Defining and Measuring Crime

norms

a standard pattern or behavior that is typical or expected

folkways

informal expectations that guide socialization; punishment = social repercussions

mores

expectations rooted in morality; punishable by law and society as they are the basis for laws

laws

formal, codified rules about behavior; punishment distributed by authority

deviance

behavior outside the range of what society considers normal

crime

behavior that violates the criminal law

mala in se

behaviors that are bad because they are inherently bad

• ex. murder, assault, rape

mala prohibita

behaviors that are bad because someone decided it was illegal/bad; often variance on beliefs regarding these

• ex. abortion, prohibition, marijuana, marriage

triangulation

cross referencing between different research references to answer the same question

official data

uniform crime reports (UCR) and national incidence based reporting system (NIBRS)

• from reported crimes and police arrests

UCR part I offenses

in order: homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny theft, motor vehicle theft, arson

UCR part II offenses

other assaults (simple assault), forgery, stolen property, vandalism, weapons, prostitution, sex offenses (except rape), drug abuse violations, gambling, DUI, disorderly conduct

UCR hierarchy rule

in the instance of multiple crimes committed in one report, the highest crime will be the one reported in official data

• ex. if someone reports that someone broke into a person’s house, stole their car, and murdered them, it will only be reported to UCR as an incident of homicide

national incidence based report system (NIBRS)

report of criminal offenses at the incidence level (not a sum or total/no hierarchy rule) to provide circumstances and context behind the crimes reported

• replaced UCR in 2021

dark figure of crime

crimes that do not get reported to the police

national crime victimization survey (NCVS)

self-report survey of american household victimization via crime screening questionnaire and an incident report that aims to estimate the extent of crimes that are unreported

• does not include arson and murder

nationally representative sample

used to make general statements about victimization trends by sampling a large portion of american households

bounding

helps correct telescoping creates a reference point by making a note of crimes mentioned during the first interview so that way if those same instances are mentioned in future interviews, researchers know that they are repeated events that occurred outside of the current reference period

telescoping

memory issues where the victim might misdate or overcount events

self-report surveys

non-government survey that asks respondents to self-report their behavior and/or victimization via in person interviews or anonymous questionnaires

qualitative research methods

aim to uncover descriptions of behavior, culture, place, meanings, etc. about specific cases/groups

• collected through participant observation, open ended interview methods, and case studies