Mainstream and Crosscurrents, Second Edition
Chapter 2Chapter 2
The Nature and The Nature and
Measurement of CrimeMeasurement of Crime
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.2
Categories of offenses and offenders
Offenses against the person: Homicide, sexual assault, robbery, and assault.
Offenses against property: Burglary, arson, embezzlement, larceny/theft, and auto theft.
Offenses against the public order: Drug use, disturbing the peace, drunkenness, and prostitution.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.3
Offenses against the person
The most serious penalties are reserved for these offenses. Motivations include: Interpersonal disputes Instrumental violence Group violence Chronic violent offenders Political violence Rape and sexual assault Robbery
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.4
Offenses against property
Burglary is different from larceny/theft. Motor vehicle theft involves only
automobiles and trucks. Arson involves fires that are purposely set.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.5
Offenses against property
Burglary vs. larceny/theft
Burglary involves the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft.
Larceny/theft involves the unlawful taking of another person's property.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.6
Offenses against public order
Some offenses involve no discernable victim.
Victimless crimes involve consensual interactions or behaviors.
Behaviors include: vagrancy, disorderly conduct, and liquor law violations.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.7
Measurement of crime
Not all offenses are reported.
Offenses that occur but are not reported are called the dark figure of crime.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.8
Measurement of crime
A crime may not be reported for several reasons…
An offense may be so subtle that it is never known to have happened.
An offense may not be perceived as such.
The offender is a family member, friend, or acquaintance.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.9
Measurement of crime
A crime may not be reported for several reasons…
The victim believes the offense to be too trivial to report.
The victim fears reprisal. The victim feels antipathy toward the
police.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.10
Measurement of crime The Dark Figure of Crime
A metaphor that describes offenses that go unreported to police and criminal justice officials and is never quantified.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.11
Measurement of crime The Dark Figure of Crime
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.12
Measurement of crime
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
The most extensive and useful measure of crime available.
More than 17,500 city, county, and state law enforcement agencies voluntarily report crime data to this program.
The program collects data on over 94% of the US population.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.13
The Uniform Crime Reports
FBI Classification of Offenses
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.14
In a multiple-offense situation, the law enforcement agency must determine which offense occurs highest in the violent crime/property crime hierarchy and record that offense.
The Uniform Crime Reports
The Hierarchy Rule
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.15
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Sources of error in the UCR…
Unintentional
Intentional
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.16
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Changes to the UCR
In 2006, the FBI discontinued the Crime Index as it was found to poorly indicate the crime rate within jurisdictions.
The FBI still calculates crime rates for individual offenses, violent offenses, and property offenses.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.17
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Changes to the UCR
Violent crimes Murder and non-
negligent manslaughter
Forcible rape Robbery Aggravated
assault
Property crimes Burglary Larceny-theft Motor vehicle
theft Arson
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.18
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
What is meant by crime rate?
The number of Crime Index offenses divided by the population of an area, usually given as a rate of crimes per 100,000 people.
Calculating the crime rate
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.19
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.20
CrossCurrents Measurement of crime
The danger zone
The FBI compiles the UCR so that the statistics can be used for administrative purposes, criminal justice research, and community planning.
Do you agree with criminologists and the FBI that the UCR statistics should not be used to compile popular rankings?
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.21
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
Constructed to to gather data on each criminal act even if several acts are committed within the same complex of behavior.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.22
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) NIBRS Group A Offenses Arson Assault offenses Bribery Burglary/breaking and
entering Counterfeiting/forgery Destruction/damage/
vandalism of property Drug/narcotic offenses Embezzlement Extortion/blackmail Fraud offenses Gambling offenses
Homicide offenses Kidnapping/abduction Larceny/theft offenses Motor vehicle theft Pornography/obscene
material Prostitution offenses Robbery Sex offenses, forcible Sex offenses, non-forcible
rape Stolen-property offenses Weapon law violations
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.23
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
NIBRS Group B Offenses
Liquor law violations "Peeping tom" Runaway Trespass of real property All other offenses
Bad checks Curfew/loitering/vagrancy violations Disorderly conduct Driving under the influence Drunkenness Family offenses, nonviolent
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.24
Measurement of crime Victimization surveys
A method for trying to ascertain the level of unreported crime.
Victimization surveys ask victims of crime about their experiences.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.25
Measurement of crime
Self-report studies
Individuals are asked to identify the types of offenses they have committed over the study period.
Measurement of crime
What part of the crime picture do reporting methods miss or obscure?
Corporate crime Organized crime Drug sales Prostitution and gambling
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.26
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.27
Measurement of Crime Measuring white-collar and corporate crime is difficult for several reasons...
The UCR and NIBRS primarily reflect street crime.
White-collar and corporate crime typically fall within federal jurisdiction.
Much of the investigation and regulation of corporate and white-collar crime is done by regulatory agencies and professional associations.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.28
Fear of crime
According to Joel Best, perceptions of violence are constructed not by official measures of crime, but by the media, which can distort and sensationalize particular incidents.
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.29
Fear of crime
Only the direct consumers of crime statistics are affected by crime-measuring limitations.
Government funding agencies, law enforcement departments, and the media are concerned with understanding the crime picture.
Where does fear of crime come from? Is it justified?
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.30
CrossCurrents Fear of crime
The social security check phenomenon
Although the elderly might fear crime more than younger people, they actually experience less crime.
Why would the elderly fear crime more than younger people?
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.31
Fear of crime
Patternlessness
Pointlessness
Deterioration of society
Best’s three popular conceptions that compose the idea of random violence...
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/eJohn Randolph Fuller
© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.32
QuestionsQuestions
What are the three major types of offenses?
What is the dark figure of crime?
Calculate a crime rate.
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