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Published byJulianna Terry Modified over 8 years ago
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Police reports, victimization, and self-report data
Crime Data Sources Police reports, victimization, and self-report data
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Sellin’s Dictum “The value of a crime for index purposes decreases as the distance from the crime itself in terms of procedure increases” Thorsten Sellin, 1931
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Sources of Crime Statistics
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS) Self-Report Data (SRD)
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Uniform Crime Reports Part 1 Offenses
“Serious illegal acts that occur with sufficient frequency to provide an adequate basis for comparison”
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Crimes Not Included in the UCR Part 1 Crime Index
Reason: they do not come to the attention of police often enough.
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Becoming a UCR Crime Statistic
Step 1: Step 2: Police must decide… Step 3: Step 4:
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Reporting Crimes to the Police
People are MORE likely to report if… People are LESS likely to report if…
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Officer Discretion Officer discretion influenced by offense and offender characteristics
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Recording of Crimes by Police
Characteristics of the offense Characteristics of offender Characteristics of the victim
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Strengths of the UCR National Permits comparisons
Links to other sources
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Weaknesses of the UCR Street crimes
Reactive crime reporting by citizens Officer discretion Susceptible to political pressure to over or under-report
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The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
Conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Census every 6 months, households remain up to 3 years
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Self-Report Data Unofficial statistics
Gets at the “dark figure” of crime Provides information on causes of crime from offender’s perspective
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Ethical Issues in Self-Report Studies of Violent Crime
Exchange confidentiality for honesty Ask subjects not to talk about planned violence Yes
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