www.cengage.com/cj/siegel

Larry J. Siegel

Valerie Bell • University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Chapter TwoThe Nature and Extent of

Crime

• Primary Sources of Crime Data

1.OFFICIAL RECORDS

2.SURVEY RESEARCH

3.SELF-REPORT SURVEYS

The Nature & Extent of Crime

• Uniform Crime Report (UCR)– includes crimes reported to police and number of arrests

– Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) collects this data from over 17,000 police depts. nationwide

• Part I Crimes–murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape,

robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, arson, and motor vehicle theft, larceny/theft (see Exhibit 2.1, p. 25)

• Part II Crimes–simple assault, curfew offenses, loitering, embezzlement,

forgery and counterfeiting, disorderly conduct, driving under the influence, drug offenses, fraud, gambling, liquor offenses, offenses against the family, prostitution, public drunkenness, runaways, sex offenses, stolen property, vandalism, vagrancy, and weapons offenses

– includes data on age, race, and gender of offenders

Primary Sources of Crime Data

Primary Sources of Crime Data

• Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

–Cleared (or Closed) Crimes

• 20% of all Part I crimes cleared each year

–at least one person arrested, charged, and turned over to the courts for prosecution

–known offender cannot be arrested (e.g., dies, leaves country)

• violent crimes more likely to be cleared

–police devote more resources these more serious acts

–witnesses (including victims) more available

Primary Sources of Crime Data

• Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

–3 Ways of Reporting/Expressing Crime Data

• raw numbers–16, 928 murders occurred in 2007

• as a rate per 100,000 people–number of reported crimes/total U.S. population x

100,000= rate/100,000

–6 in 100,000 people were murdered in 2007

• percent changes over time–murder decreased in the U.S. by .6% from 2006 to

2007

Primary Sources of Crime Data

• Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

–Validity of the UCR (see Exhibit 2.2 for factors, p. 28)

• over HALF of crimes in the U.S. not reported to police–victims consider the crime unimportant–victims don’t trust police–victims fear reprisal by offender’s friends or family–victims involved with illegal activities themselves

• police depts. differ in their reporting behavior–reporting trespassing as burglary–reporting an assault on a female as attempted rape

• UCR only considers most serious crime committed–bank robber steals a car, UCR only records robbery

(“Hierarchy Rule”)

Primary Sources of Crime Data

• National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

– goal is to provide more detailed crime statistics than the UCR

– currently 57 offenses reported using NIBRS

• 46 specific offenses in 22 crime categories including the eight Part I offenses (Group A Offenses)

• 11 lesser offenses (Group B Offenses)

– includes incident, victim, and offender information

– 20 states have implemented

– 12 states finalizing data collection

Primary Sources of Crime Data

• National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

– Annual survey of victims since 1973 (by U.S. Census Bureau)

– 76,000 households/135,300 people age 12 and up asked whether victimized in past 6 months

• includes many types of crimes and whether the person reported the crime to police OR NOT

–less than 1/2 of violent crime and about 1/3 of property crime reported

–e.g., 90,000 rapes or attempted rapes reported/year by the UCR whereas NCVS notes about 250,000 occur/year

– important for addressing “non-reporting” issue

• provides detailed information regarding frequency and nature of victimization including demographics of both victims and offenders as well as details of the victimization experience

Primary Sources of Crime Data

• National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)– Validity of the NCVS

• over-reporting

• under-reporting

• sampling errors

• age-appropriateness of questions

– Future of the NCVS

• budget cuts have reduced number of participating households

• significant changes in 2006

–new sampling method

–change in how 1st time interviews handled

–change to computer-assisted interviewing

Primary Sources of Crime Data

Your Results• REPORTED

– 3+ robbery– hit & run– car theft– under-age drinking– trespassing– 2 burglary– speeding– wreckless driving– DUI– PI/disorderly conduct– terroristic threatening– vandalism– domestic disturbance– 2 child abuse– runaway– harassment

• NOT REPORTED– curfew violation– 5 burglary/breaking & entering– 3 car theft– murder– 2 assault– DUI– 2 PI– contributing to delinquency of a minor– spousal abuse– pirating (not at sea)– 3 sexual abuse (child)– neglect– 3 vandalism (broken windows, egging)– 2 under-age drinking– trespassing– 2 terroristic threatening– statutory rape– rape– 2 hit & run/car accident– abuse of a corpse

• Self-Report Surveys

– asks subjects to reveal their own participation in delinquent or criminal acts

– anonymously given in groups

– mostly focus on juvenile delinquency and youth crimes

– also used with prison inmates, drug users, and other groups

– asks questions about attitudes, values, and behaviors to find relationship between personal factors and criminal behavior

Primary Sources of Crime Data

• Self-Report Surveys

– Validity of Self-Reports

• Do participants tell the truth? – research finds kids are honest about being arrested or

sent to court

• the “missing cases” phenomenon– What about the absent or non-participating

population?– Are the high-rate offenders in this group?

• most likely measures only non-serious, occasional delinquency and not hard-core chronic offensers

Primary Sources of Crime Data

• Self-Report Surveys

– “Monitoring the Future” Survey

• one of the most important sources of self-report data

• national survey of over 2,500 high school seniors

• suggests crime problem is even greater than both the UCR and the NCVS report

–e.g., 630,000 armed robberies committed by kids 15-19 according to a recent MTF survey; UCR tallied only 440,000 armed robberies for all age groups in this same time period

Primary Sources of Crime Data

Evaluating Crime Data

LINKS

For links to these and other criminological data, see the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.

“Pick a Crime. Any Crime.” 50 Points• Choose one (1) of the twenty-two NIBRS Category A Offenses.

• Use the links below to find the following information about your chosen crime/crime category:

1. legal definition of your crime 10 pts.

2. national statistics related to your crime 10 pts.

• state statistics related to your crime 10 pts.

• discrepancy in data (occurrence v. reported, etc.) 10 pts.

1. factors associated with your crime (cause, correlation, victim characteristics, age, gender, etc.) 10 pts.

1. Uniform Crime Reports

2. NIBRS

3. NCVS

• Monitoring the Future

• CityRating.com

• For links to these and other criminological data, see the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.

• StrengthsStrengths

–UCR

• Offender data

• Information on crimes surveys cannot measure

–NCVS

• Unreported crimes

• Victimization data

–Self-report surveys

• Information on offenders

Evaluating Crime Data

• WeaknessesWeaknesses

–UCR

• Does not include unreported crimes

–NCVS

• Limited samples

• Personal recollections

• Does not include homicide, drug abuse crimes

–Self-report surveys

• Rely on honesty of offenders

Evaluating Crime Data

The Nature & Extent of Crime

The Nature & Extent of Crime

The Nature & Extent of Crime

Crime Trends• According to data from both the UCR and the NCVS:

–1980s saw an INCREASE in crime rates that peaked in 1991

–1990s saw a DECREASE in crime rates

–2008, 11 million crimes reported compared to 15 million in 1991 EVEN THOUGH the U.S. population had increased by 50 million people during this time period

– trends include both property and violent crime

Crime Trends• What the Future Holds...?

– currently 50 million school-age children with many under 10 years of age

– crime rates expected to rise once this population reaches teenage years

– senior citizens have overall lower crime rates and this population is increasing as life expectancy increases

– other factors affecting crime in the coming years

• economy

• technological change

• other social factors (e.g., immigration, racial/ethnic tension)

Crime Patterns

• Weather and Time of the Month– most crime occurs during warm summer months

• kids out of school

• more people outdoors making homes vulnerable

• exceptions: murders and robberies more in Dec. and Jan.

– crime rates higher on the first day of the month

• paycheck connection

• Temperature– crime rises until 85° is reached; then it decreases

• possibly due to stress that heat induces

• if too hot, people likely to stay indoors at home

Crime Patterns

• Regional Differences– large urban areas have highest crime rates

– areas with numerous resorts have higher crime rates

– the SOUTH has consistently higher property and violent crime rates

• Firearms– used in 20% of robberies

– 10% of assaults

– 5% of rapes

– 67% of all murders

– these stats fuel both sides of the gun control debate: Do guns lead to increases in criminal behavior or do they serve as a deterrent to crime?

Crime Patterns

• Social Class– UCR indicates crime mostly in inner-city, high-

property areas

– self-report data indicates serious crimes more prevalent in lower-class areas

– other crimes evenly distributed among all social classes

• Age– younger people commit crime than older people

– property crimes around age 16

– violent crime peaks at 18

– overwhelming majority of people “age out” of crime

• learn to delay gratification

• more focused on establishing themselves in society (e.g., getting a job, starting a family)

Crime Patterns

Crime Patterns

• Gender‣ victims report 80% of violent victimization committed by males

‣ UCR indicates 4 to 1 ration of male to female offenders (for murder, it’s 8 to 1 ratio of male to female)

‣ self-report data is similar but ratios are smaller

‣ over last decade, male arrest rates down 9%; females up 9%

‣ reasons for gender differences

1. female criminals lacked typical female traits; more masculine (Lambroso)

2. hormonal differences

3. socialization--girls socialized to be less aggressive and are better supervised

4. cognitive differences--girls better verbally and able to talk way out of problems

5. social/political differences--women more likely to be home with children; have fewer opportunities to commit crimes

Crime Patterns

• RaceRace‣ black Americans make up 12% of U.S. population but account for 38% of

violent crime arrests/30% of property crime arrests

‣ Monitoring the Future study finds few racial differences in crimes committed

‣ reasons for racial disparity

1. police profiling may account for arrest disparities

2. history of slavery and racism and long-standing racist/ discriminatory practices in society

a) some jurisdictions treat black men more harshly than other groups

b) black and latino adults less likely to receive bail in violent crimes

c) unemployed African-Americans receive longer prison sentences than unemployed whites

3. Racial Threat Theory--suggests as black population increases, so does the amount of social control the justice system aims at African-Americans

4. economic and social disparity--racial and ethnic minorities experience greater social isolation and economic stress

5. family dissolution--disproportionate number of single, female-headed households

Chronic Offenders/Criminal Careers

• Delinquency in a Birth Cohort– study of young boys by Wolfgang, Figlio, and Sellin

– found that 6% of their sample committed 52% of all the crime

• Causes of Chronicity– early arrest (before 15)

– low intellectual ability

– parental drug involvement to chronicity

• arrest and punishment have little deterrent effect on career criminals

• 3-strike laws have been created to try and deal with these offenders

The Nature & Extent of Crime