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How is Delinquency Measured?. vs. Men’s Basketball Sat @ 3pm Goooo Cougs! Woohoo!. Ways to Measure Delinquency. Official Statistics Self-Report Data Victimization Data. Official Statistics. FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
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How is Delinquency Measured? vs. Men’s Basketball Sat @ 3pm Goooo Cougs! Woohoo!
Ways to Measure Delinquency • Official Statistics • Self-Report Data • Victimization Data
Official Statistics • FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) • http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm • Go to “Crime in the United States; 2005; “Offenses known to the police” • Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program (OJJDP) • http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ • Go to “Tools for you section”
Official Statistics: The UCR • Focuses on crimes reported and/or cleared by the police • Divided into 2 parts (pg. 24 of text) • Part I Offenses (Index Crimes) • Crimes of Violence • Crimes of Property • Part II Offenses
Strengths of the UCR • Standardized definitions • Collected from all over the U.S. • Provide long-term info. on crime trends
Limitations/Criticisms of the UCR • Underreporting • Dark figure of crime • Police do not catch or arrest offender • Bias in Reporting • Not all crimes are recorded • This is changing w/ the development of the NIBRS
Self-Report Data • Designed to reveal and measure undetected and unreported instances of juvenile delinquency. • Questionnaires & Interviews • Example • National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY)
Self-Report Data: Strengths • Helps w/underrepoting issue • More detailed information can be obtained
Subject bias Money & Time Self-Report Data: Weaknesses
Underestimate serious delinquency Limited Subject Pool/Sample Bias Self-Report Data: Weaknesses Continued
Victimization Data • Asks people about their experiences as victims • National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) • Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) • http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Victimization Data: Strengths • Helps w/ the underreporting issue • More detailed information on: • characteristics of crimes • characteristics of victims • perceived characteristics of the offender • circumstances surrounding the crime • rates of reporting
Victimization Data: Weaknesses • Limited Scope • Interviewer Bias • Subject Bias