Chapter 3: Defining and Measuring Crime

What is first degree murder?

Acts that are premeditated, committed with malice, or committed during the commission of a felony.

What is second degree murder?

Acts that are not premeditated or planned and do not involve torture.

What is voluntary manslaughter?

Acts in which the offender intended to take someone's life, but there are mitigating circumstances that might excuse or minimize the actions.

What is involuntary manslaughter?

Acts in which there was no intent to take someone's life, but the loss of life occurred due to negligence, such as drunk driving.

What is robbery?

A crime that involves taking personal property from someone through the use of force or fear.

What is burglary?

crime when someone enters a building or other physical space with the intent of taking property without permission

What are status offenses?

Acts that are considered illegal for only certain groups of offenders based on their age.

What are some examples of status offenses?

Truancy (skipping school), underage consumption of alcohol, and running away from home.

What are self-reported data?

Crime statistics that are based on personal disclosures.

What three populations do self-report studies generally involve?

1. At-risk or general populations. 2. Offenders involved in the criminal justice process. 3. Convicted offenders who are incarcerated or in a community-based sanction.

How are white collar crimes unique?

They do not garner the same type of attention as street crimes, usually involve significant amounts of money, and involve both criminal and civil law violations.

What are the Uniform Crime Reports?

One of the largest datasets on crime, based on police arrest and reporting data, collecting and publishing arrest data from police agencies.

What is a crime rate?

A calculation that compares the number of crimes with the size of the population.

What are three limitations of the UCR?

1. Represents statistics on only crimes reported to the police. 2. Definitions of the crimes included can be limited. 3. Reporting is incomplete as only the most serious crime is reported in cases of multiple crimes.

How is the National Crime Incident Based Reporting system different from the UCR?

NIBRS divides its data into three themes, collects data on a diversity of crimes, changes the hierarchy rule, and collects data on completed and attempted crimes.

What is the National Crime Victimization Survey?

The largest victimization study in the United States, aiming to provide a more complete picture of crime by gathering data on unreported and reported crimes.

what is larceny theft?

a crime that involves the taking of property without the use of force