Chapter 2 Nature and Extent of Crime PDF

The Nature and Extent of Crime Uniform Crime Report (FBI) n Part I Offenses n Part II Offenses n Murder and Non- n Everything else!! negligent homicide n Forcible rape n Robbery n Aggravated assault n Burgl...

The Nature and Extent of Crime Uniform Crime Report (FBI) n Part I Offenses n Part II Offenses n Murder and Non- n Everything else!! negligent homicide n Forcible rape n Robbery n Aggravated assault n Burglary n Larceny/theft n Motor vehicle theft n Arson Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 2 All Rights Reserved. UCR: Limits (Police Agencies) n Many crimes excluded n Many people do not report n Only most serious offense recorded n Collection and reporting between police departments differs n Doesn’t count federal crimes Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 3 All Rights Reserved. National Incident-Based Reporting System NIBRS) n Designed to measure every crime n Incident, victim and offender info Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 4 All Rights Reserved. National Crime Victimization Survey and Self-Reports n 90,000 households n 160,000 interviews n Measures “unreported” crime n “Dark Underside” n Self-reports n Go to the source: the criminal Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 5 All Rights Reserved. NCVS V. UCR (2011 data) Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 6 All Rights Reserved. Research and Data Collection n Survey research n Questionnaires (students: 65%) n large sample, low price n Problems n non-response n Misunderstanding of the question n Bias n Must be interpreted n Interviews n Face-to-face or telephone n Eliminates non-returns, can ask follow-ups, clarify questions Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 7 All Rights Reserved. Experiments n Controlled experiment n Experimental and control groups n Observation n Participant v. non-participant n Case studies n Minimal sample n Lots of detail n Aggregate data n Census, DOJ, U.N. Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 8 All Rights Reserved. TRENDS!! Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 9 All Rights Reserved. Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 10 All Rights Reserved. Crime Trends n Ecological and time n Crime and age factors n Age goes up, crime n Urban areas goes down n August v. February n Crime peaks at 16; n Theft occurs during violent crime at 18 from 0600-1800 n “Aging out” (I’m n More in south than gettin’ too old for northeast this!) Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 11 All Rights Reserved. Crime Patterns n Sex n Race and class n Men commit more n Crime is “intra- n 5:1 in terms of racial” crime n Racial profiling n 8:1 in terms of n Do criminals tend violent crimes to be poor or n Women are a fast “targeted”? growing criminal demographic Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 12 All Rights Reserved. Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 13 All Rights Reserved. Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 14 All Rights Reserved. Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 15 All Rights Reserved. Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 16 All Rights Reserved. Chronic Offenders n The filthy 5% (6% actually) n Only 1% of females n Causes n Early onset (once you start down that road…) n Does “three-strikes” help? Depends on one’s perspective. Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 17 All Rights Reserved. Summary n There are several ways to measure crime. n Each has plusses and minuses. n The general crime trend is DOWNWARD! n Numerous factors influence crime rates. n Men commit more than women. n Most “age out” of crime. n A small # of criminals are “chronic offenders” Criminology Today, 5th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. Frank Schmalleger 18 All Rights Reserved.