Chapter 02 Notes: Types of Crime - Study Summary
Measuring Crime
Measures and data sources are used to understand crime levels, patterns, and trends.
Major data sources:
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
Self-report studies
Key takeaway: Different methods capture different aspects of crime, with varying strengths and limitations.
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Annual series of U.S. statistical measures of the incidence of selected crimes.
Reported by police departments and compiled by the FBI.
Limitations:
UCR data can be confusing and undercount offenses.
Includes a schematic presentation of offenses and tends to show crimes occurring with a regularity that is not realistic.
Purpose: Provides a broad overview of crime levels and trends.
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
U.S. crime index compiled by the FBI and the Department of Justice.
Tracks detailed information for offenses, plus additional offenses for which only arrests are reported.
Data elements collected include:
Type of premises involved and method of entry
Type of property loss and weapon/force used
Relationship of victim to offender and alcohol/drug use by offender
Participation: 43% of U.S. law enforcement agencies participate in NIBRS.
Strengths: Rich, incident-level data that enable more precise analysis than UCR.
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
Statistical sampling of households and individuals who have been personally victimized by specific crimes.
Excludes:
Homicide, kidnapping, victimless crimes, commercial crimes, or victimizations of children under .
Includes details about the victims, the crime, and the consequences.
Focus: Primarily on victims and their experiences.
Important concept: The “dark figure of crime” refers to unreported and unrecorded crimes revealed by victim surveys.
Secondary victimization: Suffering caused by how victims are treated by police, courts, or acquaintances after the crime.
Self-Report Data
Surveys in which individuals reveal offenses they have committed but for which they may not have been arrested.
Helps uncover the dark figure of crime.
Case studies: In-depth examination of an individual offender’s experiences.
Crimes Against Persons
Offenses that attacks or threaten a person’s body or safety:
Murder and manslaughter
Sexual assault
Kidnapping
Robbery
Battery
Homicide
Act of unjustifiably causing the death of another human being.
Types distinguished primarily by offender culpability and severity of penalties.
Poses the severest penalties among crimes.
Types:
First-degree murder: A murder in which the offender must have purposely killed his or her victim and must have planned to do so at least a short time in advance.
Second-degree murder: An intentional killing not planned ahead of time.
Manslaughter: killing with lower degree of blameworthiness.
Voluntary manslaughter: provoked and lost control in the heat of passion.
Involuntary manslaughter: killing resulting from the offender’s careless actions.
Vehicular manslaughter: death from careless driving.
Serial murder: The killing of three or more people over an extended period for personal gratification
Mass murder: multiple murders at one place and time.
Spree murder: several victims within a short time span (hours to days).
Notable example: John Wayne Gacy
Known as a trusted community member and entertainer (Pogo the Clown) who raped and murdered boys and young men between and ,
burying many victims in a crawl space beneath his house.
Assault and Battery
Definition: Harmful or offensive physical attack by one person upon another.
Typically starts with interpersonal conflict and can escalate to violence.
Victims who cooperate with the criminal justice system may require special protections if the relationship with the offender continues.
Sexual Violence
Range of crimes involving vaginal, anal, digital, and/or oral penetration; may include use of weapons or other objects.
Sexual victimization: Forced or coerced sexual intimacy.
Common types:
Marital rape
Date rape
Acquaintance rape
Reasons for not reporting sexual assaults:
Self-blame, fear of retaliation, shame, protecting family from embarrassment.
When the relationship with the offender is close, reporting police is less likely.
Rape Trauma Syndrome:
Acute phase: fear, anxiety, agitation, or appearing calm and emotionless.
Outward adjustment phase: seeming normal life, inward struggle to cope.
Resolution phase: shifting focus to coping and moving on.
Robbery and Child Abuse
Robbery: Offender takes personal property from the victim by using or threatening force.
Child abuse: Neglect or violence against children.
Types of Child Abuse 1
Physical abuse: Intentional slapping, beating, burning, kicking, etc.
Sexual abuse: Nonconsensual, forced, or coerced sexual touching; may include forced masturbation or use of another person for prostitution, pornography, or voyeurism.
Neglect: Repeated failure to provide basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, medical care, protection).
Emotional abuse: Verbal threats, intimidation, exploitation, and exposure to family violence.
School bullying: Repeated harmful acts by other students.
Types of Child Abuse 2
Missing children: Not accounted for by family due to kidnapping, disability, wandering, or leaving home.
Abandonment: Leaving a child in circumstances likely to cause serious harm; parent/guardian identity or contact is unknown; sometimes called foundling/throwaway.
Homicide of a child: Intentional taking of a child’s life; may involve physical abuse causing death.
Property Crimes
Definition: Taking money or property without the use of force, plus destruction of property.
Prevalence: About of all crimes in the United States are property crimes.
Demographics: More common in urban than rural areas; experienced most by people over .
Types of Property Crimes
Burglary: Entering another’s property with the intent to commit a felony.
Larceny: Theft of cash or property from a location without attacking or threatening the victim and without permission.
Motor vehicle theft: Theft of a motorized road vehicle.
White-Collar Crime
Definition: Illegal or unethical acts that violate fiduciary responsibility or public trust, usually during legitimate occupational activity; often by persons of high or respectable status for personal or organizational gain.
Examples: Corporate fraud, health care fraud, environmental crime, money laundering.
Enforcement: A very small percentage are brought to law enforcement; only about are prosecuted due to complexity and difficulty in proving criminal intent.
Public Order Crimes
Wide variety of offenses considered immoral or public nuisances, including:
Disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace
Loitering and public intoxication
Panhandling and bigamy
Drunk driving and weapons violations
Prostitution and obscenity
Gambling and possession of controlled substances
Referred to as “victimless crimes” since they often lack a readily identifiable victim, though they can indirectly harm others.
Crimes Against Morality
Offenses related to sexuality, prostitution, gambling, and pornography.
Controversies:
Critics argue that legislating morality is wrong or impractical and that laws can be vague and abused.
Proponents see morality laws as protecting communities from gang-related violence and as a tool to regulate vice.
Laws have also been used to harass youths.
Drug Offenses 1
Definition: Unlawful possession, use, manufacturing, selling, growing, making, or distributing drugs classified as having potential for abuse.
Notable trends: Designer drugs; caffeinated alcoholic drinks; powdered alcohol used to mix with water.
Common Types of Abused Drugs
Categories and examples:
Stimulants:
Cocaine
Crack
Methamphetamines:
Benzedrine
Dexedrine
Methedrine
Depressants:
Barbiturates
Methaqualone
Inhalants
Meprobamate
Alcohol
Trade-name Drugs:
Seconal
Nembutal
Amytal
Librium
Valium
Thorazine
Opioids:
Heroin
Morphine
Codeine
Fentanyl
Hallucinogens:
LSD
PCP
Mescaline
Psilocybin
Ecstasy or MDMA
DPT
Marijuana:
Cannabis
Hashish
Performance-enhancing drugs (anabolic steroids):
Ethylestrenol
Methandriol
Methenolone
Methandrostenolone
Drug Offenses 2
Policy differences: Other countries emphasize rehabilitation; U.S. emphasizes deterrence via penalties.
Substance abuse viewed by many as a progressive disease requiring treatment.
Poppy Farmers and Global Drug Issues
Poppy cultivation is lucrative; raises ethical and policy questions about international agriculture and drug control.
Debate: Should the U.S. encourage other countries to stop growing crops used to produce drugs?
Drug Offenses 3
Drug use is linked to crime:
Drugs lower inhibitions.
Many criminals are addicted to illegal substances.
Profits from the drug trade can corrupt law enforcement.
Drug Offenses 4
Demographics and incarceration:
Although most illicit drug users are White, incarcerated drug users are primarily African American.
More women are being convicted for drug offenses.
Drug enforcement causes disproportionate harm to women, who are often minor players in the drug trade.
Drug Offenses 5
Drug use patterns:
Drug use in poor minority neighborhoods is only slightly higher than in affluent nonminority areas.
Policy responses and challenges:
Many strategies have been used, but none have succeeded due to resource limitations, prevention failures, and barriers to rehabilitation.
Crimes Committed Due to Drugs
Crime categories and examples linked to drug use:
Crimes against persons: First-degree murder, voluntary/involuntary manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, serial murder, spree murder, assault, battery, sexual assault, robbery, child abuse/neglect/bullying, kidnapping.
Crimes against property: Burglary; larceny/theft; motor vehicle theft; white-collar crimes (embezzlement, fraud, corporate fraud); environmental crime; money laundering; drug manufacturing, trafficking, distributing; selling drugs.
Crimes against public order and morality: Disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, panhandling, prostitution, pimping, public intoxication, loitering, drunk driving, weapons violations, gambling, obscenity, fornication, bigamy, adultery.
Political Crimes and Immigration
Political crimes: Violent or nonviolent acts that threaten a government’s survival (e.g., terrorism, treason, immigration law violations, unlawful demonstrations).
Immigration Law basics:
Determines whether a person is an alien.
Defines rights, duties, and obligations of aliens in the United States.
Immigration offenses: Violations of federal immigration law.
Economic role: Legal and illegal immigrants are vital to the economy.
Immigration policy discourse:
Has become a divisive political issue.
Post-9/11, terrorism concerns became central to immigration debates.
Social context: Day laborers often in the U.S. illegally seeking work; portrayal in media and policy discussions.
Organized Crime
Definition: Ongoing criminal conspiracy that profits from providing illicit goods and services.
Methods: Use or threat of violence to facilitate the enterprise and to monopolize illicit markets.
Involvement: Includes gambling, prostitution, auto theft, and drug trafficking; some enterprises are controlled from foreign lands.
Case example: Outlaw biker gangs (e.g., Mongols Motorcycle Club) as subject of analysis questions about organization and law enforcement interest.
Stalking
Definition: Willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly following or harassing another person; making credible threats to place the target in reasonable fear for safety.
Demographics: Crime more commonly dominated by men; many stalkers eventually assault the target.
Gender Differences in Stalking Victims
Figure 2.8 illustrates differences in stalking victim demographics by relationship with the offender (relationship categories include acquaintance, stranger, cohabiting/ex-partner, date/ex-date, relative other than spouse, spouse/ex-spouse).
Key takeaway: In some relationships (e.g., spouse/ex-spouse), women are more frequently victims than men; in others, men may be more frequently victims.
Gender and Violence – Analytical Topics
Discussion prompts (from analyses):
Is violence gender-specific or universal? What is reflected in media portrayals vs. reality?
Who are the targets of violence by men in media representations?
Key Terms (Overview)
Core terms to know include: Assault and battery, Burglary, Child abuse, Child neglect, Crime index, Crimes against morality, Crimes against persons, Dark figure of crime, Designer drugs, Drug offenses, Emotional abuse, First-degree murder, Homicide, Immigration offenses, Involuntary manslaughter, Larceny, Manslaughter, Mass murder, Missing children, Motor vehicle theft, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), Organized crime, Physical abuse, Political crimes, Property crimes, Public order crimes, Rape trauma syndrome, Robbery, Secondary victimization, Second-degree murder, Self-report, Serial murder, Sexual victimization, Sexual violence, Spree murder, Stalking, Student bullying, Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), Vehicular manslaughter, Victim surveys, Victimless crimes, Violent crime indices, White-collar crime.
Two sets of terms are listed in the source as Key Terms 1 and Key Terms 2.
Notable Figures and Visuals Mentioned
John Wayne Gacy: An example of a serial killer who was a trusted community member by day and a killer by night; killed 33 men and boys between 1972 and 1978; victims buried in crawl space.
Graphs and figures referenced:
Violent Crime Rates, 1994 to 2017 (Figure 2.1) showing a dramatic drop; analysis prompts about possible causes.
Figure 2.5: Drug overdose deaths during the pandemic with year-by-year figures.
Figure 2.6: Incarceration of women for nonviolent drug offenses (jurisdictional breakdowns).
Figure 2.8: Gender differences between stalking victims by relationship type.
Textual Notes on Data Representations
Violent crime rate graph (2.1) uses a rate per inhabitants on the y-axis and years from to at least on the x-axis; the overall note emphasizes that total violent crime nearly halved between 1994 and 2019.
The NCVS and NIBRS provide richer, incident-level data than the UCR, helping to explain variations by victim, offender, location, and method.
Media and policy discussions in the slides emphasize ethical, philosophical, and practical implications of crime measurement and policy responses (rehabilitation vs. punishment, gender disparities, and the policing of morality and drugs).