1. Chapter Two The Nature and Extent of Crime
Larry J. Siegel
Chapter Two The Nature and Extent of Crime
Valerie Bell • University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

2. The Nature & Extent of Crime
Primary Sources of Crime Data
OFFICIAL RECORDS
SURVEY RESEARCH
SELF-REPORT SURVEYS
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

3. Primary Sources of Crime Data
Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
includes crimes reported to police and number of arrests
Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) collects this data from over 17,000 police depts. nationwide
Part I Crimes
murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, arson, and motor vehicle theft, larceny/theft (see Exhibit 2.1, p. 25)
Part II Crimes
simple assault, curfew offenses, loitering, embezzlement, forgery and counterfeiting, disorderly conduct, driving under the influence, drug offenses, fraud, gambling, liquor offenses, offenses against the family, prostitution, public drunkenness, runaways, sex offenses, stolen property, vandalism, vagrancy, and weapons offenses
includes data on age, race, and gender of offenders
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

4. Primary Sources of Crime Data
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

5. Primary Sources of Crime Data
Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
Cleared (or Closed) Crimes
20% of all Part I crimes cleared each year
at least one person arrested, charged, and turned over to the courts for prosecution
known offender cannot be arrested (e.g., dies, leaves country)
violent crimes more likely to be cleared
police devote more resources these more serious acts
witnesses (including victims) more available
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

6. Primary Sources of Crime Data
Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
3 Ways of Reporting/Expressing Crime Data
raw numbers
16, 928 murders occurred in 2007
as a rate per 100,000 people
number of reported crimes/total U.S. population x 100,000= rate/100,000
6 in 100,000 people were murdered in 2007
percent changes over time
murder decreased in the U.S. by .6% from 2006 to 2007
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

7. Primary Sources of Crime Data
Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
Validity of the UCR (see Exhibit 2.2 for factors, p. 28)
over HALF of crimes in the U.S. not reported to police
victims consider the crime unimportant
victims don’t trust police
victims fear reprisal by offender’s friends or family
victims involved with illegal activities themselves
police depts. differ in their reporting behavior
reporting trespassing as burglary
reporting an assault on a female as attempted rape
UCR only considers most serious crime committed
bank robber steals a car, UCR only records robbery (“Hierarchy Rule”)
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

8. Primary Sources of Crime Data
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
goal is to provide more detailed crime statistics than the UCR
currently 57 offenses reported using NIBRS
46 specific offenses in 22 crime categories including the eight Part I offenses (Group A Offenses)
11 lesser offenses (Group B Offenses)
includes incident, victim, and offender information
20 states have implemented
12 states finalizing data collection
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

9. Primary Sources of Crime Data
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
Annual survey of victims since 1973 (by U.S. Census Bureau)
76,000 households/135,300 people age 12 and up asked whether victimized in past 6 months
includes many types of crimes and whether the person reported the crime to police OR NOT
less than 1/2 of violent crime and about 1/3 of property crime reported
e.g., 90,000 rapes or attempted rapes reported/year by the UCR whereas NCVS notes about 250,000 occur/year
important for addressing “non-reporting” issue
provides detailed information regarding frequency and nature of victimization including demographics of both victims and offenders as well as details of the victimization experience
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

10. Primary Sources of Crime Data
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
Validity of the NCVS
over-reporting
under-reporting
sampling errors
age-appropriateness of questions
Future of the NCVS
budget cuts have reduced number of participating households
significant changes in 2006
new sampling method
change in how 1st time interviews handled
change to computer-assisted interviewing
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

11. Your Results REPORTED NOT REPORTED 3+ robbery curfew violation
hit & run
car theft
under-age drinking
trespassing
2 burglary
speeding
wreckless driving
DUI
PI/disorderly conduct
terroristic threatening
vandalism
domestic disturbance
2 child abuse
runaway
harassment
NOT REPORTED
curfew violation
5 burglary/breaking & entering
3 car theft
murder
2 assault
DUI
2 PI
contributing to delinquency of a minor
spousal abuse
pirating (not at sea)
3 sexual abuse (child)
neglect
3 vandalism (broken windows, egging)
2 under-age drinking
trespassing
2 terroristic threatening
statutory rape
rape
2 hit & run/car accident
abuse of a corpse

12. Primary Sources of Crime Data
Self-Report Surveys
asks subjects to reveal their own participation in delinquent or criminal acts
anonymously given in groups
mostly focus on juvenile delinquency and youth crimes
also used with prison inmates, drug users, and other groups
asks questions about attitudes, values, and behaviors to find relationship between personal factors and criminal behavior
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

13. Primary Sources of Crime Data
Self-Report Surveys
Validity of Self-Reports
Do participants tell the truth?
research finds kids are honest about being arrested or sent to court
the “missing cases” phenomenon
What about the absent or non-participating population?
Are the high-rate offenders in this group?
most likely measures only non-serious, occasional delinquency and not hard-core chronic offensers
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

14. Primary Sources of Crime Data
Self-Report Surveys
“Monitoring the Future” Survey
one of the most important sources of self-report data
national survey of over 2,500 high school seniors
suggests crime problem is even greater than both the UCR and the NCVS report
e.g., 630,000 armed robberies committed by kids according to a recent MTF survey; UCR tallied only 440,000 armed robberies for all age groups in this same time period
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

15. Evaluating Crime Data
Learning Objective 1. Be familiar with the various forms of crime data.

16. LINKS
For links to these and other criminological data, see the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.

17. “Pick a Crime. Any Crime.” 50 Points
Choose one (1) of the twenty-two NIBRS Category A Offenses.
Use the links below to find the following information about your chosen crime/crime category:
legal definition of your crime 10 pts.
national statistics related to your crime 10 pts.
state statistics related to your crime 10 pts.
discrepancy in data (occurrence v. reported, etc.) 10 pts.
factors associated with your crime (cause, correlation, victim characteristics, age, gender, etc.) 10 pts.
Uniform Crime Reports
NIBRS
NCVS
Monitoring the Future
CityRating.com
For links to these and other criminological data, see the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.

18. Evaluating Crime Data Strengths UCR NCVS Self-report surveys
Offender data
Information on crimes surveys cannot measure
NCVS
Unreported crimes
Victimization data
Self-report surveys
Information on offenders
Learning Objective 2. Know the problems associated with collecting data.

19. Evaluating Crime Data Weaknesses UCR NCVS Self-report surveys
Does not include unreported crimes
NCVS
Limited samples
Personal recollections
Does not include homicide, drug abuse crimes
Self-report surveys
Rely on honesty of offenders
Learning Objective 2. Know the problems associated with collecting data.

20. The Nature & Extent of Crime
Learning Objective 3. Be able to discuss recent trends in the crime rate.

21. The Nature & Extent of Crime
Learning Objective 3. Be able to discuss recent trends in the crime rate.

22. The Nature & Extent of Crime
Learning Objective 3. Be able to discuss recent trends in the crime rate.

23. Crime Trends According to data from both the UCR and the NCVS:
1980s saw an INCREASE in crime rates that peaked in 1991
1990s saw a DECREASE in crime rates
2008, 11 million crimes reported compared to 15 million in EVEN THOUGH the U.S. population had increased by 50 million people during this time period
trends include both property and violent crime
Learning Objective 4. Be familiar with the factors that influence crime rates.
Learning Objective 5. Compare crime rates under different ecological conditions.

24. Crime Trends What the Future Holds...?
currently 50 million school-age children with many under 10 years of age
crime rates expected to rise once this population reaches teenage years
senior citizens have overall lower crime rates and this population is increasing as life expectancy increases
other factors affecting crime in the coming years
economy
technological change
other social factors (e.g., immigration, racial/ethnic tension)
Learning Objective 4. Be familiar with the factors that influence crime rates.
Learning Objective 5. Compare crime rates under different ecological conditions.

25. Crime Patterns Weather and Time of the Month Temperature
most crime occurs during warm summer months
kids out of school
more people outdoors making homes vulnerable
exceptions: murders and robberies more in Dec. and Jan.
crime rates higher on the first day of the month
paycheck connection
Temperature
crime rises until 85° is reached; then it decreases
possibly due to stress that heat induces
if too hot, people likely to stay indoors at home
Learning Objective 4. Be familiar with the factors that influence crime rates.
Learning Objective 6. Be able to discuss the association between social class and crime.

26. Crime Patterns Regional Differences Firearms
large urban areas have highest crime rates
areas with numerous resorts have higher crime rates
the SOUTH has consistently higher property and violent crime rates
Firearms
used in 20% of robberies
10% of assaults
5% of rapes
67% of all murders
these stats fuel both sides of the gun control debate: Do guns lead to increases in criminal behavior or do they serve as a deterrent to crime?
Learning Objective 4. Be familiar with the factors that influence crime rates.
Learning Objective 6. Be able to discuss the association between social class and crime.

27. Crime Patterns Social Class Age
UCR indicates crime mostly in inner-city, high- property areas
self-report data indicates serious crimes more prevalent in lower-class areas
other crimes evenly distributed among all social classes
Age
younger people commit crime than older people
property crimes around age 16
violent crime peaks at 18
overwhelming majority of people “age out” of crime
learn to delay gratification
more focused on establishing themselves in society (e.g., getting a job, starting a family)
Learning Objective 4. Be familiar with the factors that influence crime rates.
Learning Objective 6. Be able to discuss the association between social class and crime.

28. Crime Patterns
Learning Objective 4. Be familiar with the factors that influence crime rates.
Learning Objective 6. Be able to discuss the association between social class and crime.

29. Crime Patterns
Gender
victims report 80% of violent victimization committed by males
UCR indicates 4 to 1 ration of male to female offenders (for murder, it’s 8 to 1 ratio of male to female)
self-report data is similar but ratios are smaller
over last decade, male arrest rates down 9%; females up 9%
reasons for gender differences
female criminals lacked typical female traits; more masculine (Lambroso)
hormonal differences
socialization--girls socialized to be less aggressive and are better supervised
cognitive differences--girls better verbally and able to talk way out of problems
social/political differences--women more likely to be home with children; have fewer opportunities to commit crimes
Learning Objective 4. Be familiar with the factors that influence crime rates.
Learning Objective 7. Know what is meant by the term “aging out process.”

30. Crime Patterns
Race
black Americans make up 12% of U.S. population but account for 38% of violent crime arrests/30% of property crime arrests
Monitoring the Future study finds few racial differences in crimes committed
reasons for racial disparity
police profiling may account for arrest disparities
history of slavery and racism and long-standing racist/ discriminatory practices in society
some jurisdictions treat black men more harshly than other groups
black and latino adults less likely to receive bail in violent crimes
unemployed African-Americans receive longer prison sentences than unemployed whites
Racial Threat Theory--suggests as black population increases, so does the amount of social control the justice system aims at African-Americans
economic and social disparity--racial and ethnic minorities experience greater social isolation and economic stress
family dissolution--disproportionate number of single, female-headed households
Learning Objective 4. Be familiar with the factors that influence crime rates.
Learning Objective 7. Know what is meant by the term “aging out process.”

31. Chronic Offenders/Criminal Careers
Delinquency in a Birth Cohort
study of young boys by Wolfgang, Figlio, and Sellin
found that 6% of their sample committed 52% of all the crime
Causes of Chronicity
early arrest (before 15)
low intellectual ability
parental drug involvement to chronicity
arrest and punishment have little deterrent effect on career criminals
3-strike laws have been created to try and deal with these offenders
Learning Objective 9. Be familiar with Wolfgang, Figlio, and Sellin’s pioneering research on chronic offending.

32. The Nature & Extent of Crime
Learning Objective 10. Know what causes chronicity.