Big Men,Small Men and Invisible Women — Urban Crime and Inequality in Papua New Guinea *

Abstract

Papua New Guinea has acquired an unenviable reputation as an increasingly lawless and violent place Allegations of corruption amongst leaders are rife, whilst violent street crime is seen as pandemic in the urban areas. Structural inequalities of recent origin provide a promising explanatory variable for theoretically linking white collar crime and urban street crime in contemporary PNG. Concentrations of wealth and power that have occurred over a short period of time have dramatically increased criminal opportunities at both ends of the urban social hierarchy. At the same time high levels of structural humiliation have been induced by these growing inequalities. This humiliation has, in turn, contributed to certain forms of violence. Recent crime control measures have largely failed to address this broader structural context and, consequently, have had little positive impact.