Condition of Private Security in Ulrich Beck's Risk Society: A Study on Civilian-Police Cooperation Method of the Decentralized Policing Systemthrough Comparing the Korean and the Japanese Security Industry Law

Abstract

Private security industry is still popular in Japan even though the country s crime rate has decreased consistently for nineteen years after 2002 to the point of about a quarter of the record of the year, which means the Japanese high levels of anxiety about their surroundings. This paper examines the general condition of Japanese private security based on Ulrich Beck s theory of risk society and illuminates the Japanese people s sense of crisis behind close civilian-police cooperation under the decentralized policing system. To this end, the characteristics and causes of growth of Japanese private security industry are studied, and the concepts of individualization and globalization are introduced in Ulrich Beck s risk society theory. In addition, the conditions of Japanese private security are analyzed in the light of Ulrich Beck s theory. As a result, it is argued that the concept of risk in Japanese private security is not a physical phenomenon, but rather an effect of high industrialization, which can be caused by individualization and mitigated or removed by globalization. This study is meaningful in drawing academic interest in this discussion of Japanese private security by emphasizing that this business performs a public function that reflects the collective sentiment of members of society in addition to just economic purposes.