It really depends on the place... When I was a student, I lived in the dorms. Three colleges shared the compound: there was an art students' building, the printing academy's building and the sports college building. We are talking about Western Ukraine here.
The whole compound was on the city's edge. There were two ways to get in there: a pawed road with two lanes and a sidewalk and a trail through a bunch of private houses. The later was not popular because it was longer and muddy during bad weather. I took the second route because the first one was used, beside others, by the sports students. When not in class, these guys looked for an opportunity to punch someone.
Unfortunately for me, I did take the shorter route twice, and both times ended up with major injuries. First time I ended up with the broken nose, second time with a concussion.
It was so bad, in fact, that eventually the city police organized a patrol that walked that road. There were police raids in the dorms as well. I knew two girls who got raped and virtually every student who lived in the same dorms had been beaten multiple times, they belongings taken etc. Same sort of people broke into my neighbor's room, beat him up and took his electric stove (virtually the only thing of value he had).
Very little if any of this was ever investigated let alone punished. The police was poor and understaffed and had a lot of their own problems to deal with. They wouldn't bother to even write down your complaint if you were so naive as to try to file one.
* * *
If anything, my conclusion from my experience is that people are garbage. People don't overtly abuse each other in rich countries because they are afraid of the discomfort that might cause them, the police is well-funded and will, especially, come after the law-abiding citizens first. In a rich country, people want to live by the law because it's gainful and opens a lot of opportunities. This also creates more trust and good will.
In poor countries, the difference between inside and outside of jail is smaller, crime is more attractive because there are fewer legal ways to get rich, violence is punished less and is more attractive as a way to resolve individual conflicts as the official way is dysfunctional. Also, there's not a lot of "fun" otherwise. Also, being "tough" is more important.
If the rich countries were to become suddenly poor, the crime and violence situation would also get worse.
The whole compound was on the city's edge. There were two ways to get in there: a pawed road with two lanes and a sidewalk and a trail through a bunch of private houses. The later was not popular because it was longer and muddy during bad weather. I took the second route because the first one was used, beside others, by the sports students. When not in class, these guys looked for an opportunity to punch someone.
Unfortunately for me, I did take the shorter route twice, and both times ended up with major injuries. First time I ended up with the broken nose, second time with a concussion.
It was so bad, in fact, that eventually the city police organized a patrol that walked that road. There were police raids in the dorms as well. I knew two girls who got raped and virtually every student who lived in the same dorms had been beaten multiple times, they belongings taken etc. Same sort of people broke into my neighbor's room, beat him up and took his electric stove (virtually the only thing of value he had).
Very little if any of this was ever investigated let alone punished. The police was poor and understaffed and had a lot of their own problems to deal with. They wouldn't bother to even write down your complaint if you were so naive as to try to file one.
* * *
If anything, my conclusion from my experience is that people are garbage. People don't overtly abuse each other in rich countries because they are afraid of the discomfort that might cause them, the police is well-funded and will, especially, come after the law-abiding citizens first. In a rich country, people want to live by the law because it's gainful and opens a lot of opportunities. This also creates more trust and good will.
In poor countries, the difference between inside and outside of jail is smaller, crime is more attractive because there are fewer legal ways to get rich, violence is punished less and is more attractive as a way to resolve individual conflicts as the official way is dysfunctional. Also, there's not a lot of "fun" otherwise. Also, being "tough" is more important.
If the rich countries were to become suddenly poor, the crime and violence situation would also get worse.