Chapter Two The Nature and Extent of Crime

Chapter Two The Nature and Extent of Crime

Crime data l l l Helps formulate theories that explain onset of crime Helps devise social policies that facilitate its control or elimination Accurate data is necessary to assess the nature and extent of crime, to track changes in the crime rate and to measure the individual and social factors influencing criminality

Primary Sources of Crime Data l l Surveys and official records which are collected, compiled analyzed by government agencies. One such source is the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) which is data collected by the FBI from local law enforcement agencies.

UCR l l This includes both crimes reported to, and the number of arrests made by local law enforcement departments. The major unit of analysis involves index, or Part I crimes: l l l l Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter Forcible rape Robbery Aggravated assault Burglary Larceny Arson Motor vehicle thefts

UCR l In addition, the UCR shows the number and characteristics (age, race and gender) of individuals who have been arrested for these and all other crimes (except traffic violations or Part II crimes).

The UCR Methods to Express Crime Data 1. the number of crimes reported to the police and arrests made are in raw figures 2. crime rates per 100, 000 people are computed. 3. changes in rates of crime over time is computed.

Clearance Rates l l Each month law enforcement agencies report how many crimes were cleared. Clearance is done in two ways: l l When at least one person is arrested, charged and turned over for prosecution; or By exceptional means, when some element beyond police control precludes the physical arrest of an offender.

Crime Clearances l l A little more than 20% of all reported index crimes are cleared by arrest each year. More serious crimes, such as murder and rape are cleared at much higher rates than less serious property crimes, such as larceny.

Why the difference? l l The media—it gives more attention to serious violent crimes so police devote more time and resources to these investigations. Prior association—the victims and attackers of many violent crimes know each other, often making investigations simpler.

Why the difference? l l Interaction—violent crime victims and offenders interact, even if they have no prior association, making identification easier. Serious violent crimes often produce physical evidence which can be used to identify suspects.

Validity of the UCR l There are three main areas of concern about the accuracy of the UCR. l l l 1. reporting practices 2. law enforcement practices 3. methodological problems

Reporting practices l Victims of many serious crimes, less than 40%, report incidents to police; therefore, these crimes don’t become part of the UCR.

Law enforcement practices l l l The way police departments record and report criminal and delinquent activity affect the validity of the UCR statistics. Departments differ in how a crime is categorized. Some departments make systematic errors in reporting. Some alter reports to make the department “look better”.

Methodological issues l l Issues include: federal crimes are often not reported, not all departments submit reports (submission is voluntary), only the most serious of multiple crimes by an offender is recorded, each act is listed as a single offense for some crimes, but not others. The complex scoring procedure used in the UCR means that many serious crimes are not counted.

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) l l More reliable as this program collects data on each reported crime incident, including a brief account of each incident and arrest, as well as information about the victim and the offender. This system involves 46 specific offenses, including the eight Part I offenses and 11 lesser offenses.

Survey Research l l Sampling—process of selecting for study a limited number of subjects who are representative of entire groups sharing similar characteristics or the population. Cross-sectional survey—representative of all members of society. Useful and costeffective technique for measuring characteristics of large numbers of people.

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) l l Comprehensive, nationwide survey of victimization in the U. S. provides details of crime incidents, victims and trends. Collects information on crimes suffered by individuals and households, whether or not those crimes were reported to law enforcement. Estimates the proportion of each crime type reported to law enforcement. Summarizes the reasons that victims give for reporting or not reporting.

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) l In addition, the survey gives information about victims (age, sex, race, ethnicity, marital status, income and educational level), offenders (sex, race, approximate age and victim-offender relationship), and the crimes (time and place of occurrence, use of weapon, nature of injury and economic consequences).

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) l In addition questions cover the experiences of victims with the criminal justice system, self -protective measures used by victims and possible substance abuse by offenders.

Advantages of NCVS l l Can estimate the total amount of annual crimes, a more accurate assessment of the nation’s crime problem. Can help to create an understanding why crimes are not reported to police and whether the type and nature of the crime influences whether the police will ever know it happened.

Disadvantages of NCVS l Methodological problems include overreporting, underreporting, inability to record personal criminal activity of those interviewed, sampling errors, inadequate question format that invalidates responses.

Self-Report Surveys l l l Persons are asked—usually anonymously to describe recent and lifetime participation in criminal activity. Contain questions about attitudes, values and behaviors Most often focused on juvenile delinquency, can be used for histories of other groups, i. e. , inmates, drug users.

Monitoring the Future (MTF) Study l l l This study involves high school students and is the national standard to measure substance abuse trends of American teens. MTF data indicate that the number of people who break the law is far greater than the number projected by official statistics. This data shows that offenders also are involved in various crimes and deviance, rather than just one specialty.

Criticisms of Self-Reports l l People may not admit illegal acts. Comparisons between groups can be misleading. There always persons “missing” during self-reporting surveys which may skew the results. Reporting accuracy differs among racial, ethnic and gender groups.

Secondary Sources of Crime Data l l Cohort research—observing a group of people who share a like characteristic over time. Retrospective cohort study—simpler and less expensive, an intact cohort from the past and collect data from educational, family, police and hospital records in order to find trends for that cohort.

Experimental Research l l l Criminologists manipulate or intervene in the lives of subjects in order to see the outcome or the effect of that intervention. Three elements are present: random selection of subjects, a control or comparison group, and an experimental condition. These experiments are rare as they are difficult, expensive, often causing ethical and legal roadblocks, and requiring long follow-up periods to verify results

Experimental Research l l Researchers often use a quasi-experimental design, following one group and comparing them to a matched group, without random assignment. Observational (known as “field” research) and interview research is done in-depth and on a small number of subjects.

Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review l l Meta-analysis—gathering data from previous studies and grouping it together in order to indicate relationships. Systematic review—collecting findings from previous scientific studies, appraising and synthesizing the evidence and using this collective evidence to address a particular scientific question.

Data Mining l l This technique uses multiple advanced computational methods to analyze large data sets. This is helpful in identifying significant patterns, trends and relationships, and prediction of future events or behaviors not often detected in traditional techniques.

Crime Mapping l l Crime maps display crime locations or concentrations and can be used to chart trends in criminal activity. A federal program aiding local law enforcement in analyzing crime series and patterns is CATCH (Crime Analysis Tactical Clearing House).

Crime Rate Trends l l l These trends are influenced by social, economic, personal and demographic factors. Social factors include the age structure of society (high crime rates among teens). The influence of the state of the economy is confusing as multiple variables exist making measurement of the link between economy and crime rates difficult.

Additional Influences on Crime Rates l l Abortion—selective abortion (now that abortion is legal) of women most at risk to have youth who would engage in criminal activity and improved child-rearing are possible links between lower crime rates and abortion. Guns—as the availability of firearms increases, so does the violent crime rates.

Additional Influences on Crime Rates l l l Gangs—increased number of gangs and gang members creates a rise in criminal activity, especially in violent crimes. Drug Use—increases in illegal drug usage and selling and trafficking drugs also appears to increase violence Media—violent media correlates with aggressive behaviors which often increases “real-life” violence.

Additional Influences on Crime Rates l l Medical technology—quality of health care may impact murder rates. With increased technology, victims of violence are more likely to survive than in the past several decades. Justice policy—large numbers of law enforcement officers added to agencies and tough laws may significantly contribute to a reduction in the crime rate.

Additional Influences on Crime Rates l l Social and cultural conditions on a macrolevel, such as the number of single-parent families, high school dropout rates, racial conflict and the prevalence of teen pregnancies have a powerful influence on crime rates. Immigration—data has shown that immigrants actually commit less crime and are less likely to be incarcerated than nativeborn.

Trends in Crime l l Violent crimes may be increasing again after a downward trend. Property crimes have decreased and seem to be continuing that trend. Self-reported crime results appear stable; however, the Monitoring the Future (MTF), data assessing criminal activity of high school seniors, the crime problem is much greater than the FBI data indicates. The future of crime trends is dependent on the economy, technological change and social factors.

Crime Patterns and the Nature of Crime l Ecology of crime includes day, season and climate: l l Weather effects (such as temperature swings) may have an impact on violent crime rates. Regional differences (urban v rural areas, area of the country) probably can be explained by economic differences.

Firearms l l Use of firearms—some criminologists believe that the proliferation of handguns significantly raises the rate of violence while others believe that personal gun use acts as a crime deterrent. Handgun control is quite controversial; some believe that possession of handguns should be outlawed; others refer to the Second Amendment and the “right to bear arms”.

Social Class, Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime l Crime is inherently a lower-class phenomenon as they have the greatest incentive to commit crimes. l l Instrumental crimes—people unable to obtain desired goods and services may resort to illegal activities to get them. Repressive crimes—people living in poverty engage in disproportionate amounts of crimes such as assaults and rapes due to rage, frustration and anger against society

Social Class, Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime l l l An explanation for the relationship between official crime and social class may be a function of law enforcement practices, not actual criminal behavior patterns. Self-reports indicate that police may be more likely to arrest lower-class offenders and treat affluent more leniently. Nonetheless, the association between class and crime is quite complex.

Other Factors l l Age and crime—younger people commit more crime than older individuals. Aging out of crime—deviance in youth is fueled by the need for money and sex and reinforced by close relationships with peers like themselves. Most older adults conform to conventional lifestyles.

Gender and Crime l Male crime rates much higher than those of females. This difference is based on a number of theories: l l Lombroso’s masculinity hypothesis held that some delinquent females (physically and emotionally) closely resemble males. Chivalry hypothesis holds that much female criminality is hidden because of the culture’s protective and benevolent attitude toward women.

Gender Socialization and Development l l l Girls are socialized to be less aggressive than boys and are supervised more closely by parents. Cognitive differences may contribute to behavioral variations, as girls are encouraged to be more empathic about other people and avoid harming them. Girls are more verbally proficient and may develop social skills to help deal with conflict without violence.

Gender Socialization and Development l l Liberal feminist theory—the lower crime rate for women can be explained by their “second-class” economic and social position. Gender based crime rates are still significant, but females seem to be “closing the gap”.

Race and Crime l l l Minorities are involved in a disproportionate share of criminal activity. Suspects who are poor, minority and male are more likely to be arrested than suspects who are white, affluent and female. In some areas, young African-American males are treated more harshly by the criminal and juvenile justice systems than members of any other group.

Race and Crime l l Racial threat hypothesis—as the percentage of minorities in the population increases so does the amount of social control that police direct at minority group members. Disparities in justice policy result in widely disproportionate makeup of the prison population—the highest rate is among black males aged 20 -34.

Race and Economic and Social Disparity l l l Minorities are often forced to live in high crime areas where risk of victimization is significant. Minorities face more social isolation and economic deprivation than the white majority, adding to a sense of frustration and failure. Family dissolution in minority communities is thought to be tied to low employment among African-American males, which places additional stress on the family.

Chronic Offenders/Criminal Careers l l Chronic or career criminals--a small group of criminal offenders account for a majority of all criminal offenses. Delinquent chronic offenders, “the chronic 6 percent”, have the most dramatic amount of delinquent behavior. l Arrests and court experience did little to deter this group.

Chronic Offenders/Criminal Careers l Early onset—youth who have been exposed to a variety of personal and social problems at an early age are most at risk of repeat offending. l Characteristics that predict chronic offending include: school behavior/performance, family problems, substance abuse and deliquency.

Chronic Offenders/Criminal Careers l l Serious violent crime commission during adolescence as well as early onset of delinquent behavior account for “persistence continuity of crime”. These chronic offenders are the focus of crime control policy, such as long periods of incarceration and a “three strikes” policy (conviction of a third offense requires serving a mandatory life sentence).