Spain vs. America in Culture and Crime Amanda Pelkey

Family Life Family is very important Nuclear family structure Number of marriages has fallen distinctly ▫Due to pursuit of education and careers by women Low marriage rates ▫1981: 7 marriages per 1,000 people ▫2006: 4.9 marriages per 1,000 people Low divorce rates ▫Due to fewer marriages, religious values, recently legalized law ▫2005: 0.6 divorces per 1,000 people & US: 4.95 divorces per 1,000 people (highest in the world)

Family Life cont. One of the lowest fertility rates in Europe ▫1996: 1.16 live births per woman ▫2006: 1.38 live births per woman  Rise is linked to large immigrant families & Spain’s 1970’s baby boomers

Religion 75% - Roman Catholic 4% - Muslim 14% - Agnostic 7% - Atheists

Education Primary education: age 6-14 ▫Public schools – 70%  Free tuition  Books and materials are not free ▫Private schools  Expensive tuition (free in many private schools)  Run by religious groups Secondary education: 4 years of education or vocational training Post-graduation: ▫College – 2 year degree ▫University – 4 year degree 2008: 96.7% literacy rate

Government Constitutional monarchy ▫King = Head of State ▫Prime minister = President of government Two main legislative bodies ▫Congress of Deputies ▫Senate Constitutional Tribunal  Supreme Court Three major political parties: ▫Centre Democratic Union (UCD) ▫Spanish Socialists (PSOE) ▫Popular Party (PP)

Political Views Liberal views ▫+70% of pop. is for gay marriage (legalized in 2005) ▫For abortion, adoption for gay couples, birth control, and divorce

Economy 8 th largest economy worldwide 5 th largest economy in Europe 2009: GDP was valued at $1.46 trillion Trade – largest source of income ▫Exports: $220 billion ▫Imports: $290 billion Workforce: 18.4 million people Unemployment rate: 20% ▫Due to 2008 recession ▫2 nd highest rate in Europe

Crime Spain has very low crime rate ▫50 crimes per 1,000 people annually Street crimes (pickpockets, robbery, credit card scams) ▫Target foreigners Drug Offenses ▫Spain: 28 per 100,000 people ▫United States: 560 per 100,000 people

Homicide ▫Spain: 1.5 per 100,000 pop. 47 million  Involving firearms:.25  Not involving firearms: 1.25 ▫United States: 4.55 per 100,000 pop. 308 million  Involving firearms: 2.97  Not involving firearms: 1.58 Robbery ▫Spain: 12 per 1,000 people ▫United States: 2 per 1,000 people

Works Cited Affairs, B. o. (2010, August 18). U.S. Department of State. Retrieved October 6, 2010, from Divorce rate (most recent) by country. ( ). Retrieved October 10, 2010, from Nationmaster.com: Factbook, C. W. (2008, December 18). United States Demographics Profile Retrieved October 7, 2010, from Index Mundi: Gun Violence. (2010, October 13). Retrieved October 15, 2010, from Wikipedia: Israely, J. (2008, February 27). Time. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from Spain: Family Matters: Winslow, D. R. (2010). A Comparative Criminology Tour of the World. Retrieved October 4, 2010, from rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rwinslow/europe/spain.html