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My mother lives just outside Hamilton and used to live in Vancouver. It's not unusual for her to spend a day on her own in Toronto fearlessly visiting my younger brothers and my sister, but when she comes to the States, she is every bit as uncomfortable as Bimbam's mother.
I live in a reasonably safe neighbourhood but there are some parts of my city where a bit of street smarts would be helpful. Perhaps I have a certain radar that she either doesn't have...or else hers is set way too high.
90+% of all of the TV and movies that Canadians watch is American, and a good proportion of this is crime or action-oriented: CSI, Criminal Minds, Boyz N The Hood, whatever...
Also most Canadians also watch a fair bit of American news and public affairs shows which tend to be sensationalistic and focused on crime.
Sure there is the idealized Hannah Montana, High School Musical and Cosby Show image of America as well,. but it probably does not counterbalance the violent and skewed image that they get from CSI and Dateline NBC.
Plus, the violence as portrayed in the American media, whether overplayed or not, is also what stands out the most to Canadians whereas Ozzie and Harriet, etc. seems like a more familiar reality to Canadians.
Some Canadians, like my mother, are unrealistically afraid of the American cities. When we've been in them together, she'll say things like "don't make a scene, this is America and people are crazy and have guns and you never know if you're going to antagonize a nutjob who'll just shoot you dead." I don't know if this is realistic, but I've encountered quite a few Canadians who aren't very... worldly, who are quite frightened of American cities. These were all urban Canadians as I've only ever lived in urban Canada.
Because the US is at center of global attention, there's more coverage of US crime, which results in an over exaggerated view of America.
Because the US is at center of global attention, there's more coverage of US crime, which results in an over exaggerated view of America.
That, and crime really is higher than in Canada and many citizen really do carry handguns and people are naturally less comfortable in environments which they're unfamiliar with.
Bad things can happen also to unsuspecting people in high-end hotels. Once I had an incident at a Dallas hotel that gave me such a bad vibe that I switched hotels the same day.
Don't know how true though, the police has detained a worker in that particular hotel for questioning. He was found to have a key to enter Elisa Lam's room.
I feel unsafe in some Toronto neighborhoods , every big city has it's problems. As for the US ..no differences for me. I feel just as safe in my Phoenix neighborhood as I do in my Calgary upscale neighborhood.
A lot of Americans have this imaginary gay liberal/happy/safe haven idea of Canada which really doesn't exist.
That, and crime really is higher than in Canada and many citizen really do carry handguns and people are naturally less comfortable in environments which they're unfamiliar with.
Not necessarily, violent crime is higher in Canada, but there isn't as much global coverage, so many aren't aware.
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The U.S. has a violence rate of 466 crimes per 100,000 residents, Canada 935, Australia 92 and South Africa 1,609.
And yes, people are uncomfortable in places they aren't familiar with, but if global media is constantly telling you the "US is violent" via movies, tv, news etc, you're more likely to believe it.
What. Okay, Canada definitely doesn't have ten times as many violent crimes as Australia, there's no way. Unless they're counted differently. Does Canada consider different things to be violent crime compared to Oz or the US?
The US is just fine, the handguns are off putting. I haven't been nervous in American cities. I've seen as many European cities as I've seen American cities. Same rules. Look, listen, pay attention.
What. Okay, Canada definitely doesn't have ten times as many violent crimes as Australia, there's no way. Unless they're counted differently. Does Canada consider different things to be violent crime compared to Oz or the US?
Yes, they're counted differently. I'm not sure of all of the specifics, though I do know that Canada rolls all levels of assault into our violent crime number, whereas the US only includes assaults in which someone was injured or a weapon was used. I have no idea what Australia counts, but assuming that the 92 number quoted is correct, I would suspect it's wildly different.
And yes, people are uncomfortable in places they aren't familiar with, but if global media is constantly telling you the "US is violent" via movies, tv, news etc, you're more likely to believe it.
Violent crime isn't higher in Canada or Britain much of that has to do with the different standards of what is considered violent crime in each country. The US is just much more stringent with that definition.
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According to the FBI, there are four crimes classified as "violent" in crime statistics: murder/non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
The list does not include burglaries, which is considered a property crime in the U.S. but a violent crime in the U.K.
In addition to murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault and burglary, England and Wales classify domestic violence and all sexual offenses - not just forcible rape - as violent.
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Several other crimes that are classified as violent in the U.K. include vehicle theft, purse-snatching and bicycle theft.
Besides that whole "study" comes from the "The dailymail" a known tabloid as well, I'm surprised anybody has taken that report of theirs seriously.
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