Methods of Measuring Crime

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Methods of Measuring Crime
Uniform Crime Reports
Self- Report Surveys
Victim Surveys
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Uniform Crime Reports
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Uniform Crime Reports

• Part I Index Crimes
• Criminal Homicide
• Forcible Rape
• Robbery
• Aggravated assault
• Burglary
• Larceny/theft
• Motor vehicle theft
• Arson
• Part II Crimes
• All others except traffic

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Criticisms and Limitations of the UCR

• Counting Rule
• Reporting Practices
• Attempted vs. Completed Crimes

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The Future of the Uniform Crime Reports

• National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
• Maintained by the F.B.I.
• Twenty-two crime categories
• More information on each crime in each category
• Data compiled based on incidents, not arrests.

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• Participants (usually juveniles) reveal
  information about their violations of the law
• Advantages
• Helps to get at Dark Figure of Crime
• Tap into victimless crimes
• Make comparisons with official data
• Only way to measure theoretical concepts and
  connect with criminal behavior

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Self-Report Surveys
Self-Report Surveys

• Disadvantages
• May underestimate chronic offenders
• People Can Lie
• Survey Methodology Problems
• Seriousness of Offense

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1. Asks victims about their encounters with
criminals 2. Nationally representative sample 3.
May also describe people most at risk 4.
Limitations Little information about
offenders Cannot assess some crimes Limitations
of Survey Research
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REVIEW

• UCR
• Aggregate Data, Crimes known to police
• Self-report
• Individual level data, links offender
  characteristics to criminal offending
• NCVS
• Aggregate Data, victimizations

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Crime Trends and Correlates of Crime

• Crime Trends
• Is crime increasing, decreasing or stable?
• Why?
• Correlates of Crime
• What factors are related to crime?
• Geographic location, Age, Race, Gender, Social
  Class?

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Crime Trends

• UCR and NCVS data reveal a recent steady decrease
  in crime.
• The decrease is being driven by a sharp decline
  in violent crime among juveniles.

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Explaining Crime Trends

• Age Composition
• The Economy
• Social malaise
• GunsAvailability
• Justice PolicyPolice or Prisons?

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Social Class and Crime

• Official statistics reveal a strong class-crime
  relationship.
• Social class causes crime?
• No true relationship, but system bias against the
  lower class?

SELF REPORT STUDIES
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GENDER AND CRIME

• UCR, NCVS, and SR data all indicate that females
  are more likely than males to commit criminal
  acts
• Chivalry hypothesis?
• Socialization?
• Biological differences?
• Feminist explanations

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RACE AND CRIME

• Similar dilemma as with social class
• SR?weak if any relationship
• Official?strong relationship
• If relationship is true, why?
• Relationship to class, neighborhood, culture.

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The Age-Crime Curve
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AGE AND CRIME

• Problems with the age crime curve
• Arrests only
• Aggregate data

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Hypothetical Age-Crime Curves at Individual Level
Frequency of Offending
Adolescent Offending Group
Chronic Group
Age 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
26...
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Longitudinal Birth Cohort Research
Research that tracks an identifiable group of
individuals over a long period of time.
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The Chronic 6
After following a birth cohort of 9,945 boys born
in Philadelphia in 1945, Wolfgang and his
associates found that 6 of the total sample were
responsible for 51.9 of all offenses. These were
referred to as chronic offenders or career
criminals. Similar research has resulted in
similar findings.
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Continuity of Crime
The cohort follow-ups clearly show that chronic
juvenile offenders continue their law-violating
careers as adults.
Then and .. NOW
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Implications of Continuity

• If the Onset of offending occurs in
  childhood for some kids, you must start your
  explanation at that point.
• Why do some kids begin their offending in
  adolescence?