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Methods of Measuring Crime

Methods of Measuring Crime. Uniform Crime Reports. Self- Report Surveys. Victim Surveys. Based on Crimes Reported to the Police. Based on a population unit of 100,000 people. Divided into two representative categories: Indexed and non-Indexed. Reported for U.S., Cities, and SMSA’s.

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Methods of Measuring Crime

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  1. Methods of Measuring Crime Uniform Crime Reports Self- Report Surveys Victim Surveys

  2. Based on Crimes Reported to the Police Based on a population unit of 100,000 people Divided into two representative categories: Indexed and non-Indexed Reported for U.S., Cities, and SMSA’s Crimes known / Arrest = Clearance Rate Uniform Crime Reports

  3. Part I “Index” Crimes Criminal Homicide Forcible Rape Robbery Aggravated assault Burglary Larceny/theft Motor vehicle theft Arson Part II Crimes All others except traffic Violent Crime Non-violent Crime Uniform Crime Reports

  4. Cannot capture the “dark figure” of crime Methodological Hiccups Criticisms and Limitations of the UCR • Counting Rule • Reporting Practices • Attempted vs. Completed Crimes

  5. The Future of the Uniform Crime Reports • National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) • Maintained by the F.B.I. • Twenty-two crime categories • More information on each crime in each category • Data compiled based on incidents, not arrests.

  6. Self-Report Surveys • Participants (usually juveniles) reveal information about their violations of the law Advantages • Helps to get at “Dark Figure of Crime” • Tap into “victimless crimes” • Make comparisons with “official data” • Only way to measure theoretical concepts and connect with criminal behavior

  7. Self-Report Surveys Self-Report Surveys • Disadvantages • May underestimate “chronic offenders” • People Can Lie • Survey Methodology Problems • Seriousness of Offense

  8. National Crime Victimization Survey 1. Asks victims about their encounters with criminals 2. Nationally representative sample 3. May also describe people most at risk 4. Limitations: Little information about offenders Cannot assess some crimes Limitations of Survey Research

  9. REVIEW • UCR • Aggregate Data, Crimes known to police • Self-report • Individual level data, links offender characteristics to criminal offending • NCVS • Aggregate Data, victimizations

  10. Crime Trends and Correlates of Crime • Crime Trends • Is crime increasing, decreasing or stable? • Why? • Correlates of Crime • What factors are related to crime? • Geographic location, Age, Race, Gender, Social Class?

  11. Crime Trends • UCR and NCVS data reveal a recent steady decrease in crime. • The decrease is being driven by a sharp decline in violent crime among juveniles.

  12. Age Composition The Economy Social malaise Guns—Availability Justice Policy—Police or Prisons? Explaining Crime Trends

  13. Social Class and Crime • Official statistics reveal a strong class-crime relationship. • Social class causes crime? • No true relationship, but system bias against the lower class? SELF REPORT STUDIES

  14. GENDER AND CRIME • UCR, NCVS, and SR data all indicate that females are more likely than males to commit criminal acts • Chivalry hypothesis? • Socialization? • Biological differences? • Feminist explanations

  15. RACE AND CRIME • Similar dilemma as with social class • SRweak if any relationship • Officialstrong relationship • If relationship is “true,” why? • Relationship to class, neighborhood, culture.

  16. The Age-Crime Curve

  17. AGE AND CRIME Problems with the age crime curve: Arrests only Aggregate data

  18. Hypothetical Age-Crime Curves at Individual Level Frequency of Offending Adolescent Offending Group Chronic Group Age 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26...

  19. Longitudinal Birth Cohort Research Research that tracks an identifiable group of individuals over a long period of time.

  20. The “Chronic 6%” After following a birth cohort of 9,945 boys born in Philadelphia in 1945, Wolfgang and his associates found that 6% of the total sample were responsible for 51.9% of all offenses. These were referred to as chronic offendersor career criminals. Similar research has resulted in similar findings.

  21. Continuity of Crime The cohort follow-ups clearly show that chronic juvenile offenders continue their law-violating careers as adults. Then and ………….. NOW

  22. Implications of Continuity If the “Onset” of offending occurs in childhood for some kids, you must start your explanation at that point. Why do some kids begin their offending in adolescence?

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