chapter 2 criminal justice

INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS, DIVERSITY, AND CHANGE

Chapter 2: The Nature and Extent of Crime

Authors: Callie Marie Rennison and Mary Dodge

Why and How is Crime Measured?

  • Purpose of Measuring Crime:

    • Reveals the extent and nature of crime.

    • Used to evaluate the benefits of crime policy.

    • Helps identify groups suffering disproportionate victimization.

    • Allows for efficient and targeted assistance for affected groups.

    • Enables researchers to investigate root causes of crime, offending, and victimization.

Different Methods of Measuring Crime

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):

    • Utilizes several reports to estimate crime including:

    • Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

    • Supplemental Homicide Report (SHR)

    • National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

  • Bureau of Justice Statistics:

    • Focuses on victimization through the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

Measuring Violent and Property Crime

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

  • Oldest national crime data collection effort established in 1927 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

    • Developed programs and procedures for uniform crime information collection across jurisdictions.

  • Functionality:

    • Allows police chiefs to accurately compare crime across jurisdictions and timeframes.

    • Data is sourced from local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies.

    • Currently collects crime reports from 17,000 agencies.

  • Part I Crimes:

    • Includes crimes such as murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

Supplemental Homicide Report (SHR)

  • Data has been archived since 1976.

  • Provides detailed information on homicides including:

    • Victim’s age, sex, and race.

    • Offender’s age, sex, and race.

    • Type of weapon used.

    • Relationship between victim and offender.

    • Circumstances surrounding the homicide.

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

  • Provides detailed crime information that includes:

    • Nature and types of crimes committed.

    • Characteristics of victims and offenders.

    • Type and value of stolen and recovered property.

    • Characteristics of arrested individuals.

  • Reporting Method:

    • Reports are voluntary.

  • Hierarchy Rule:

    • UCR only reports the most serious crime committed during an event, whereas NIBRS allows reporting of all crimes within an incident.

Advantages of NIBRS Over UCR

  • Offers comprehensive data including all reported crimes per incident rather than only the most severe.

  • Allows disaggregation of data by multiple characteristics of victims, offenders, and incidents.

Problems with Crime Measurement Techniques

  • Reflect only crimes known to the police.

  • Voluntary participation may result in under-reporting or incomplete data.

  • Data may be manipulated for political motives or other purposes.

National Crime Panel

  • Commission convened to identify causes and characteristics of crime, concluded UCR lacked adequate data.

  • Comprised of four distinct samples:

    • Two household samples (National Crime Survey).

    • Two commercial establishment samples (Commercial Victimization Survey).

Evolution to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

  • Changed name in 1991 to NCVS.

  • Today serves as the primary source of information regarding the frequency, characteristics, and consequences of violent and property crimes against households.

NCVS Details

  • Survey Administration:

    • Conducted year-round, both in-person and over the phone.

  • Sample Selection Method:

    • Households selected through a stratified, multistage cluster sampling approach.

    • Utilizes a rotating panel design where individuals are interviewed every 6 months over a total of 7 interviews.

  • Sample Size:

    • 158,090 individuals aged 12 or older in 90,390 households.

Advantages of NCVS

  • Collects data on both reported and unreported crimes:

    • Provides extensive details on criminal victimization experiences.

    • High response rate from participants.

Limitations of NCVS

  • Primarily designed to estimate victimization, therefore not apt for state, local, or county crime estimation.

  • Limited coverage as respondents must be aged 12 or older and reside in housing units or group quarters.

  • Coverage of crime types is restricted.

Crime Rates and Trends

  • General Crime Trend:

    • The United States has experienced low crime rates since the early 1990s.

  • Homicide Distribution:

    • Homicides are not randomly distributed within the population. Certain personal characteristics correlate with higher rates of murder:

    • Males are murdered at a statistically higher rate than females.

    • Racial dynamics show Whites are murdered at lower rates compared to Blacks.

    • Characteristics of murder:

      • Over 75% of murder victims are male.

      • Primarily intra-racial murder occurrences.

Nonfatal Violence Statistics

  • According to the 2014 NCVS:

    • 20.1 per 1,000 persons reported as victims of nonfatal violence which includes rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault.

Relationship Between Victim and Offender

  • Characteristics of violent crime victims vary within the population:

    • The relationship between victim and offender often differs based on gender:

    • For males, approximately 50% of nonfatal violent victimizations are committed by strangers.

    • Females are more likely to be victimized by acquaintances or known individuals.

Property Crime Rates and Trends

  • NCVS collects information on three major types of property crimes:

    • Burglary, Motor Vehicle Theft, and Property Theft:

    • Most common property crime: property theft.

    • Second most common: burglary.

    • Least common: motor vehicle theft.

Measuring Crime in Specific Contexts

Cybercrime

  • Measurement of cybercrime presents challenges as it is fragmented and consists of various forms.

Terrorism

  • Characteristics of terrorism evolve according to shifting goals, strategies, and schemes.

    • Global Terrorism Database: provides data from 1970 until present, including records of threatened, failed, and successful terrorist attacks.

    • National data collection efforts do not categorize an offender as a terrorist distinctly.

White-Collar Crime

  • Data on corporate and occupational crimes is rare.

  • UCR provides minimal count based data categorized under types of white-collar crime:

    • Reported types include fraud, forgery/counterfeiting, and embezzlement.

Fear and Risk of Victimization

  • Notable paradox exists between actual risk and fear of victimization:

    • Generally, females exhibit higher fear of victimization despite lower actual risk.

    • Males face a higher risk of victimization than females.

    • Variations in fear and risk are also influenced by factors such as income (lower income correlates with higher fear) and age (older individuals typically more fearful).

Theory in Criminal Justice

  • Theory and Data Relationship:

    • Theories are fundamentally tied to data and utilize data for building and testing.

  • Importance of Theory:

    • Essential for understanding various aspects of criminal justice.

Biological and Psychological Theories

  • Many theories posit that forces beyond individual control influence criminal behavior.

    • Criminality may stem from neurological or psychological abnormalities.

Rational Choice Theories

  • View criminal behavior as driven by temptation and opportunity.

    • Criminals considered goal-oriented individuals who weigh the effort and rewards of committing a crime against the probability of being caught and punished.

Sociological Theories

  • Emphasize external factors in influencing criminal behavior.

    • Crime is seen as an adaptive response to societal pressures such as social structures, cultural influences, social institutions, and learning processes.