Counting Crime

Counting Crime – Part A January 30

Evolution of Criminological Theory

• Before the 1960s:

  • Theories relied on official crime statistics without question.

• 1960s-1970s:

  • Scholars challenged past theories, highlighting biases in the justice system.

  • New focus on how crime is created, how the system selects and punishes crimes, and how it stigmatizes individuals.

• Post-1970s:

  • Conservative criminology: Accepts official crime records and uses stats for crime control.

  • Critical criminology: Views crime stats as tools of government control and structural inequality.

Measuring Crime

• Data sources:

  • Official data (police, courts, corrections)

  • Self-report surveys (individual confessions of crime involvement)

  • Victimization surveys (people report their experiences of crime)

  • Observational accounts & interviews (qualitative data on crime experiences)

Crime Reporting in Early Canada

• (Image of old crime report statistics)

• Most common convictions (1882-1892):

  • Drunkenness

  • By-law breaches/minor offenses

  • Offenses against persons

  • Property offenses

  • Liquor law breaches

• Demographics of convicted criminals:

  • 91% were men

  • 68% were 16-40 years old

  • ~50% were laborers

  • 40% were heavy drinkers

  • Overrepresentation of certain religious groups (Roman Catholic, Church of England, and Baptists)

Crime Reporting in Canada Today

• Key measures:

  • Police statistics (e.g., 2022 data on theft, mischief, assault, fraud)

  • Crime rate formula: (total crimes ÷ population) × 100,000

  • Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) collects vast crime data.

Uniform Crime Report (UCR) & Crime Severity Index (CSI)

• UCR (1962): Collects data from 1200+ police detachments. Uses a “seriousness rule” (only the most severe offense in a criminal event is counted).

• UCR2 (1988): Captures more detailed, incident-specific crime data.

• CSI (2009): Weighs crimes based on severity to avoid distortion by minor offenses.

Unofficial Crime Data Sources

• Victimization surveys:

  • First introduced in 1981 (CUVS).

  • Shows underreporting of crimes (e.g., sexual assault).

  • Identifies high-risk victim groups (young, single, socially active, unemployed).

  • Limitations: Omits some crimes (murder, drug offenses), relies on memory, excludes people without landlines/internet.

• Self-report surveys:

  • Help study crime causes and social class links.

  • Limitations: Some misreporting (law-abiding people overreport minor infractions; serious offenders underreport crimes).

• Observational studies:

  • Advocated by Neil Polsky (1967), used in studies like The Rebels by Daniel Wolf.

  • Limitations: Risky, lacks generalizability, ethical concerns.

• In-depth interviews: Provide qualitative insights into crime experiences.

Counting Crime – Part B February 6

The Crime Funnel

• Concept: The criminal justice system filters cases at multiple stages, leading to fewer convictions than actual crimes committed.

• Diagram likely showing:

  • Total crimes (at top) → reported crimes → investigated cases → arrests → charges → convictions → sentences (at bottom).

The Dark Figure of Crime

• Definition: Crimes that are unknown, unreported, or unrecorded.

• Causes:

  • Victims don't report (fear, shame, distrust in police).

  • Police discretion (choosing not to record/report crimes).

  • Systemic failures (lack of evidence, case prioritization).

Factors Affecting Crime Rate

• Report-sensitive crimes: Rely on victim willingness to report (e.g., sexual assault).

• Policing-sensitive crimes: Depend on police activity (e.g., drug offenses).

• Definition-sensitive crimes: Affected by legal definitions (e.g., what qualifies as assault).

• Media-sensitive crimes: Affected by media attention (e.g., violent crime perceptions).

• Crime swap: Certain crimes decrease while others increase due to social changes.

Crime in the Media

• Crime coverage has increased across print, TV, film, and digital media.

• Media focus: Over-represents violent crime, distorting public perception.

• Example: 50% of Ottawa’s crime news covered murder, despite only 7 murders occurring that year.

Media Influence on Crime Perception

• Fear of victimization: Excessive crime coverage makes people feel unsafe.

• CSI Effect: Unrealistic forensic depictions alter jury and public expectations.

• Media bias:

  • Focus on racial/ethnic identity of offenders.

  • Privately owned media downplays corporate crime.

  • Creates political pressure for tough-on-crime policies.

White-Collar Crime (WCC)

• Definition (Edwin Sutherland, 1939): Crimes committed by high-status individuals in professional roles.

• Challenges in prosecuting WCC:

  1. Often handled through civil courts instead of criminal justice.

  2. Victims prefer financial compensation over criminal charges.

  3. Offenders’ class privilege shields them from prosecution.

  4. Investigations rarely go beyond the primary offender.

• Examples: Fraud, bribery, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, embezzlement, cybercrime, money laundering.

• Lack of universal WCC definition or dataset makes it hard to measure.