of residence also influence the percentages; but before attempting to isolate the factor of origin, it is of interest to see in what sections of the population major offences were most common in 1921, for there the practical problem of law enforcement is most serious. . The first point to note is the marked variation in the proportions of the different stocks in penitentiaries. The Ukrainians had the lowest with only five per 100,000 twenty-one years and over; the Bulgarians the highest with 512, and the Negroes came mext with 415. The British and French stocks stood on a par, with rates of 33 and 35 respectively. Ten stocks showed proportions lower than the British and French, namely, the Czechs, Dutch, Germans, Icelanders, Norwegians, Swedes, Swiss, Syrians, Japanese and Ukrainians. The rates for all others were higher, and in some cases very much higher. Mention has been made of the Negroes. With them, age and sex distribution are not more favour- able to crime than with the British, and much less favourable than for any immigrant peoples. Further, neither length of residence nor place of birth would account for the high figure for that stock. There seems to be no question that they are more given to serious crimes than any other people in Canada. Their rate of 415 per 100,000 was 121 times greater than that for the British stocks, and there do not appear to be any important mitigating circumstances. The rates for the Roumanian (341), Italian (239), Greek 219, Austrian (196), Serbo-Croatian (188) and Russian (141) stocks were also very high. They range from four to ten times that for the British stocks, and the Poles with 121 per 100,000 in penitentiaries might also be classed with the six stocks mentioned above as having exceedingly high proportions serving long term sentences. In two of the above mentioned cases, namely, the Greek and Serbo-Croatian stocks, the numbers 21 years of age and over are so small that no great. reliance should be placed on the actual magnitude of the rates. In all other cases, however, the number 21 years of age and over is greater than 10,000, and in most instances it is many times that number, so that the samples are more representative. Special comment should be made regarding the Ukrainian stock. Though they are our most illiterate and backward immigrants, they appear to be particularly free from crime of a serious nature. In this connection, it is recalled that out of a population of some 25,000 between the ages of 10 and 20 years, not one was found in a reformatory in Canada in 1921. The record of that stock is most commendable on the score of its respect for law, as revealed by reformatory and penitentiary statistics. Their low rate is probably associated to some extent with another characteristic to which reference has heen made. namely, rural residence and agricultural occupation.

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