Crime Rise and Institutional Breakdown in Turkey

• In Event: Lightning Talk: International and Comparative Criminology

Abstract

Contrary to crime drop in the West, Turkey has experienced a sharp rise in crime, however scholarly analysis remains limited. This presentation applies Institutional-Anomie Theory to explain this surge, situating it within Turkey’s integration into the global market economy since the 1980s. It argues that two decades of pro-market governance and social engineering have dislocated key institutions such as polity, family, and education through authoritarian drift, the economization of family, and an education system promoting conservative religious values alongside entrepreneurial competitiveness. This amalgamation of neoliberalism and religious conservatism has fostered a consumerist, individualist culture disconnected from institutional regulation. The presentation suggests that these dynamics account for rising crime and support a globalized extension of Institutional-Anomie Theory.

Author

• Boran Ali Mercan, Ankara University